I approached the Haymarket Bus Station in Newcastle on Saturday 26 August looking for the stand for the X75 special service to Belsay and Wallington. Stand N was the only one with roughly fifty people queuing for the second journey of the day to two of Northumberland’s most loved tourist attractions: Belsay Hall and Castle managed by the charity English Heritage, and Wallington Hall managed by the National Trust. Whilst either could provide a full day out, it is perfectly possible to do both in a day, transferring between the venues in the early afternoon.
Go North East started running the Saturday only service in May and it was due to finish on 2nd September. However, loadings have been very encouraging so the service is being extended until 5th November, so plenty of time to take a ride and the reason it appears in this normally railway related column is that riding the X75 bus service is FREE, and (if you’re not already a member of EH/NT) you get a discount off the admission price too. No wonder I’m not writing about trains for a change, although of course, you may need to ride a train or another bus to reach Newcastle in the first place.
English Heritage invites you to come and see how the major “Belsay Awakes” project has transformed. Twenty acres of reinvigorated gardens make a wonderful setting for a succession of fascinating buildings: a freshly interpreted mediaeval castle, enlarged into a Jacobean mansion, and the elegant and newly conserved Greek Revival-style house that succeeded it.
Belsay Hall was begun in 1807 by Sir George Monck, a man inspired by Ancient Greece and the buildings he had seen on his honeymoon in Athens. Despite its austere façade, it had a comfortable interior arranged around an amazing central “Pillar Hall”. It is displayed without furnishings so that you can admire the fine craftsmanship of its construction.
Linking the Hall and the Castle is the spectacular Quarry Garden, now fully mature. Children will imagine this is the haunt of giants and will proceed quietly to avoid waking them. £3.4m has been granted by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the new play area opened on 26th August when I was there. Not that I had any business visiting the play area so I settled down with a couple of good books in the second-hand bookshop until it was time for the bus onwards to Wallington.
Belsay seemed to be the main draw, and a few more passengers arrived on the third journey from Newcastle. I moved on to Wallington at 14:32 to Belsay, unsurprisingly quiet. We arrived avoiding the famous hump-backed bridge on the south side of the Wallington Estate, which would have certainly grounded our single decker low floor bus.
Having explored the coach house and enjoyed a coffee in the Clocktower restaurant, I was heading towards the house before my last admission at 15:30. I was stopped by a man I did not immediately recognise but turned out to be a friend of many years back and we had a good catch-up for 20 minutes, by which time the House was firmly closed, and there was no time to do any of the waymarked trails around the estate – apparently, the Blue Route is particularly recommended.
I would also raise a hand for the Walled Garden on the east side of the estate from a previous visit with my wife. Once home to the unconventional and socialist Trevelyan family, the informal house is full of treasured collections, and I am sure the family would have approved of free buses to welcome visitors.
