Two Wheelers, plenty of them!

This morning in Rothbury saw lots of traffic passing through, most of the two wheeled type.
First of all there were hundreds (I kid you not!) of cyclists tearing down Garleigh Bank and over the bridge as if they had a hurricane behind them. They were all part of Virgin Money Cyclone Challenge Event.    https://virginmoneycyclone.co.uk/CycloneChallenge.asp?ShowPage=549   I can think of more relaxing things to do at the weekend, like shopping in Rothbury, I suppose though the cyclists were doing it because they enjoy it and  I reckon there is probably a lot of fund raising going on.
They cycled so fast and my snapping was so slow I only ever managed to get five cyclists at a time!

The next lot of two wheelers that were passing through Rothbury later on in the morning were a whole load of very flash motorbikes, I reckon they were all heading here,  http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/local-news/video-bikers-roar-into-raf-boulmer-1-5811103  again by the time I got my camera into action I managed to catch one, but I assure you there were loads!

  

Coccuveda Rothbury: Three Bags want to go to the pub!

Coccuveda Rothbury: Three Bags want to go to the pub!: No tarted up old bags this time but newly made small bags. These three bags are all made from random fabrics from my ever growing scrap bag,...

Light up your Life!

Many moons ago I used to make and sell candles, very colourful and unusual candles, I fell out of love with that craft after a few years of spilling molten wax on the kitchen floor as well as my hands.

I still appreciate the warm flickering mesmerising glow you get from candles so I thought I would see what I could do to bring candlelight into what I am doing now. I hope you like what I have come up with.

Fabric and Lace covered jars, a couple I have covered with vintage liberty fabric.

When the tealight inside is burning  the light shining through the fabric make them perfect for lighting up summer evenings, very atmospheric whilst indulging in a glass of wine! I am mentioning wine again! .

I have just made a few to see how they go but could happily make some more.
I am not sure how well they photograph as you need the dark to see them at their best and although I had all the lights off when snapping, the flash goes off.

Fish Supper Anyone?

Who doesn't like fish and chips? Who can resist the mouth watering combination of tasty moist fish in crisp golden batter served with hot fluffy chips. Every now and again we all crave a treat of our national dish, may not be that good for you if you indulge in fish and chips everyday of the week but I am sure they do no harm if eaten occasionally.
One of the family run businesses in Rothbury is our Fish and Chip Shop, they are also a Chinese takeaway, so when the fish and chip craving strikes, Rothbury fish and chip shop hits the spot! I personally wouldn't dream of spoiling them with soaking them in vinegar, salt is the only condiment needed!

Contrary to many opinions all Scottish folk don't eat battered Mars Bars, I certainly wouldn't dream of even trying one, it is just so wrong!

Peaceful Church Street

Church Street in Rothbury is back to being a quiet peaceful Street after all the pounding it has had to endure while the one way system was in operation. There were times when huge wagons carrying wood, double decker buses and even the big double decker car transporters would cause a sharp intake of breath as they manoeuvred there bulk along the road here, I reckon there was a lot of skill involved.
Not a Sunny picture I am afraid but there is a lot of green lusciousness to add a bit of colour.

Stunning Shoe Shop!

Rogerson's The Shoe Shop on Rothbury's High Street is a well established family run independent shoe shop .Thomas Rogerson originally started making hand crafted shepherds boots and opened the Rothbury shop in 1905 .The shop is now run by the third generation of the Rogerson family.

Nowadays you can expect to find it filled with the finest walking shoes, the most comfortable everyday shoes and very colourful summer stylish sandals. I know people travel far and wide to buy their shoes from Rogerson's of Rothbury and some go away with more than one pair at a time! 

Another Rothbury River Crossing Repaired!

Are you ready for a hop skip and jump?
The steppy stones have now been repaired and are crossable. They have been out of action since last summer when the Coquet flooded and tested the strength of our temporary bailey bridge. The bridge held up, though it was scary crossing it with the force of the water, but four of the steppy stones were knocked over like concrete skittles and they stayed like that until this week.
So if you want to hop skip and jump across the Coquet the steppys are the place

Rothbury, A village of Culture!

Rothbury is a village full of cultural richness, we have many art and craft establishments, including Coccuveda of course. We also have our own very popular annual music festival in July and we are still lucky enough to have our own library.

Many villages and towns have seen library services cut with councils having tricky budgets to balance. I hope Rothbury manages to keep it running as it is not only an important place for local people but many visitors use it too.

Over my years as a Tourist Information Assistant I found I directed many folks to the Library, people from far flung places like Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand all with one thing in common, they are on the trail to find out about their ancestors. The local libraries may just contain that vital clue or a key piece of information that fits into the jigsaw of their family tree.

Stay in Rothbury

Katerina's Guest House on the High St of Rothbury is one of many accommodation providers in the village. This one proudly offers 4* silver award winning bed and Breakfast for the many guests that chose to holiday here.
All rooms are en suite and if four poster beds would make for a luxurious stay for you, then this establishment is the place to choose..

Lovely Lunch in Rothbury

This should have been a Friday blog but after closing Coccuveda at 5pm I was out of reach of my computer until I was home at 11.30 pm, so it was a wee bit late or wittering.

I have blogged about recent coffee/tea stops while out and about, here in Rothbury though we also have some wonderful places to go to entertain  our taste buds!
Friday saw a gathering of some friends and me at lunchtime, our venue that we chose to cackle in was Harley''s, one of my Bridge Street neighbours.

We all had a wonderful lunch, some had soup and some of us had jacket potatoes. Harley's is a family run establishment that has lot of very loyal regular customers, who, like me, appreciate their authenticity and their consistently fresh, good honest unpretentious food.

Our Lunch was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us and offered good value for money.
The times I have been in Harley's have always been for lunch so I have yet to sample their wonderful looking cakes. Next time I will time it right  for morning coffee and Cake!

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River Dipping!

River Dipping or I should say dipper hunting, I had a stroll downstream this evening hoping to get a snap of a dipper on the Coquet but no such luck they were all hiding from me,I also thought wouldn't it be good if I managed to capture a Kingfisher, really wasn't holding out much hope there as I haven't ever managed to see one.
 I waited quietly for a wee while but the only wildlife coming out to play was a grey wagtail. I did manage to take the picture but you will have to peer very closely to actually see it.

Rothbury Visitor Information and Re worked workshop!

Coccuveda is beginning to be the first port of call for Visitors to Rothbury needing tourist information, leaflets, maps, bus times and plenty of directions being given willingly and freely.
People seem to be genuinely grateful that a small independent shop has taken the initiative to fill the information void after the TIC closed it's doors.
As part of the changes to Coccuveda, to make space for Information, the counter has been moved to the front of the shop and my old workshop area has been transformed to increase the craft retail display.

I have worked my socks off the past few days shifting and chucking things out so I am now ready plonk myself at my desk and set my creativity to work now!

The Sun has still got his hat on.....only just!

I think the folks who forecast the weather are suggesting that we maybe in for a rainy session, in other words the sunshine has overworked itself recently and is about to have a rest. So while the sun is still making the river Coquet all twinkling and crystal clear here is a pic to keep that happy summery feeling for a wee bit longer.

Notice there is a trio of swans now, lonely one now has a couple of pals.

Roving Rothbury Reporter!

It has been coffee and cake time again followed by a drive in the name of a busman's holiday.

The Coffee and cake stop was at Vallum Farm on the military road. We have been there once before, last year sometime when we had a delicious afternoon tea. Today was just a quick refreshment stop but equally delicious.

 Between the three of us we had two Americanos, which I must say were particularly delicious, one pot of tea, fruit scone and jam and two mars bar crunchie cakes, price went just a bit over £10 but I reckon it was well worth the money.
We also had a bonus there, they have a special outdoor area for dogs, so no need for beloved pooches to stay in a hot stuffy car.







 So puppy dog had a good time there too.

The busman's holiday part was in Middleton in Teesdale, a few weeks back we picked up a leaflet for a little shop called Middleton Crafts, it is a shop which has been just celebrated being open for 25 years. The shop was quite bijou like Coccuveda and had some lovely crafts for sale, again like Coccuveda, The difference is Middleton Crafts is operated as a craft co-operative. It was a very useful visit and provided a lot of food for thought, very inspirational!

Summer Time and parking in Rothbury is easy!!!

I hope that everybody has been making the most of the warm sunny weather.

Lots of sensible people have been doing the best thing and heading to enjoy the beauty of sunny Rothbury, the Cow Haugh car park offered them a picturesque place to leave the car for a lovely gentle stroll the riverside. The Coquet is so crystal clear at the moment.

 After a riverside amble there is nothing better than heading in to the centre of the village and having a nice cup of tea at one of the many lovely cafes followed by some retail therapy at the fantastic diversity of shops and galleries.

I think we could all benefit from a few more warm sunny days.

It's Lunch Time!

Forget taking your lunch to work in any old plastic bag, these hand decorated jute bags are the perfect eco friendly reusable and stylish alternative.

Plenty of room for a drink, sandwich
and fruit or wine, cake and chocolate if you prefer.

They also make a nice gift bag just fill with some nice goodies and I am sure it will be a well received pressie.

Each bag is decorated by my own fair hand so they are all unique. They take a wee bit of time to do but I have 3 designs finished at the moment.

I am sure there will be a saying on one of the bags that you can identify with

Another Smart Rothbury Hostelry!

The Turks Head in Rothbury has just gone through a fantastic transformation, it looks all fresh and welcoming with a very tempting Menu.
The best new feature though I reckon is their beer garden, I hope that we have a lovely warm dry summer so we can all go and enjoy it.

For Sale notices!!!!

Most newsagents where ever you are usually have a special window or board for local people to advertise things for sale or possibly even adverts for Jobs. Rothbury's Phillips newsagent is no exception.

What has caught my attention in the window today is

Might be nice to tour the country in an unusual motor home looks quite spacious.
Or maybe a cycling holiday on.

Only thing is with a tandem we would have to have a special puppy trailer!

Roving Rothbury Reporter

This Sundays galavant needs a few pictures to tell the story so here goes;

No coffee and cake outing today, tea is the speciality of our chosen venue for a treat. We were in a beautiful sunny Newcastle and we had read about the opening of the Quilliam Brothers Tea House on the 1st of June so we decided to give it a try.
You can find it at the bottom of Claremont Road, virtually opposite The Great North Museum. The Tea House is all fresh, bright with stripped polished floorboards, I would probably describe it as a trendy artistic venue with appealing quirkiness.
Now down to the tea, we were handed an A5 size little folder full of all the teas we could chose from, real tea lovers will be in their glory coming here. Me, however like my tea to taste of tea, and my coffee to taste of coffee, so my choice was their afternoon blend, which is basically ordinary tea, I loved it though, it was light and very refreshing, I would recommend it. Neil chose the Vanilla Feeling Darjeeling,our daughter was a  bit more adventurous and opted for Apple Crumble and Cream Tea. There was no great choice of sweet treats to have, which I daresay was no bad thing as the tea is the star of the show, but each saucer had a small shortbread biscuit with it. Price wise it could be on the expensive side but I suppose it has city prices and the individual teapots did give you almost 3 cups of tea.
So if you are in town shopping and need a nice refreshing brew and want to support a new independent enterprise give Quilliam Brothers Tea House a try.

Just round the corner we bumped in to Lord Armstrong from Cragside standing majestically supervising the Sunday morning activity.

Heading back to find the car, which incidentally was parked miles away, to avoid paying Newcastle City Council parking charges, we watched a duck, obviously a very intelligent duck as she was heading to Newcastle University. This duck had good road sense as she made her way to the pedestrian crossing in order to cross the busy road safely!!