Tales from Northumberland

Episode 6 (1x6)

Air date: Dec 02, 2013

In episode six, Robson looks at how the appeal of Northumberland's history and heritage is being adapted for the modern age. Robson’s first stop is Alnwick Castle, a major medieval stronghold and the ancestral home of the Percy Family. Like many castles all over Britain, this ancient fortress has had to find a new role and identity to survive in the modern day. One of the largest inhabited castles in Europe; Alnwick castle has been home to the Dukes and Earls of Northumberland since the 14th century. These days it's equally well known for doubling as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies, making it one of the regions most popular tourist attractions. It’s here that Robson also learns about a different Harry, Harry Hotspur, one of Robson’s favourite Northumbrian heroes. A skilled warrior, Harry Hotspur spent most of his short life defending England from the Scots. Robson meets Alnwick Castle’s head archivist to find out more about the man behind the legend. As well as being home to one of Britain’s most important castles, Alnwick once boasted one of the country’s finest railway stations. Built in 1887, the station’s size and grandeur was designed to impress visiting royalty. Over time, the small market town found the station difficult to sustain. After lying dormant for twenty years, the building has been given a new life as one of the largest second hand bookshops in Britain, run by husband and wife team Stuart and Mary Manley. Stuart says: “One of our earliest customers came in and said ‘I’ll give it a month’. Twenty-two years later, we’re still here.” The bookshop also saw a secret bit of history unearthed in 2001, after fifty years. The ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ poster was commissioned by the Ministry of Information as part of a set of propaganda posters in 1939. Found in a box bought at auction, the message from the poster has swept across the globe. Stuart says: “At the time of discove