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!