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Alnwick, Northumberland

The Bondgate Gazette

An independent journal on staying in Alnwick and exploring north Northumberland: guest house culture, town history, castles, coast and walks.

Market-town journal, Northumberland

Staying in Alnwick, walking the county

An independent journal on staying in Alnwick and exploring north Northumberland: guest house culture, town history, castles, coast and walks.

Where to stayThe Bondgate story

A honey sandstone market town street in Alnwick at early morning with the medieval gate tower in the distance
Bondgate runs from the medieval tower down to the market place; the gazette covers the street, the town and the county beyond.

Sections

Three strands and a notebook

Stay covers the guest house culture of the town. The Town covers Alnwick itself. The County covers the days out. The Notebook indexes everything.

  1. A Georgian townhouse guest house front door with a brass knocker and potted bay trees on a honey sandstone street in Alnwick.
    01

    Staying in Alnwick

    The culture of the hosted stay in a market town: reading an old room, the Northumberland breakfast, what a night costs and the choice between B&B and cottage.

    4 articles inside

  2. The market place of a small Northumberland town with a stone market cross, independent shops and people crossing on foot.
    02

    The Town

    Everything inside the walls and just outside them: the castle and the garden, the lanes and the bookshop, and the documented story of one Bondgate house.

    3 articles inside

  3. A ruined medieval castle on a green hill above a river in open Northumberland countryside under a wide sky.
    03

    The County

    The days out of town: castles on the coast, beaches and islands on their own timetable, and walking country from Hulne Park to the Cheviots.

    3 articles inside

  4. A wooden desk with an open notebook, a pencil, a folded map of Northumberland and a cup of tea beside a window.
    04

    The Notebook

    Every article and note the gazette has published, in one index.

    10 articles inside

Staying in Alnwick

Staying in Alnwick

The culture of the hosted stay in a market town: reading an old room, the Northumberland breakfast, what a night costs and the choice between B&B and cottage.

  • A bright guest bedroom in a Georgian townhouse with a sash window, white linen and a cast iron fireplace.

    Staying in Alnwick

    What the Rooms of an Old Townhouse Tell You

    Sash windows, chimney breasts, creaking stairs and rooms at the back: how to read the bedrooms of a Georgian guest house before you book a night.

    Sash windows, chimney breasts, stairs: what the description really means.

  • A breakfast table in a small guest house dining room with a plate of grilled kippers, a toast rack, a pot of tea and morning light through a sash window.

    Staying in Alnwick

    The Northumberland Breakfast

    Craster kippers, porridge, local bacon and the full cooked plate: what a bed and breakfast morning table looks like in north Northumberland.

    Kippers, porridge and the full plate: the morning table decoded.

  • A handwritten rate card and a room key with a brass fob on the wooden reception desk of a small English guest house.

    Staying in Alnwick

    Reading a Guest House Tariff

    Per person or per room, single supplements, seasonal bands and what is usually included: how to read the tariff of a small Alnwick guest house.

    Seasonal bands, single supplements and what is actually included.

  • A stone coach house cottage with a small walled garden behind an old townhouse in a Northumberland market town.

    Staying in Alnwick

    B&B Room or Self-Catering Cottage

    Hosted mornings and a cooked breakfast against your own kitchen and your own hours: how to choose between a B&B room and a cottage in Alnwick.

    Hosted mornings against your own kitchen and hours.

Open the Staying in Alnwick index

The Town

The Town

Everything inside the walls and just outside them: the castle and the garden, the lanes and the bookshop, and the documented story of one Bondgate house.

  • A Georgian sandstone townhouse facade with a blocked first floor window and a small fire insurance plaque fixed above the front door.

    The Town

    The History of Bondgate House

    Three families in 150 years, a doctor's surgery, a fire insurance plaque and a street that changed its numbers: the documented story of an Alnwick townhouse.

    Three families, a surgery, a plaque: one facade, 150 years.

  • The stone barbican and curtain walls of a medieval castle seen across a lawn, with visitors walking the path on a bright day.

    The Town

    Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden

    A Norman seat of the Percy family and a contemporary garden with a famous Poison Garden: how the two big sights of Alnwick fit a day in town.

    A Norman seat and a contemporary garden, one town day.

  • The interior of a vast second-hand bookshop in a converted Victorian railway station, wooden shelves to the ceiling and a model train running above.

    The Town

    Lanes, a Bookshop and a Museum

    Pickwick Lane and Correction House Lane, a vast second-hand bookshop in the old railway station and a small town museum: the Alnwick between the big sights.

    The Alnwick between the ticketed sights.

Open the The Town index

From the archive

Pages that keep their historic addresses

This domain published the website of a Bondgate guest house for many years. These pages answer at the same addresses those visitors knew.

The County

The County

The days out of town: castles on the coast, beaches and islands on their own timetable, and walking country from Hulne Park to the Cheviots.

  • The ruined keep of a medieval castle standing on a rocky coastline with sea spray and grey sky.

    The County

    Castles Within a Day of Alnwick

    Bamburgh on its rock, Dunstanburgh on its headland, Warkworth, Chillingham and Lindisfarne: the castle circuit of north Northumberland from Alnwick.

    Bamburgh to Lindisfarne: the circuit ordered by day.

  • A wide golden sand beach with a castle on a dune in the far distance under a big bright sky.

    The County

    Beaches and Islands of the Coast

    Long sand beaches, boat trips to the Farne Islands from Seahouses, the tide times of Holy Island and the villages between Alnmouth and Berwick.

    Beaches, boats to the Farnes, and the Holy Island tide.

  • A walking path through open moorland in the Cheviot hills with heather, a stone wall and one distant walker.

    The County

    Walks Near Alnwick

    Hulne Park behind the town, Iron Age hillforts in the Cheviots, the Northumberland Coast Path and St Oswald's Way: walking country within easy reach.

    From the town gate to the Cheviot tops and the coast path.

Open the The County index

The notebook

The gazette in one index

Every article and note published so far: the stay guides, the town's history and the county's days out, kept at the address where this domain once kept its own posts.

  • A bright guest bedroom in a Georgian townhouse with a sash window, white linen and a cast iron fireplace.

    The Notebook

    What the Rooms of an Old Townhouse Tell You

    Sash windows, chimney breasts, creaking stairs and rooms at the back: how to read the bedrooms of a Georgian guest house before you book a night.

    Sash windows, chimney breasts, stairs: what the description really means.

  • A breakfast table in a small guest house dining room with a plate of grilled kippers, a toast rack, a pot of tea and morning light through a sash window.

    The Notebook

    The Northumberland Breakfast

    Craster kippers, porridge, local bacon and the full cooked plate: what a bed and breakfast morning table looks like in north Northumberland.

    Kippers, porridge and the full plate: the morning table decoded.

  • A handwritten rate card and a room key with a brass fob on the wooden reception desk of a small English guest house.

    The Notebook

    Reading a Guest House Tariff

    Per person or per room, single supplements, seasonal bands and what is usually included: how to read the tariff of a small Alnwick guest house.

    Seasonal bands, single supplements and what is actually included.

  • A stone coach house cottage with a small walled garden behind an old townhouse in a Northumberland market town.

    The Notebook

    B&B Room or Self-Catering Cottage

    Hosted mornings and a cooked breakfast against your own kitchen and your own hours: how to choose between a B&B room and a cottage in Alnwick.

    Hosted mornings against your own kitchen and hours.

  • A Georgian sandstone townhouse facade with a blocked first floor window and a small fire insurance plaque fixed above the front door.

    The Notebook

    The History of Bondgate House

    Three families in 150 years, a doctor's surgery, a fire insurance plaque and a street that changed its numbers: the documented story of an Alnwick townhouse.

    Three families, a surgery, a plaque: one facade, 150 years.

  • The stone barbican and curtain walls of a medieval castle seen across a lawn, with visitors walking the path on a bright day.

    The Notebook

    Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden

    A Norman seat of the Percy family and a contemporary garden with a famous Poison Garden: how the two big sights of Alnwick fit a day in town.

    A Norman seat and a contemporary garden, one town day.

  • The interior of a vast second-hand bookshop in a converted Victorian railway station, wooden shelves to the ceiling and a model train running above.

    The Notebook

    Lanes, a Bookshop and a Museum

    Pickwick Lane and Correction House Lane, a vast second-hand bookshop in the old railway station and a small town museum: the Alnwick between the big sights.

    The Alnwick between the ticketed sights.

  • The ruined keep of a medieval castle standing on a rocky coastline with sea spray and grey sky.

    The Notebook

    Castles Within a Day of Alnwick

    Bamburgh on its rock, Dunstanburgh on its headland, Warkworth, Chillingham and Lindisfarne: the castle circuit of north Northumberland from Alnwick.

    Bamburgh to Lindisfarne: the circuit ordered by day.

  • A wide golden sand beach with a castle on a dune in the far distance under a big bright sky.

    The Notebook

    Beaches and Islands of the Coast

    Long sand beaches, boat trips to the Farne Islands from Seahouses, the tide times of Holy Island and the villages between Alnmouth and Berwick.

    Beaches, boats to the Farnes, and the Holy Island tide.

  • A walking path through open moorland in the Cheviot hills with heather, a stone wall and one distant walker.

    The Notebook

    Walks Near Alnwick

    Hulne Park behind the town, Iron Age hillforts in the Cheviots, the Northumberland Coast Path and St Oswald's Way: walking country within easy reach.

    From the town gate to the Cheviot tops and the coast path.

Open the full index