No. in Party   4
Visited    September 2001

Took some finding in the dark without proper directions but morning revealed the property’s lovely location beside the River Coquet with the Abbey at the end of the garden.

Kitchen’s  ’snug’ for four but otherwise not too bad in size. The Twin bedroom presents a bit of an obstacle course to get to the wardrobes and I wouldn’t describe it as cosy. Two fridges in the kitchen proved useful but more useful would have been some ordinary storage space for food.

Foot & Mouth flared-up while we were there so the Abbey and grounds were closed to visitors - giving us a massive, if slightly illegal ‘private garden‘. However, on the downside, there were a lot of footpath restrictions. Our concern about footpath closure disappeared coincidentally with the second bottle of port and by the time the 3 a.m. bacon and eggs were cooking any thoughts of exercise were a distant memory.

The mill is in a very peaceful spot but close to Rothbury which has plenty of diversions (that means pubs) and an interesting deli.  Cragside survived for another day.

One of the best treasure hunts yet, but save this for the daytime. At night, cram around a roaring fire.