Northumberland

Northumberland is a in the  of. The of Northumberland borders  to the west,  to the south and  to the south east, as well as having a border with the    to the north, and nearly eighty s of  line. Since 1974 the county council has been located in, situated in the east of the county; however, both Morpeth and claim the title.

As the kingdom of under King, the region's historical boundaries stretched from the  in the south to the  in the north. The historic boundaries of the county cover a different area, including, the traditional , as well as and other settlements in , areas administered by  since 1974 under the. The historic boundaries of the county are sometimes taken to exclude, and  (collectively North Durham), exclaves of County Durham which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844.

Being on of  and, Northumberland has been the site of many battles. The county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland, a favourite with landscape painters, and now largely protected as a.

Northumberland's is the Bloody  (Geranium sanguineum) and her affiliated Royal Navy ship is her namesake,.

History
Once part of the and the scene of many wars between  and, Northumberland has a long and complicated history. Hence there are many castles in Northumberland, including among the better-known those at, ,  and.

The region of present-day Northumberland once formed the core of the kingdom of, which was later united with  to form. Northumberland is called the "cradle of Christianity" in, because it was on , a tidal island north of , also called Holy Island, that flourished when monks from  were sent to convert the. was the home of the and, who is buried at  Cathedral.

is the historic capital of Northumberland, the "royal" castle from before the unification of under one monarch. The capital of Northumberland now, however, may be thought to be, since Northumberland County Council's offices are in that town or may be thought of as the market town of , mainly because the has his home there.

The lords of Northumberland once wielded inordinate power in affairs because, as the Lords of the Marches, they were entrusted with protecting  from  invasion.

Northumberland has a history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the in  times. These revolts were usually led by the then, the Percy family. mentions one of the Percys,. The county was also a centre for in, as well as of  feelings after the Restoration. Northumberland became a sort of wild county, where outlaws and hid from the law. However, the frequent cross-border skirmishes and accompanying local lawlessness largely subsided after the union of the crowns of and  under King.

Northumberland played a key role in the. Coal-mines were once widespread in Northumberland, with collieries at, and  The region's fields fuelled industrial expansion in other areas of the country, and the need to transport the coal from the collieries to the Tyne led to the development of the first railways. -building and manufacture were other important industries.

Today, Northumberland is still largely rural. As the least populated county in, it commands much less power in affairs than in times past. In recent years the county has had considerable growth in tourism due to its scenic beauty and the abundant evidence of its historical significance.

Physical geography
The physical geography of Northumberland is diverse. It is low and flat near the coast and increasingly mountainous toward the northwest. The, in the northwest of the county, consist mainly of    and. A second area of rock underlies  (on which Hadrian's Wall runs), an intrusion of. Both ridges support a rather bare landscape. Either side of Whin Sill the county lies on carboniferous, giving some areas of. Lying off the coast of Northumberland are the, another Dolerite outcrop, famous for their life.

There are coal fields in the southeast corner of the county, extending along the coastal region north of the river Tyne. The term sea coal likely originated from chunks of coal, found washed up on beaches, that wave action had broken from coastal outcroppings. Being in the far north of England, above 55°, and having many areas of high land, Northumberland is one of the coldest areas of the country. It has an average annual temperature of 7.1 to 9.3 °C, with the coldest temperatures inland. However, the county lies on the east coast, and has relatively low rainfall, between 466 and 1060 annually, mostly falling in the west on the high land. Between 1971 and 2000 the county averaged 1321 to 1390 hours of sunshine per year.

Approximately a quarter of the county is protected as the, an area of outstanding landscape that has largely been protected from development and. The park stretches south from the border and includes. Most of the park is over 800 (240 ) above sea level. The is also a designated.

Ecology
There are a variety of notable habitats and species in Northumberland including: herd; ; ; and.

Economy and industry
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Northumberland at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Northumberland has a relatively weak economy amongst the counties and other local government areas of the. The county is ranked sixth lowest amongst these 63 council areas. In 2003 23% of males and 60% of females were earning less than the 's decency threshold. As of May 2005 unemployment is at 2.3%, in line with the national average. Between 1999 and 2003 businesses in the county grew 4.4% to 8,225, making 0.45% of registered businesses in the UK.

A major source of employment and income in the county is. The county annually receives 1.1 million UK visitors and 50,000 foreign tourists who spend a total of 162million in the county. .

Education
Northumberland has a completely comprehensive education system with 15 state schools and one independent school. Similar to, it embraced the comprehensive ideal with the system of lower/middle/upper schools with large school year sizes (often around 300). This eliminates choice of school in most areas - as instead of having two secondary schools in one town, one school becomes a middle school and another becomes an upper school; in individual towns everyone will go to the same school. has almost 400 pupils in each school year; making it one of the largest schools in England. There is only one school for the whole of the Berwick-upon-Tweed district. At GCSE in England, the average number of pupils with 5 grades A-C at 16 in 2006 is 45.8%; for Northumberland's 3800 pupils taking GCSE at 16 it is 48.9%. The best state school at GCSE is the in Morpeth with 69%, a former grammar school, followed by  with 66%, Cramlington Community High School with 64% and  with 62%. These are excellent results and far better than schools in the neighbouring Tyne & Wear districts. The worst school is Hirst High School in Ashington with 23%. At A-level, the county performs under the England average, which is disappointing for a rural county. The sixth forms are large too - the sixth form at the school in Morpeth has almost 500 pupils. The best state school is the Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham. The next best school (of any type) is the county's only independent school, in Berwick-upon-Tweed. There is one further education college for the whole of the county,.

The distinction between Scotland (full government support) and England (no government support) funding of university fees is very relevant to university students from Northumberland.

GCSE results by council district
% of pupils with 5 grades A-C including English and Maths in 2006; compare this table to average house price by district.
 * Castle Morpeth 67.6
 * Tynedale 57.1
 * Alnwick 49.9
 * Blyth Valley 47.7
 * Wansbeck 37.4
 * Berwick upon Tweed 33.0

Demographics
At the Northumberland registered a  of 307,190, estimated to be 309,237 in 2003. In 2001 there were 130,780 households, 10% which were all retired, and one third were rented. Northumberland has a very low ethnic minority population at 0.985% of the population, compared to 9.1% for England as a whole. 81% of the population reported their religion as, 0.8% as another religion, and 12% as having no religion. .

Politics
Like most English Northumberland has a  of. It has a based in  and also has six districts, each with their own district council.

These districts are,, , , , and. The county and district councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

The have passed plans to reorganise Northumberland's administrative structure. Two proposals are being looked at - one to abolish all of the districts to create a Northumberland ; and one to create two separate unitary authorities, South East Northumberland (the area now covered by Blyth Valley and Wansbeck), and Rural Northumberland (the area now covered by the other four districts). The changes are planned to be implemented no later than.

Northumberland is represented in the by four, of whom one is a , one is a  and two are.

Culture


Northumberland has traditions not found elsewhere in, reflecting a mix of indigenous, , ic and influences. These include the dance, the  and the. Northumberland also has its own and, sometimes referred to in  as the Shepherd’s Tartan. Traditional sounds similar to  music, reflecting the strong historical links between Northumbria and.

The Border ballads of the region have been famous since late mediaeval times. , whose celebrated Reliques of Ancient English Poetry appeared in 1765, states that most of the minstrels who sang the Border ballads in London and elsewhere in the 15th and 16th centuries belonged to the North. The activities of and others in the 19th century gave the ballads an even wider popularity. considered them to be the greatest poems in the language, while knew virtually all of them by heart.

One of the best-known is the stirring, which tells of the Earl of Northumberland's vow to hunt for three days across the Border 'maugre the doughty Douglas'. Of it, the Elizabethan courtier, soldier and poet famously said: 'I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet'. said that he would give all his works to have written Chevy Chase.

In general, the culture of Northumberland, as with the north east of England, has much more it would seem in common with Lowland culture than with the rest of England, the two perhaps having more in common with each other in some respects, than with other parts of their respective countries. The links between Northumberland and are audible in the s of both, which include many  words, such as bairn for child. For further information, see and. Attempts to raise the level of awareness of Northumberland culture have also started, with the formation of a Northumbrian Language Society to preserve the unique dialects ( and ) of this region, as well as to promote home-grown talent.

Northumberland has its own flag, based on the design first used on the tomb of in the 7th century. The current version was granted to the county council in 1951, and adopted as the flag of Northumberland county in 1995.

Media
Having no large population centres, the county's mainstream media outlets are served from nearby, including s and s (such as , , and ), along with the majority of daily newspapers covering the area. It is worth remembering however that whereas Northumberland, like many administrative areas in England, has been shorn of its geographical regional centre, that centre - Newcastle upon Tyne - remains an essential element within the entity we know as Northumberland. Newcastle's newspapers are as widely read in its Northumbrian hinterland as any of those of the wider county: the ', ', ', ' and the .

, a station based in, has recently been awarded a five-year community broadcasting license by. covers Berwick and the rural north of the county.

Famous people born in Northumbria
was the birth place of the three famous footballers and  in 1937 and 1935 respectively; and  previously in 1924. The basketballer was born here in 1983 whilst in 1978, an international er was born here.

was the birth place of, an artist, wood engraver and naturalist in 1753 and , a footballer, F.A. Cup winning manager in 1930

Other notable births include:
 * , a physician born at in 1793
 * , an astronomer and geophysicist born at in 1802
 * , landscape and garden designer born at in 1715
 * , social reformer born at in 1828
 * , a poet born at in 1900
 * , a heroine born at in 1815
 * , a musician born at in 1979
 * , an engineer and industrialist born at in 1768
 * , an actor and singer born at in 1964
 * , an engineer and politician born at in 1816
 * Sir (1942 -), noted public figure
 * , British born at the family seat of  in 1764
 * (1793-1860), an historian born at ,
 * , an engineer born at in 1781
 * , footballer born in in 1963
 * , an historian born at in 1914
 * , ornithologist and botanist born at in 1508
 * , an historian born in 1910

Famous people linked with Northumbria

 * , one of the first working-class Members of Parliament and was secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863
 * , a stand-up comedian raised in in the 1970s and 1980s
 * (1365-1403), borders warlord and rebel
 * , a 20th century musician who was vice-President of the
 * , a poet raised at
 * , a modern day player of the
 * , and  all painted memorable pictures of Northumberland. Turner always tipped his hat towards Norham Castle as the foundation of his fame and fortune.
 * , the lead singer of released a song called "Fare Thee Well Northumberland" on his 2002 album, The Ragpicker's Dream.
 * , English rugby player, currently lives in rural Northumberland.

The site www.myersnorth.co.uk contains exhaustive detailed entries for famous deceased Northumbrians.