Tuesday 22 April 2008

Day Twenty two-Northumbria

Northumbria is a captivating mix of borders castles, yellow light,huge horned sheep, meandering unspoilt rivers and clean salty air. The fields at the moment are full of fat cock pheasents and scampering lambs. It was a revelation. Clean, everyone was friendly and there is a noticeable focus on providing local food. Mead, crab, lamb, confusingly named cakes and a winning substitute for extra virgin olive oil. (Oleifera)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you really mean Northumberland. There isn't a place called Northumbria any more.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia says:
"In a modern sense, Northumbria is mainly used by the tourist board as a romantic name for the North East of England. It is also used in the names of some regional institutions : particularly the police force (Northumbria Police) which covers Northumberland and Tyne and Wear) and a university Northumbria University based in Newcastle. The local Environment Agency office, located in Newcastle Business Park, also uses the term Northumbria to describe its patch. Otherwise, the term is not used in everyday conversation, and is not the official name for the UK and EU region of North East England."

So it is okay still to use 'Northumbria'. Especially as a romatic name for the area. Love Jade x

Anonymous said...

Actually the tourist people don't use Northumbria anymore - they say North East England:
http://www.visitnortheastengland.com/
I'm always intrigued that people say Northumbria when they mean Northumberland, but not when they mean County Durham!