Ancient fortress (much reconstructed) on the North Sea coast; seat of the old Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia.

Impressive skyline; still lived in apartments); this area of the country gives one the shivers if you are into Vikings and lost causes and all that great stuff--it all happened around here--wonderful treachery on an epic basis (the castle on LINDISFARNE Island is nearby, a nice little bit of reconstruction by Lutyens); there is a great book by Gordon Honeycombe, an ex-TV newscaster, called Dragon under the Hill that covers this subject--inexplicably out of print for years, might not have ever been printed in the US.