Haltwhistle: the Centre of Britain

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Market Place at the Centre of Britain

The name Haltwhistle comes from “Haut Whyslie” or “high watch between two rivers”. So I learned on our recent visit to this small, Northumbrian town.  Its Market Place dates back to 1207 when King John granted a Charter for weekly markets and two fairs to be held each year.

The town also claims to be the Centre of Britain. Here I am at the marker points this year, and on a previous visit in 2010.

At the Centre of Britain
At the Centre of Britain 2010

If it surprises you that Britain’s centre should be located so far north, as it did me, see the diagram below. Convinced? Well, maybe. It is definitely plausible, although there are other places which make similar claims.

Whatever, the town certainly makes the most of it as a marketing concept with a Centre of Britain hotel, launderette and shops.

Centre of Britain Army Surplus Store
Centre of Britain Launderette
Centre of Britain Hotel

Many of the buildings around the market place originated as Bastles, including the hotel above. These are 16th/17th century defensible houses built to provide protection from border skirmishes between the English and the Scots. Haltwhistle has the highest number of bastles, six, remaining in England.

It also has a fine example of 13th century architecture in the Church of the Holy Cross, with the addition of 19th century stained glass windows made by the William Morris Company.

Church of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Cross
Font, Church of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Cross

I knew nothing of this heritage when I was five years old. What is the significance of that, you might ask? Well, this is the town in which I was born, and five is the age at which my family (by then including a younger sister) moved away to the bigger town (now city) of Sunderland. The War Memorial Hospital has been rebuilt in the last few years (and hasn’t had maternity services for decades) so I had to go online to find a picture of it as it was in the 50s and 60s.

Haltwhistle’s War Memorial Hospital 2019

In 1960 my sister was also born there. In those days, women were confined for almost two weeks after a birth. I wasn’t quite three, but I have clear memories of that time – one of my aunts came to stay to help Dad look after me (no such thing as paternity leave in those days). Every morning I received a postcard from my mum, and sometimes a gift that my wee sister had (allegedly) sent via Dad at visiting time: I particularly remember a small baby doll in a wicker cradle.

Children weren’t allowed to visit the wards, and one day Dad held me up to talk to Mum through the open window. I thought I was going to be handed in to her and screamed all the way home when it didn’t happen (and she tells me she took herself off to the bathroom to howl too).

And this was that home – the Methodist manse in Moor View. The colour image is 2019, the old photos show Mum and Dad posing proudly outside their first married home, probably in 1956.

Former Wesley Manse, Moor View
Manse at Moor View c1956
Dad at the Manse c1956
Mum at the manse c1956
Manse at Moor View c1956

And here am I at 15 months, toddling in the garden behind that big hedge at the side which looks much the same in 2019 as it did in the 1950s, and the whole family together a few years later.

Anabel at 15 months
The family c1961

The house was near the railway bridge – that hasn’t changed much either. This is my late Uncle Jim posing on it in the 1960s when it was fairly new – the stone work is dated 1953.

Haltwhistle Railway Bridge 1960s
Haltwhistle Railway Bridge 2019

The railway station is also well-preserved – although now unstaffed, it retains its 1901 signal box, in the shape of a ship’s keel, and other buildings.

Railway Station
Railway Station

Finally, this is the church we went to – one of several where my father was minister – the Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1864, known as Castle Hill Methodist Church when we were there. It has since closed and both it and the Sunday School building, seen on the left behind the church, are private houses. The other Methodist church in town, Westgate, is still functioning.

Primitive Methodist Chapel 1864
Former Castle Hill Methodist Church

After our brief, nostalgic (on my part) visit to Haltwhistle we drove on to our final destination for the day: Allendale, where we were to spend a long weekend with friends. More on that next time.

England, Family history, People, UK ,

83 Comments »

  1. Anabel, how fascinating to revisit the place of your birth. I like the side-by-side photos of the present-day views and the shots from the past. Thanks for sharing the photos of you and your family from your early years.

    Jude

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  2. What a charming little town. The best part of its history is you Anabel! Love the backstory. I can still see that adorable little girl shining through your face today.

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  3. Hi Anabel, It is always significant to visit the place you were born. I forgot about the 2 weeks after giving birth. How things have changed. It was slightly sad and funny at the same time about how you and your Mom howled when you were still kept separate. I love all the photos!

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  5. The title made me smile, as it was probably meant to do, however justified the claim. 🙂 🙂 I have only the briefest acquaintance with Haltwhistle, despite it having been quite near, but it’s nice to share a little family history, Anabel. Allendale I know better 🙂

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  7. Lovely family photos! I can’t say I’ve ever really thought about where the centre of Britain was, but it’s good to know in case it ever comes up in a pub quiz or something! Seems like King John was keen on granting town charters – Kingston’s is from 1200, and we have a slightly later version in the museum from 1208. I guess that’s at least one positive thing to come out of his reign, other than Magna Carta!

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  9. Your blog brought back welcome memories of my Wiltshire paternal grandmother. She was a staunch Methodist and we were woken up when she visited us by her enthusiastic singing from the Methodist hymn book
    She was also what we would now call a feminist and spoke with admiration of “the Bristol women”
    There was a well known women’s suffrage movement in that city.
    Grandpa was supportive of her views and always did the washing up after a meal, a habit followed by all four of his sons. In his opinion Grandma had prepared the meal and it was the least he could do. My main memories of in depth conversations with my uncles are that they always “opened up” more with their hands in the washing up bowl.

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  11. How fun to go back and visit the town where you were born. And I have to admit that I didn’t think the center of the United Kingdom would be that far north, either.

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  12. Very interesting post. Never heard of it despite being in Northumberland a few times but always to hill-walk or rock climb so only visited certain areas. I have seen most UK TV weather maps which, according to sources online, shrink Scotland so that it looks much smaller than England and that’s not even counting the Northern Scottish island groups- like looking down from an elevated angle from the south east and London rather than directly down above the UK, I’ve also noticed Leeds very rarely gets listed on the same maps, if at all ,despite being the third largest UK city. Probably the same reason why people think of Manchester as third city in UK as it’s always featured on TV maps along with Birmingham but going by city population catchment area alone does not make top five which certainly surprised me.Same with old style world globes in classrooms which are not necessarily accurate in scale.

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  13. I have to catch up! How wonderful to go back to your roots and be in the centre of of Britain as they claim to be. i love looking at old pictures and I can see your face in both your parents. It’s neat to see the “new” bridge with your Uncle and then see the same spot today. You can see the worn look. Now I am off to read your previous page

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  14. How wonderful to visit the town where you spent your first five years, and to find all those landmarks as well. I love how you have the black and white photos and the family lore to share. Wonderful memories all around. 🙂

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  15. That’s so great that you were able to locate all those landmarks and find many of them relatively unchanged! I have not been back to my birth city since I was about five, either, and that was just a visit. I left when 6 months old. My grandparents left Little Rock in the 70s, but it would be interesting to see if their house is still there. It was so cute!

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  16. Amazing trip down memory lane, Anabel! I really liked the old photographs and their comparison to recent times. You have quite the memory as well!! Before I got to the part that this is your birth town, I was already planning to comment on the incredible history of Haltwhistle. I wonder whether the part “whistle” in the name has to do with its railway past.

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  18. A lovely neck of the woods. We spent a week near here a few years ago (Alston) and explored all around Hadrian’s Wall and the northern Pennines. We loved it! What a wonderful region to come from and I loved reading about your early years. I had moved three times by the time I was five! I suspect the home of my birth no longer exists.

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  20. The pictures of you and your family look so similar to the ones of our family! They[ve certainly made a nice job of the new hospital – far better than most of them!

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  26. I loved the trip down memory lane. I had never heard of Haltwistle but was a bit disappointed that the name has nothing to do with trains.

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  29. A lovely ‘then and now’ post going back to your roots. It’s interesting that Haltwhistle claims to be the centre of Britain, I’ve always known it to be Dunsop Bridge in the Forest of Bowland, a place I’ve been to and through many times. Indeed the exact central point of Great Britain has been stated by OS to be an area of peat bog on land four miles north west of the village. A good marketing concept for Haltwhistle though 🙂

    https://www.visitlancashire.com/explore/dunsop-bridge

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    • Thanks Eunice! Dunsop Bridge was one of the other places I’d read about. I think it’s something to do with whether you include Orkney or not – Haltwhistle does, and that shifts the longitudinal bisection east. It depends what you call “Britain” I suppose.

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      • I’m with Eunice. I’ve always ubderstood Dunsop Bridge to be the “centre of the Kingdom”. But you’re right. It’s a little like statistics, depending on how you frame the question you get different answers. I think Dunsop Bridge’s claim is based on the island of Great Britain excluding Northern Ireland and the various other islands (although I could be wrong)

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  30. This is so lovely Anabel. I was two and a half when my brother was born, but his was a home birth, so I didn’t have the trauma of not seeing my mum. I do remember getting the presents — supposedly from the baby. 😀

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