SO MANY times we had rushed down the busy A69, eager to see old friends who had fled Manchester for the Northumbrian seaside a full 20 years ago. This pulsing artery of a road, between Carlisle and Newcastle, throbs to the beat of heavy lorries and the racing engines of repmobiles.
Take your eye from the often traffic-laden Tarmac for a second and there's some wonderful scenery to be scanned, but, intent on a family weekend by the sea, we barely gave it a second glance.
Oh, what we were missing - as Mrs T and I found during a couple of days in the soothing surroundings of Farlam Hall, an ivy-clad country house hotel, only a couple of miles from that pounding highway, but a world away in terms of peace and quiet.
The hall, near Brampton, Cumbria, is mainly early 19th century and lies in immaculate landscaped grounds, approached up a sweeping drive that takes you past an ornamental lake by tall trees and a stream.
The hotel has been family-run since 1975, and, as we were to discover, their welcoming approach and attention to detail makes for a charming atmosphere, enhanced by the Victorian decor of the public rooms, with their patterned wallpaper, fresh flowers, ornaments and open fires.
We book in and are shown our spacious first-floor bedroom, with a large, well-appointed en-suite bathroom and a view of the lake. Decor is very fittingly country house, but bright and airy, and there are a large screen TV, tea and coffee-making facilities, books, magazines and a couple of comfortable chairs in which to enjoy them.
The hotel has 12 bedrooms, and we had a chance of a brief tour, finding them spacious and thoughtfully appointed, the antithesis of the bought-by-the-yard feel of even upmarket chain hotels.
Time for coffee on the sunny terrace, a stroll and chat to the llamas in a nearby paddock, and we prepare for dinner. Or should I say the feast. Farlam Hall has a fine reputation for its cuisine, a fact borne out by the eager parties of locals at the restaurant each evening we dined. It was soon obvious that their enthusiasm was fully justified.
The menu changes daily and, wherever possible, uses seasonal and local produce. My mouth begins to water as I re-read our first night's menu, which offered cream of parsnip and ginger soup, vine tomatoes and English asparagus, and timbale of prawn and avocado pear for starters.
Follow this up with a mains choice of fillet of wild salmon from the Solway, rack of local spring lamb, and breast of Lancashire guinea fowl, and afters of an English cheese board, followed by an extensive dessert menu - from passion fruit mousse to home-made ice cream - and I had joined the locals' fan club.
For the record, I chose the prawns, rack of lamb, a selection of cheeses - including the best stilton I've ever tasted - and custard tart with strawberries. Each dish was as good as it and was served amid pristine linen, gleaming silver and bone china.
The next night's dining was as rewarding as the first, and I downed lobster mousse, tenderloin of local pork, the must-have cheese board and summer pudding with vanilla ice cream. Portions are generous, without being over-facing, while the service, by local staff, is friendly and attentive. Coffee in one of the lounges and a glass of single malt rounded off both evenings, and enhanced the glow left by dinner's bottle from the extensive wine list, which included a deeply characterful white Rioja.
So much for the satisfied inner man (and woman). It was time to get out there, feast the eye on some unspoiled scenery and visit places that the denizens of the A69 can't see ... after a scrumptious breakfast, of course.
First up is Alston, the highest market town in England, and about 40 minutes drive from Farlam Hall, a charming place of steep cobbled streets, a sprinkling of shops, some hippy-ish, and a seemingly equal sprinkling of pubs.
From there it's on to Corbridge, a well-heeled little town and a favourite of prosperous types from Newcastle, a fact underlined by a Porsche and a Bentley being the first two cars we saw there.
It boasts an excellent pub-cum-restaurant called The Angel, but fortified by that Farlam breakfast we were in no need of the chef's attentions. A lovely pint of Taylor's Landlord and a gin and tonic sufficed.
It was Hexham next, an historic, handsome town with a decent little market and a disappointing park in the middle, but smiley, chatty folk.
With a bit of dodgy map reading we threaded our way back to the hotel, trying, on principle, to avoid the A69 and stopped off at Langley Castle for afternoon tea.
All suits of armour, panelled ceilings and mighty stone walls, this is an atmospheric place, built in 1350, during the reign of Edward III and now a substantial hotel.
There were many other places we could have visited, given the time - Hadrian's Wall, the Scottish borders and the upper reaches of the Lake District among them - but time was something we, sadly, didn't have and we bade Farlam Hall farewell ... back to the A69, then, which will now seem much more than simply a get-you-there road, but gateway to a splendid area and a glorious hotel.
Cyprus and California overleaf
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