Exploring Maelmin Heritage Trail

 

Last Friday I shared some photos from our visit to Ad Gefrin and on that same day, we also visited another site about 4 miles away, Maelmin in Millfield. This is another area that was home to a Royal Township dating to the Anglo-Saxon times, although, unlike Gefrin, Maelmin has some reconstructions of a henge and a dark-age house! Maelmin has a full heritage trail complete with many information boards along the way and some really cool views and perspectives. 

These photos were taken on Saturday the 3rd of July and just like Gefrin (which seems to be a little less known) Maelmin was just as quiet when we arrived. Here there is a proper car park and thankfully we had it to ourselves. We enjoyed a good 40-minute wander, reading and photographing while getting some fresh air.

I have no idea if we did the trail in the correct order, it's doubtful, but we first headed toward the Henge reconstruction. There were many Henges throughout the Till Valley, however, this one was based on the 4000-year-old Milfield North Henge whose original location was in the nearby field. Just like stone circles and the like, henges like these were ceremonial monuments. People would come here to worship and even bury their dead. There is a lot more information that can be read from the photos of the signs below if you are interested. 

From there we moved toward the Dark Ages Hut reconstruction. Sadly, some absolute imbeciles had stopped by to cause a nice amount of damage which sucks, but it is still a beautiful reconstruction.
This is a reconstruction of similar houses that were found a couple miles down the road at Tarmac Cheviot Quarry during archaeological excavations. The small rectangular dwellings were found in small groups and are thought to have housed a small community of farming families between AD 410 and 570! To see dates like those is insane and again, like Gefrin, it's wonderful to explore the trails and wonder about those who did so thousands of years before. 

On top of the rich historic roots, you can see that this place is just stunning in general. After the hut, there is a magical little path through a wooded area leading back around to the car park with many more information boards - make sure to give them a quick read in the photos above - it's such an interesting place which still blows my mind that I had no idea it existed considering I grew up less than 15 miles away. 

As we got back to the car park and took our last photos more people were just arriving which was great timing. If you'd like to learn more about Maelmin Heritage Trail you can visit https://www.maelmin.org.uk/!

Until next time...

Coronavirus and Me pt.2

 

Back in November of last year (2020), I published a blog post titled Coronavirus and Me discussing my thoughts, feelings and what life was like for me in relation to the pandemic. Eight months later things have changed somewhat, but then again not at all. Seeing as our government and the majority of the public think it is all over and we have officially bypassed what had apparently been dubbed 'Freedom Day' I wanted to come back to this subject and weigh-in, 240 days on.

This post probably will be rather wordy and a little like a brain dump, FYI.

So to start out just like back in that first post, I'm breaking down the below areas. Make sure to go back to that post to read all about back then and below is purely related to the last 240 days (from November until now).

Instances where I have left my house in the past 240 days:

Walks - 18.

Seeing parents - 5 times.

Car Journeys - 2 per day, 6 days a week until June and then 2 per day, 4 days a week since.

2 visits to Beamish open-air museum.

2 visits to the outdoor farm shop.

2 garden centre visits.

Things I still have not done:

Been into any shop or store.

Eaten out or been to a pub etc.

Travelled on any holidays or day trips.

Entered any other buildings (minus the Beamish entrance and Garden centre).
Met up with/seen anyone other than my parents.

What I have spent my time doing:

Reading 36 books (so far).

Housework.

Crafts and Gardening.

Watching TV Series' and Movies.

Playing with and caring for our animals.

Working out.

Blogging.

So as you can see, especially if you read part 1, very little has changed for me this year. Though the things that have changed were big for me. I am literally petrified of getting ill and so the times I have been anywhere outside my house, despite being masked up and staying a minimum of 2+ meters away from anyone else, my anxiety has still been through the roof and those moments were huge hurdles. 


As the so-called 'lockdowns' eased and 'restrictions' were relaxed, people started doing more and more typically normal things. My original lockdown has never ended.
I say 'so-called lockdowns' because I personally believe we had only 1 lockdown, the original in March 2020, because all the others we're not imposed or strict at all. I remember sitting in the back garden around the beginning of April 2020 and it being silent. Hardly a car on the main road near us. Once that lockdown ended everything became almost as busy as pre-Covid. The roads were always busy, the queues outside shops were long (we saw when driving past as we only do online shopping), public places from beaches to parks were heaving and no one seemed phased by the pandemic...they still don't. It's funny to me that people have complained and moaned non-stop about their freedom being taken away when there isn't really much you can't do. Of course, now our idiotic government have gotten bored of it all and just pretty much said ''handle it on your own'' so you can literally do whatever you want, but even before that you could eat out, go to the pub, go on trips, see family and friends for the vast majority of the year...so tell me exactly how you had no freedom?

It becomes infuriating, to be honest. I go between sadness, anger and fear on a loop. There isn't really anything I miss though. Like, I don't yearn to go anywhere or do anything because even before we weren't social/eat out/pub type people, I just wish I was able to go on a walk without my death fear and not have to take my inhaler more than I have in years due to a mask compromising my breathing. I can appreciate that some people have homes purely to sleep in and prefer to be out and about all the time but it really isn't so hard to be at home and boredom is definitely a choice.
As mentioned in the first of these posts, we did miss out on our honeymoon and have actually never had a break away together at all minus 1 night in Edinburgh. That I am angry about and will never get over but we have realized that a honeymoon will not be on the cards in probably the next 5-10 years now. I'd rather be alive.


A quote directly from my other post sums up my feelings pretty well - ''That's it. That has been my year. I never know what day of the week it is. I feel a total burden to my family and my physical and mental health has taken a dive. So forgive me for not being understanding that you are saying your 'life has been ruined' or your 'freedom has been taken away' while you still go shopping, out to eat, to the pub, see your family and friends, go on holiday or for days and weekends away in the UK.''
I am so lucky that I wasn't working before the pandemic hit and I didn't need to rush into finding a job because there is no way I could be in any sort of workplace right now but that is where the burden feelings come in. My husband is incredible. The hardest worker, the most supportive partner, the best friend and I couldn't have gotten through any of this without the amazing person he is. We are also very lucky that for work he is a head chef but not in a traditional place. He works pretty much alone, with no contact with the public or anything. He is able to wear a mask all day, there is a great ventilation system and he is always socially distanced from the 2 other people in the building, which is a big weight off my mind. We are not well off by any means, but I completely appreciate how privileged we are to be able to feed ourselves and our pets and have a roof over our head. 

Of course, my parents are also a fantastic support as usual. More so than so many other parents out there. Another huge relief these past 240 days is that my Mam was able to take (slightly early, as in half a year) retirement so she is no longer at as much risk due to working in childcare. My Dads health has also improved, worry number 3 down. They are both still not going far, wearing masks and they use the little at-home test things regularly also.


If it wasn't clear from this post, 'Freedom Day' changes nothing for us and I will be carrying on with my life as it is for many months, perhaps years to come. Masks for sure are something I will not be without in public ever again. 
To bring this to a close before I don't stop I just want to say hygiene is and has always been important. Don't be a scumbag. Wash your hands, use hand sanitiser when out and about, don't sneeze/cough/etc into your hands, don't touch things that you don't need to touch, be respectful of peoples personal space and lastly just be kind. You have no idea what other people are going through, ever. 

Exploring 'At the Hill of Goats' - Ad Gefrin

 

Situated only 19 miles from the house I grew up in, is a very special site. Considering its importance in Medieval history it seems relatively unknown and is only marked by small a roadside monument. 
On July 3rd Mr H and I took a drive out to Yeavering near Wooler, Northumberland and got to stand on the land where 7th century Kings of Northumberland would have stood.

This place was Gefrin or Ad Gefrin, which translates as 'At the Hill of Goats', where the palace of King Edwin of Northumbria and his successors once existed. 
Gefrin was mentioned by Saint Bede in his writings, but it wasn't known where exactly the location was. However, in 1949 crop marks were spotted in aerial photographs taken by an archaeology professor and over the next two decades excavations were made. These revealed over 26-meter long timber halls with kitchens, cattle pens, a weaving shed and more dating to around 1300 years ago. 
How absolutely exciting it feels to stand in the middle of a field in my dearest home county and imagine the people and animals who walked that ground. 

Bede wrote that 'while king Edwin and his queen were residing here, the queen’s bishop, Paulinus, baptised many in the nearby River Glen'.
Another very fun thing to think about is that recordings state that King Arthur’s first battle happened at the mouth of the 'River Glen'. Sadly there are two River Glens, this one and one in Lincolnshire. It would be so magical to think that battle happened in Northumberland.

The fourth from the bottom photo shows 'Yeavering Bell' a twin-peaked hill that is part of the Cheviot Hills, poetically speaking Gefrin lays in its shadow with the monument facing it. 
The monument is much larger than I expected and even the back of it is beautiful, fitting in well with the field walls and surroundings. You can also see in the photos above the stunning carved Goat Head gate posts which are the work of a local artist, Eddie Robb.

Upon leaving the area, we spotted other points of interest at the site and online I have seen photographs of The Yeavering Standing Stone which I can kick myself for missing. Typical of us we didn't follow the most worn path and instead strayed across the field towards the sprawling views meaning we didn't get to see those. We do plan to visit again though and hopefully do the Yeavering Bell walk so there may be an 'Ad Gefrin - Revisited' post in future haha.

To learn more about this important, exciting and stunning area check out GefrinTrust.org.
Until next time...