20th July 2008 Two more National Trust places visited

Since the weather forecast was reasonable we drove inland to visit Gibbside: one of the larger National trust properties in the area.
We discovered that it was a bit too large in area for us, in that it consisted of very extensive grounds, but the house itself is a ruin, and at the moment due to rain and a landslip the path to it was closed, so we had to content ourselves with looking at the Temple, kitchen gardens, (where there were some lovely flowers) and the distant monument to victory; also it was rather muddy as there had been a huge concert in the grounds the previous day, and they were still dismantling the stands.
We did, however have a very nice lunch in the cafe before travelling on.
Our next port of call was less than 15 miles away, the birthplace of Thomas Bewick, otherwise known as the "Father of wood engraving"
He was born on a small hill farm at Cherryburn, where his father not only had a farm, but apparently worked a small coal mine further up the hill too!
This is a view of the old farm from the picnic area outside the new farm where his son and family lived
The original woodcut blocks are there in the museum, and the detail in them, and the prints they made are absolutely amazing!
While we were there a printer was giving demonstrations and there was even a quoir singing in the garden. I did manage an available light shot of the interior of the old farm building, and they sure didn't have many home comforts!