Novel places in North East England
The versatility and vibrancy of the North East has wide reaching appeal and an ability to stick in many an author’s heart. Northumberland leaves a lasting impression with Val McDermid and the ancient and awe inspiring Northumbria is perfectly captured in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Series.
The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell
My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and his father was also called Uhtred…I look at the deeds which say that Uhtred, son of Uhtred is the lawful and sole owner of the lands that are carefully marked by stones and by dykes, by oaks and by ash, by marsh and by sea, and I dream of those lands, wave-beaten and wild beneath the wind driven sky. I dream, and know that one day I will take back the land from those who stole it from me. (Extract from The Last Kingdom)
Bernard Cornwell writes...
I had wanted to tell the tale of England’s making for a long time; the story of King Alfred of Wessex, Alfred the Great, the first King of England.
Then, some six years ago, I met my real father for the first time. His surname is Oughtred and, when we met, he gave me a copy of the family tree which traces, with great care and exactitude, the Oughtred lineage all the way back to Ida the Flamebearer. Ida was probably a thug, but sometime around 547 he had the good fortune to capture a stronghold on the Northumbrian coast and, from that fastness, he carved out a kingdom that was called Bernicia.
Ida’s descendants were to rule from that fortress for nearly five hundred years. Their family name was Uhtred and, because their coastal stronghold was virtually impregnable, they survived the terrible events of those centuries. Bebbanburg was their marvellous fortress and it still stands, though today the name has been transmuted into Bamburgh.The Uhtreds even survived the Danish invasion and, when Northumbria became a Danish-ruled kingdom, the Saxon lords of Bebbanburg stayed in their fortress.
More about Bernard Cornwell
Pillow Talk by Freya North
Nustled between two soaring cliffs, at the foot of a demanding hill with a broad sweeping horseshoe bay looking out easterly across the North Sea, the old and tiny fishing village of Runswick Bay was postcard perfect whatever the weather but on a sunny day it was truly idyllic. Petra loved it in an instant.
The vertiginous approach, the meandering narrow streets, the magnificent setting, the poetic divergence in scale between nature and man. Like barnacles clasped to the side of a whale, Runswick’s brave little fisherman cottages with their rosy red roofs appeared to cling on determined, while the land dropped in a fast twist down to the sea.
“I want to live here!”
“You’d need to see it with a bit of winter first,” he laughed and he took her hand and led her to the beach. (Extract from Pillow Talk)
Pillow Talk is set in and around Stokesley, Great Ayton and Yarm.
Freya North who has family in the areas says...
“I didn’t know the area until a few years ago - now I’m a regular visitor and I love it. It’s inspired my two most recent novels - because there’s so much to write about and the landscape and towns have become true characters in my books! The North East is still partly an undiscovered gem, unlike Herriot country or Bronte country. It’s the down-to-earth edginess in harmony with such natural beauty which fascinates me. I love the way the wild and brooding vastness of the North York Moors plays with the Regency charm of a place like Stokesley; how the North Sea has shaped idyllic places like Runswick Bay and inspired the Victorian quirkiness of Saltburn. The fact that these places coexist so well with the industrial landscape – the sci-fi mood of ICI, the bright blue magnificence of the Transporter Bridge - is stunning!”
More about Freya North
Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid
Only fifteen minutes’ drive from the centre of the city, Jacko Vance’s Northumberland retreat was nevertheless as isolated as a Highland croft. Apart from the straggle of houses that made up the village of Five Walls Halt near Hadrian’s Wall, there were farms, smallholdings, outlying pockets of agricultural communities now colonized by city commuters, holiday homes and cramped council estates snagged improbably in the distant corners of far valleys. Formerly a tiny Methodist chapel that could never have held more than dozen, the house was impossible to stake out without being as obvious as a wolfhound in a flock of sheep. If anyone came looking, they’d be seen as soon as they hit the horizon…it was the kind of privacy that meant he had a lot more to hide than just some starlet sucking his toes. (Extract from Wire in the Blood)
Val McDermid writes...
Northumberland - what’s not to love about it? More castles than any other English county; wild deserted hills and moors; breathtaking beaches; historical remains from the Iron Age, the Romans and the birth of Christianity; and empty landscapes just waiting to be populated by the creatures of my imagination.
When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time walking my dog and making up stories. Every story has to have a backdrop, and I’ve always been drawn to striking and dramatic scenery. Somehow it’s easier to dream up extraordinary tales when they take place against landscapes that stick in the mind.
I particularly like complex stories, where secrets from the past eat away at the present. So I’m always drawn to landscapes that have a sense of history and also the possibility of hiddenness. The more time I spend in Northumberland, the more I’ve come to realise it’s crammed with possibilities on both counts. For a writer like me, it’s the perfect place.
More about Val McDermid
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