Hadrian Cottage: visitor guide
Welcome to the lovely Northumbrian countryside
Location: between the Military Road and Hexham Road, Heddon on the Wall, Northumberland.
Postal address:
Hadrian Cottage, 9 Military Road, Heddon on the Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 0BQ.
Nearest villages:
Throckley: 2 miles;
Horsley: 2 miles;
Newburn: 3 miles;
Wylam: 3 miles.
Nearest towns:
West: Corbridge 8 miles,
Hexham 14 miles.
North: Morpeth 16 miles.
South: Consett 17 miles.
East: Newcastle upon Tyne 8 miles,
Gateshead 9 miles.
Nearest railway stations:
Wylam: 3 miles.
Newcastle Central: 8 miles.
Metro: (Airport) 6 miles
Nearest bus stops:
Bus stops for services along the Tyne Valley and into Newcastle are located immediately outside the property.
Nearest airport:
Ponteland: 6 miles.
Medical Emergencies:
There is a brand new medical centre at Ponteland (6 miles); tel: 01661-822222. There are two practices located at the Ponteland centre and local surgeries are held at Wylam and Stamfordham a couple of times a week.
There is an out-patients department at Hexham General Hospital (14 miles) 0844-811-8111 and at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle 0191-233-6161 (7 miles) and the Newcastle General Hospital 0191-273-8811 (7 miles).
Domestic Emergencies:
In the first instance (other than gas leaks) please contact the owner, Dr Peter Kelway on 07980-177390, 0191-264-5306, 01661-854700 or 0771-974-5496.
The gas emergency number is0800 111 999. Contact this number if you suspect a gas leak or if the carbon monoxide warning sounds.
Please do not attempt to rectify any apparent problems yourself.
Water supply
In the event of water leakage, the two stop cocks are beneath the sink. Please contact us immediately in such an event. The outside tap is turned off from a control valve in the bathroom. Please do not attempt to turn it on yourself but contact us if you need it for car washing or any other purpose.
Electricity supply
The electric control box is in the utility cupboard in the dining room. All circuits are controlled by earth leakage trip switches. These operate by the switch being thrown in the case of a fault (such as the blowing of a light bulb). After checking for any obvious fault such as a faulty appliance, restore the supply by checking the switches and switching the thrown switch back on. The switch board is comprised of two banks of switches so that part of the house will still have the supply connected when a fault occurs. In the case of a severe fault, one (or rarely both) of the main circuit switches will be thrown as well as a local switch. In this case, switch off all the switches in that section of the board before switching on the main switch. Then switch on the faulty local switch first, followed by the other local switches.
Do NOT keep switching the switches back on in the case of a persistent fault. In case of doubt please call us immediately.
There are no wired fuses to worry about.
Gas supply
The gas control lever is close to the meter in the kitchen in the cupboard to the right of the sink.
In the event of any suspected leak turn off the gas and call the gas emergency number 0800 111 999immediately and only then call us. Also, contact this number if the carbon monoxide warning sounds.
Meters
Please be considerate in your use of water, gas and electricity for which there is no additional charge. Water is metered. If an official meter reader visits the property, please allow him/her access. The meters are located as follows: the gas meter is in the kitchen in the cupboard to the right of the sink; the water meter is beneath the sink; the electric meter is in the utility cupboard in the dining room.
Appliances
Instruction leaflets for the refrigerator, freezer, washing machine and dishwasher are placed in the property folder. If you need to refer to these, please replace them after use.
Security
The property is secured by levered locks on both external doors and on the inner conservatory door. The inner door is alarmed, being armed by a simple switch. This is located on the inside leftmost side of the cupboard in the conservatory. Pressing the largest button will arm the security system and pressing the smallest button will disarm it. Once armed, the alarm will sound for about two minutes if the conservatory door is opened. If the alarm is accidentally activated, it can be deactivated by pressing the small button.
The conservatory is not protected by the alarm system, so please do not leave valuables there and make sure the outside door is always locked when you leave the property unattended.
As there are external doors on both sides of the property with access to public roads, please ensure that both are locked when you leave the property unattended.
When you leave the property at the end of your stay, please post the keys through the letter-box (having locked the outside door) and do not leave them in the key safe.
Refuse collection
Please place normal household waste in the bins on the Hexham Road side of the property. Recyclable materials (paper, plastic, clean tins etc but NOT glass) should be placed in the blue bin and non-recyclable materials in the black bin. Glass should be placed in the bottle bank which is conveniently located adjacent to the Three Tuns public house.
The bins are both cleaned monthly and should be replaced by the cleaning service when this has been carried out. Therefore do not be surprised if a bin appears to have disappeared as it should re-appear after a few minutes!
There is a weekly collection service for bins which operates on a rotating basis, blue being collected one week and black the next.
Freezer and refrigerator
If you change the settings on the refrigerator, please let us know. Please do not alter the settings on the freezer.
Garden
We normally water all the plants on a Saturday during the change-over period. However, if you see any plants wilting in the garden, please let us know. Alternatively, you might be kind enough to see to their needs, using one of the water buts located on each side of the property.
There is a secluded small garden area on the Hexham Road side of the property with seating and tables which you are, of course, welcome to use. Please do not move the garden furniture from this area.
You are invited to use the portable barbecue which is located in the conservatory. If you use this, please be careful you do not place it too close to any hedging or plants.
Parking
There is off-street parking on the Hexham Road side of the property. This will take one large and one small vehicle. The garage is not currently available and we keep this locked to safeguard some stored items.
On-street parking is legally permitted on both sides of the property. However, due to the restricted width of the road on the Military Road side, it is best if you use the Hexham Road side. Please also note that there are bus stops and property entrances on each side of the road which should be respected.
Please do not park in the car park to the Three Tuns or you may find your vehicle clamped. If you use their services this may not be a problem but you should check first.
Weather
Heddon lies on the fringe of the area which sometimes experiences sea fog (haar) or coastal showers which filter in from the North Sea with an east wind. On these occasions travelling west or south from Heddon rather than north or east will usually prove beneficial. With a more westerly wind, the reverse often occurs with the costal areas experiencing significantly more sunshine than those west of Heddon.
This part of the country has rainfall amounts which are about average, usually being protected by the high ground in the west from rain coming in from the Atlantic and from the effect of north winds by the moors of Central Northumberland. Winds from the south and southwest are usually warm and bring relatively dry weather.
Summer thunderstorms and humid, sticky conditions are unusual in this part of the country.
Above all, remember that national and local weather forecasts for this area are notoriously inaccurate, often forecasting conditions that prove to be far better than predicted.
Shops and services
There is a SPAR shop at the garage across Hexham Road. The local shops in the village are within a few minutes walk – the Post Office which provides a range of products and a café/delicatessen. There is a Sainsbury's supermarket at Throckley, two miles away. Some further small shops can be found at Wylam.
Despite Government cut-backs nationally there are two additional Post Offices within two miles at Throckley and Newburn, both providing a fuller range of services than at Heddon.
Pubs. cafes and restaurants
There is a small café in Heddon village and a fish-and-chip shop and take-away in Throckley. The two local Heddon pubs provide food, the Swan having a good quality restaurant. For superior dining, Close House offers country club standards. The two pubs at Horsley serve food, the Lion & Lamb having a formal restaurant as well as serving bar meals. The Duke of Wellington at Newton has recently been refurbished and provides excellent bar meals and restaurant service.
The tables below are currently being extended, so please note that much of the information is not yet complete. An extensive library of local guides and information sheets is provided in the racks in the conservatory and the living room.
Name / Type / Location / Distance(miles) / Post Code / Tel. / Web:
> / Star
rating
Three Tuns / Pub / Heddon / Adjacent / NE15 0BQ / *
Duke of Wellington / Pub/Rest / Newton / NE43 7UL / 01661
844 446 / *****
Swan / Pub/Rest / Heddon / 0.4 / NE15 0DR / ****
Lion & Lamb / Pub/Rest / Horsley / 1.5 / NE15 0NS / 01661
852952 / **
Black Bull / Pub/Rest / Stamfordham / NE20 0RP / ***
Crown & Anchor / Pub / Horsley / 1.5 / NE15 0NS / **
Bistro en Glaze / Bistro / Wylam / NE41 8AJ / **
Close House / Restaurant / Heddon / 2 miles / NE15 0HT / *****
Bistro / Bistro / Ponteland / NE20 9BB / ***
Vallum Tea Room
& Farm Shop / Café / East
Wallhouses / NE18 0LL / 01434
672 652 / ***
The Hearth
Coffee Shop / Café / Horsley / NE15 0NT / 01661
852022 / ***
The Errington Arms / Pub / Corbridge / NE45 5QB / 01434
672250 / ***
The Angel Inn / Restaurant / Corbridge / NE45 5LA / 01434
632119 / angelofcorbridge.co.uk / ****
The Queens Head / Restaurant / Great Whittington / NE19 2HP / 01434
672267 / the-queens-head-inn.
co.uk / ****
The Feathers / Pub / Hedley on the Hill / NE43 7SW / 01661
843607 / thefeathers.net / ****
High House Farm Brewery / Pub/ café/
restaurant / Matfen / NE20 0RG / 01661
886192 / highhousefarmbrewery.co.uk
The George Hotel / Restaurant / Chollerford / NE46 4EW / 01434
681 611 / coastandcountryhotels.com / ****
Brocksbushes Farm / Café
Farm shop / Corbridge / NE43 7UB / 01434
633100 / brocksbushes.co.uk / **
Places of interest
Name / Type / Location / Distance(miles) / Post Code / Tel. / Web site
Housesteads
Roman Fort / Museum / Haydon Bridge / NE47 6NN
Chesterholme
Museum / Museum / Halwhistle / NE47 7JN
Stephenson's
Cottage / NT
Museum / Wylam / NE41 8BP
Northumberland Cheese Company / Blagdon / NE13 6BZ /
Milkhope Centre / Farm
centre,
cafe / Blagdon / NE13 6DA / 01670
789798 /
Telephone
There is a telephone provided. Please use this as you wish for any local or national calls (prefixed 01 or 02) at any time. However, please do not use it for international calls and keep calls with prefixes other than 01 and 02 to a minimum (these are normally automatically barred, so if you have difficulty in using the phone this may be the reason). If you have any specific or urgent requests for using the telephone, just let us know.
Internet
There is wireless broadband available which is normally a reasonably fast and effective service. You can plug in your own laptop by means of the patch cable supplied if you prefer or if the wireless connection is (unusually) proving erratic. The broadband server is located on the second floor where you will need to use the system if you wish to plug in via the patch cable.
If you have your own mobile broadband dongle, this should work reasonably well at the cottage.
Television
The television sets should all be tuned to the main local channels. The sets on the first and second floors have portable aerials which should be firmly plugged in. Please contact us if you have any problems with any of the sets.
And finally …
We hope you will have a most enjoyable stay in our cottage. if there is anything you need in addition to what is provided, please let us know immediately.
We would like to have any comments from you. A visitors' book is provided on the rack in the living room.
Your suggestions for adding or improving information in this guide would be very helpful.
If you have enjoyed your stay, please let your friends know and come back and spend some more time at the cottage.
Peter Kelway and Sue Connor
NB: We also provide a unique service for those with literacy difficulties. Free accommodation is provided for short breaks of three days to families who have one or more members (adult or youngsters) and who wish to receive advice, training and ongoing support on appropriate computer software which we supply to address literacy issues. A leaflet is provided on this service in the rack in the sitting room.
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Hadrian Cottage: visitor guide