Roving Rothbury Reporter, Muddy Boots and Art!

Sometimes change happens! Sometimes it happens and there seems to be no logical reason or indeed no obvious benefit from it, but hey, it happens. Last week we went to the beautiful Breamish Valley to see the change to the former Northumberland National Park visitor centre at Ingram.
For many years the Ingram centre provided  an award winning Information service, a service that had been provided by many of my fantastic former colleagues. The building is now home to "Muddy Boots!"

Muddy Boots is a little oasis of refreshment, very welcome I should imagine for those keen walkers who like to explore the Breamish Valley on the hunt for Linhope Spout waterfall or indeed those that just like a gentle stroll. We arrived on a Saturday after 4pm, so was a bit worried that we may have been a bit too late to treat ourselves to some of their goodies, but it was still open and there seemed to be quite a few people, who had just returned from walking sitting down having a well earned rest.
The counter had a very plentiful array of cakes and slices all looking very tempting from underneath their glass domes. Considering the time we were there it was amazing to have such a choice. We opted to share a brunch bar with our cups of lovely hot coffee as it was Saturday and I had to save some indulgence points for a glass of wine(or two) later. The traybake was large enough to share anyway without feeling that we were having a meagre morsel each.

We sat ourselves down on the former Northumberland National Park sofas to enjoy our drinks, we had a stunning view, not just a view of the cosy red glow from the stove but a view of Cheviot through all four seasons! Wow, it was amazing!

The artwork was by a talented local artist Naomi Walker and  I loved it. 

Paint is not a medium that I have had any sort of amiable relationship with before but if anything was to inspire me to try these paintings certainly would.

 If my numbers ever came up and I had a house with enough bare walls to fill then I would have no hesitation in making this view mine for ever. I can honestly say that this is the best piece of art work that I have seen for some time! At least while it adorns the walls of "Muddy Boots" I can treat myself to coffee and cake in a room with a view!

Roving Rothbury Reporter Butterfly Cabinet

Sunday, had an earlier trip out from Rothbury as we had to be at Central station for 10.30 for an Easter homecoming. So we were able to pack in a woodland walk in the city as well as managing to squeeze in a coffee and cake stop at an establishment where people queue up on Sunday mornings to get in.!!!! What a busy life we lead!
 Who would have thought that just a couple of miles from Newcastle Central station you could take a very pleasant Sunday morning stroll in a woodland in the city

This old ruin is what is left of King John's Palace, it is thought to have been built around 1267

After our little stroll we had worked up an appetite for our traybake and coffee fix so on to  Heaton Road to the very popular Butterfly Cabinet. 

We had spotted this cafe the other week while passing and it had an enormous queue outside, cor blimey that must be popular if people are actually queueing up to get in here! 

Our timing was good as we managed to squeeze in before the crowds of hungry people started to build up. Wow, we were shown in to a lively atmosphere of many happy breakfast eaters, this is what people queue for. The breakfast menu was amazing and actually so was the lunch menu but we were only there for coffee and cake (this time anyway!) So only our eyes and noses were able to feast on the exciting breakfast plates being delivered to the other customers.

As we seem to be creatures of habit two  Americanos were ordered but we varied the cakes to rocky road and a blueberry muffin and as two were three this week the third order was

No, not a pint of frothy beer but a pint of apple and elderflower iced tea. It was all very nice and we thoroughly enjoyed the buzz in The Butterfly Cabinet so we really must get back to sample their famous breakfasts. After we finished and headed outside the queue had started to build up.

Must be a happy sight for the business owners!

Roving Rothbury Reporter," Fog on the Tyne" and the Wear!!

Yesterday we were on a mission , to replenish my marbles!!! So our Durham trip had to be via The Sunderland glass Centre, you might think that would be where we would have our coffee stop, but, been there done that and it  never warranted a report.

The voice in my ear had a plan though, he had read about a Pub with Patisserie in Newcastle. Quirky or what? A pub with cake, surely a winning combination, so we just had to give it a try.
Our first stop was therefore in Newcastle, at The Free Trade Inn overlooking the Tyne, a foggy Tyne.

      

I know the outside appearance doesn't suggest coffee and cake it looks more of a real ale type place, but in we wandered to a very friendly welcome and the vision of chocolate brownie under a couple of cloches.

Sorted! There wasn't a vast choice of sweetmeats, but they had two sorts of brownie on offer so that was good. We chose the salted caramel one as opposed to the cream egg one, didn't want sugar over load.

 The coffee was alright, maybe too small a cup for the price of it but the star of the show was definitely the salted caramel brownie, it was delicious, in fact might stick my neck out and say it is the best of what we have had recently!

 Puppy dog was even welcome inside The Free Trade Inn,  she did get over excited to see another dog so she was relegated back to the car.

It was unusual to have coffee and cake in a pub as opposed to ale but as I said before it is a winning combination, next time I will be having some ale though!

,

We then headed off to get my marbles at Sunderland, not only was there fog on the Tyne but there was Fog on the Wear too! Lindisfarne, in their song say "The fog on the Tyne is all mine all mine!" I wonder who claims the fog on the Wear?

Now I have my marbles I had best get busy making some more of

for 

Rothbury Makers Market

Roving Rothbury Reporter and a bonus Pit Stop!

Sunday on our round up the family outing had us heading to  Toffee factory at Ouseburn for the Spring Salon Sale, and we also took in the http://www.thebiscuitfactory.com/  It is always a nice trip out to see what the big city creativity has to offer as well as keeping an eye out for new trends.

We couldn't not take the opportunity for coffee and cake, even although we have had our treat this week. I have enjoyed the refreshments at The biscuit factory on a few occasions so automatic pilot had me walking straight there, when a voice in my ear said you can't just follow familiar paths, be adventurous, try somewhere new! Back to the car we went and without much guidance it was pointed in the direction of Heaton.
Many times over the years we have driven up Chillingham Road and Heaton road but have never stopped at any of the many eating places before. The voice in my ear knew which establishment we were going to try.
http://www.skyapple.co.uk/                                                                 

 The exterior confidently sported a vibrant shade of pink so we couldn't miss it. We were in the heart of Student Land! We  managed to park outside so puppy dog was able to keep an eye on our whereabouts. We managed to squeeze ourselves inside, it is quite a small cafe and it was also very busy which was good to see as its popularity assured us that our choice of pit stop was a good one!
Initially when going inside I thought" help, we must be the oldest here!" even although I still consider us to be on the young side of middle age! Didn't bother me too much though as I don't think I am too grey yet.

So the customary Americanos and Brownies were devoured and enjoyed for the second time this week, I would recommend you give this place a try even if pink is not your colour as the service was friendly and quick even with the girls being very busy and the coffee in particular was excellent!

There is no picture of our order this time as the voice in my ear said it is a bit repetitive to post pics of coffee and traybakes all the time, and also as it is a very small and busy cafe, it was difficult to take a picture without getting other customers in the photo and it is not good practice to just snap people wthout permission!

Roving Rothbury Reporter and The Penny Toss Trail!

Normal day off trips out all have the same destination, Durham, to visit family, which way we go there is usually determined by either weather or a particular purpose.  Last week, with blue sky and sunshine we knew we wanted to head to Tynemouth first , to enjoy fresh sea air as well as coffee and cake. However yesterday we had no agenda. This is when the "The Penny Toss Trail" comes in to play, so it is all up to chance where we end up for coffee and cake.

Heading out of Rothbury the B6342 was the road we chose before The penny Toss trail actually started.The first flick of the coin came at Scots Gap, heads left, tails right, so right it was, passed Wallington and in the Hexham direction. Next penny toss was the A68 junction, heads left , tails for straight on to Hexham, so left won that time. Tootling along, on very familiar territory we had a brief puppy dog comfort stop at Allensford with a stolen chance for a swim in the Derwent (puppy dog, not me!) We began to think about our coffee shop options. We have read about http://www.sweethart-cakes.co.uk/ in Appetite magazine and we knew we were 5 mins away, decision made.

We were welcomed in to a busy but relaxed atmosphere, it is obviously a popular place. The shelves of freshly baked bread behind the counter, the array of cakes in the cabinets and under the cloches were so deliciously decadent that I felt as if the calories were already being devoured through my eyes.

Two delicious Americanos were ordered alongside chocolate orange brownie  and a strawberry and coconut tart. I do love my chocolate brownies, but unfortunately I am not a fan of chocolate and orange together, so my choice was the coconut tart, it was gorgeous! The chocolate orange brownie was getting lots of positive Mmmms as well. I believe that Sweethart Cakes are also very famous for their egg custards so if that is your preference I can tell you that they looked very tempting, and that is from someone who wouldn't touch any sort of custard.                          

Our service was quick and efficient and we again had change back from £10 So "The Penny Toss Trail" served us well!

Roving Rothbury Reporter Loves Cafe Culture!

With beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies, outing this week had us heading to the seaside.......with puppy dog in tow of course!
If I didn't live in the beautiful village of Rothbury I am sure this place would be top of my list of nice places to live. Tynemouth!

Cafe Culture is thriving in Tynemouth, there is no end of choices for morning coffee, afternoon tea, delicious lunches etc and with it being such a lovely day there was a lot of outside seating being occupied, there was indeed a real buzz about Tynemouth that Thursday seemed as if it could have been  a sunny Sunday.

As I said we were spoilt for choice for our taste of " Cafe Culture" but  Dil & the Bear, with it's tempting treats in the window  drew us inside.

We chose to sit inside rather than outside as the interior looked so stylish and welcoming so we had to enjoy the interior ambiance. Dil -the-bear

We splashed out on a cake each this week with our Americanos, gooey chocolaty brownie and treacle and ginger loaf were the choices, my brownie was by far the best choice. The velvety chocolateness |(not sure that is a proper word!) complimented the coffee perfectly,I was soon filled with coffee and cake contentedness! We had change back out of £10 this week but there were two cakes!
To ladies, the "Ladies" is always an important necessity and has the ability to influence your opinion of a place just as much as the food served. "Dil & the bears stylishness flowed through here with a flourish as well and if I thought posting a picture of the loos on my blog was appropriate I would have, but I don't so I won't!
I think we made a good choice for our treat this week, wonder where we will wander next week!

Roving Rothbury Reporter and Dark Matter!

This weeks day off outing had us heading to "The Land of Prince Bishops", the fine old city of Durham.
Very familiar territory, a city full of many options for our obligatory coffee and cake treat, but unfortunately we have never been in any of them.
Before heading south we did a little bit of Internet search so we could decide which coffee shop was going to win our hard earned cash, they all sounded very tempting, so the answer was to get there then decide.
We parked up, followed our noses and our instincts directed us into "The Dark Matter Cafe"   http://www.dark-matter.co.uk/

Now you may gasp in surprise, we have no interest in gaming or comics, to be honest we are probably not the typical customer of this establishment, but it had bucket loads of quirkiness so we were tempted in.

If you like big comfy sofas, steaming big mugs of delicious coffee, bright colourful ambiance and efficient friendly service I recommend that you head in the door just like us!

I was being saintly yesterday, cutting down on my sugar intake, so we decided to have one tray bake  to share, it was a decent size slice so didn't feel I was being denied. The coffee though, was definitely the star of the show, it arrived in a big mug and it was filled to the top. We both have our coffee without milk so sometimes in other places the cups always seem as if they are only half full, not at "The Dark Matter Cafe"

the mug was brimming with deliciousness, and do you know what......... we got change back out of £5!!!