On Saturday 11th May we boarded a coach for a trip to the lovely Northumbrian town of Hexham. The sun was shining as the coach left the Phoenix Club carrying us up the scenic route along the A68 towards Hexham. Whether by accident or design, our driver John took a diversion into the Northumbrian countryside to the delight of passengers as we meandered through villages, hamlets and farms, spotting lambs frolicking in the fields.
Soon, we arrived in Hexham to be greeted by the former civic head of Northumberland and Cllr representing Hexham central, Trevor Cessford, a regular visitor to Newton Aycliffe who eagerly took on the role of unofficial tour guide.
Trevor is, like me, very proud of his town and quickly pointed out places of interest such as the beautiful abbey, the ancient gaol, the farmers market and, of course, a favourite of ours, the local Wetherspoons, which is located in the old forum cinema, which is not only a cheap breakfast, but also a fantastic example of 30’s architecture.
Keen to know more about this lovely place, we asked Trevor to give us a tour of his town and were surprised to see new pavements, roads, and improved shop fronts. It struck me, as we wandered, that this little town, with a population of just 12,000, has two banks, a couple of building societies and a police station, whilst Aycliffe languishes in decline. Leaving the town centre behind we came across a lovely sports centre complete with running track and long jump pit.
At this point we couldn’t help noticing that Hexham has several popular retailers such as Marks and Spencer, B&M, Home Bargains and many more. Being warm and weary we stopped at McDonalds for an ice cream and pondered what we had already seen of a thriving place with a low population. We then took the path alongside the river which has wonderful views of well-kept parks, canoeists on the river and families picnicking whilst soaking up the May sunshine.
Time for refreshments and we called into a local hostelry to quench our thirst before heading back into town where we found a house of correction which hails from an earlier time in the towns history when misdemeanour’s were treated very differently to today. Inmates would be locked up for drunkenness, begging, prostitution and even people with mental health problems, quite shocking by today’s standards.
We came across Hexham school which has a lovely façade and is very old, before pausing to watch bowling on the town green. Arriving back at the bus stop we met up with our fellow travellers who also had tales to tell of their day out in Hexham.
Many thanks to my friend Cllr Trevor Cessford for the grand tour and a great day out.