Captain's Log

Cragside

The Cragside Estate was very well named. The visible part of it hugs a steeply  sided, wooded slope, to the east of Rothbury. It was so steep and craggy that it makes you wonder how the massive Pines remain upright on such terrain. The top of the hill was flatter, but no less craggy and hosts a couple of large lakes called the Nelly's Moss Lakes. A massive house perched on the hillside like  a Bavarian Castle. This was the 19th century home of Lord William and Lady Margaret Armstrong. 

William was the inventor and Margaret the gardener. He made his money through engineering businesses. He owned Elswick Works in Newcastle and manufactured hydraulic cranes, ships and armaments. His company built the hydraulics mechanism that operates the Tower Bridge in London. I’d only toured this engineering masterpiece last month (see Captain’s Log, London Tower Bridge). Cragside wasn’t just a home, but also a place for William to implement his engineering ideas and Margaret to practise her landscaping talent. The house was the 'smart' home of its day. It had a plunge bath, central heating system, electric lighting, a water-powered spit (presumably they weren’t vegetarians)  and a hydraulic lift. The National Trust acquired the house and estate in 1977. 

House

The National Trust greeter said that only the main carpark was open. This wasn’t a surprise to me since I’d driven through some slushy snow on my drive across from Alnwick.  There was normally a 6 mile road route on the estate (known as Carriage Drive) that links the various carparks. This was originally built so that Margaret could horse-ride around the estate. I was happy when my car made it up to the top of the steep slope to the main carpark. Most people were heading southwards from the carpark and so I joined them. The road really was icy and care was needed. Within five  minutes the large house came into view. It looked very impressive. I was almost tempted to go inside and take a look. It was Saturday though and I figured the house would be pretty busy today. I’d decided to explore the extensive estate today and leave the house for another day. I’d been given a trail map by the NT greeter and this showed a number of signed trails. I decided to follow the 6.5 mile Hydro-power trail. I was amazed to find a sign for it almost immediately and I headed off on a trail up into the wooded crags. 

Nelly's Moss Lakes

The estate was covered in trails. This was a good thing in that given the steepness and vegetation, it would have been impossible to make progress without them. It did mean that close attention had to be made to the trail map. There were lots of signed routes and fingerposts that identified key areas of the estate. It would have been easy to lose an intended track, but it would have been difficult to get totally lost.   

My first and last issue with the Hydro-power route was when a pathway was fenced off for maintenance. No alternative workaround route was suggested. I could see from the trail map that the Hydro-power route went around the Nelly’s Moss lakes and so I figured my own route to get there. Fortunately, the pathways on the  trail map were pretty accurate to what I found on the ground. I reached the top of the crags and some gaps in the trees allowed me views of the Simonside Hills across the valley. It really was a magnificent day. The pathway led me around to Crozier where I found a children' s play area and some toilets. Beyond that was the lake. I wanted to take the pathway around the lake, but the craggy terrain was so icy that it was like a luge. I decided to go around the lakes anti-clockwise instead.  I crossed a bridge and started following a good trail on the eastern side of the lake. It was nice to get some open views. The lake was frozen in places. I continued northwards and came to the second lake. I made my way around its northern end and then returned southwards alongside the lakes. I was wary of reaching the icy crags again and so turned off westwards up some crags that weren’t as icy. There were some patio tables at the top and so I took the opportunity to have my petrol station meal-deal for lunch. 

Crag Trails

I never saw any signs for the Hydro-power Trail again after reaching that closed path earlier in the morning. Maybe they figured people would just give up. I decided to just make up my own route for the day. I followed a road back to the children’s play area at Crozier. I chatted with a couple who were walking three Bedlington dogs. I asked the couple if they were from Bedlington, but they said they were local to Alnwick. I followed the trail around to the small Slipper Lake which was completely frozen. From there I picked up a trail that followed the contour of the hill in a southeast direction. The fingerpost indicated that it would end up at the Cragend carpark, but after about getting halfway to it, I dropped down a path to the Dunkirk carpark. The estate uses a one-way system and since the Carriage Drive was shut, nobody was using this carpark. Just beyond the carpark was another pathway that led me steeply back up to the pathway that I’d taken from Slipper Lake. Rather than go back up to the lake, I diverted onto another path that followed the contour of the crags northwards. This would lead me back to the House. These paths were really well constructed and made for easy walking despite the difficulties of the surrounding terrain. Eventually the path gradually descended to a road and this led to the House. 

Formal Gardens

The House was just as impressive from its south side, as it was from the north. I felt tempted again to go inside, but there was still plenty of the estate that I wanted to explore. I dropped down a steep path to the east of the house and an amazing view opened of a wooded valley. Debdon Burn ran along its bottom and an iron footbridge spanned the valley. The whole area was covered with enormous pine trees. It was a dramatic setting. I dropped down to the bridge and got a great view from its middle back up to the house. On the other side, I followed a path that led me to the Formal Gardens. This turned out to be a lovely open area that gave wonderful views across to the Simonside Hills. I was intrigued by a glass ball on a pedestal on one of the lawns and I went over to investigate. It was a replica 19th century Heliograph sunshine recorder. Each morning a tracking card was placed behind the glass globe. As the sun travelled across the sky, the focussed rays would leave scorch marks on the cards. This gave a visible record of the amount and intensity of the sunlight. I could see a card there now and there were lines where the card had actually burnt away as the sun travelled across the sky. 

Power House

I headed back to the iron bridge and then followed signs to the Powerhouse. The ‘exciting’ path through the gorge had been shut for the winter and so I walked the alternative, safer route. Cragside was the first house in the world to be lit using hydro-electricity. I reached the Burnfoot Power House which was Cragside’s second hydro-electric power station. The Nelly’s Moss lakes I’d walked around this morning, had been dug to create a storage of water to provide an energy source for the power station. The water from the lakes descended 104 metres through a system of cast iron pipes to Burnfoot Power House. The water drove a turbine connected to a dynamo. The resultant electricity was carried by cables to the house.     

Much of the machinery used was now on display in the Battery House. Batteries would help maintain electricity supply at peak demand times , when water levels of the lakes was low, or if the system broke down. They used lead-acid batteries and these were rechargeable. Armstrong was ahead of his time in that he could see that the supply of coal as an energy source was not sustainable. Having said that, he installed a gas engine in 1895, since the head of water from the Nelly’s Moss lakes wasn’t sufficient to generate all the required electricity. The estate was connected to mains electricity when Cragside was requisitioned for use as an army barracks during WWII. 

Return

I followed a path that climbed back uphill towards the house. It eventually delivered me to the south side of the house. I walked through an archway that took me along a road area that split the house into two. It was a massive place. I wondered if Armstrong used electricity to heat the water for his central heating system. Such questions would have to wait until I returned at a later date to complete a full tour of the house. It was only a five minute walk from the house to the carpark. 

Cragside was a remarkable place to visit. The views were magnificent and the tall trees were very impressive. It must be very colourful from April to June when the plentiful rhododendrons flower. The estate was a maze of paths and roads that begged for exploration. The pathways were excellent given the terrain that they had to traverse. It really does require two days to do a proper exploration: one to explore the estate and the other to visit the house. Not surprisingly, I found it popular with both walkers and potterers to the house. In summer, I could see the estate getting quite crowded.