296 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Marseilles. Soractimcs 300 colliers leave the Tyne on the same tide. But in 

 order to develop this immense traffic, Newcastle has been compelled to expend largo 

 sums in improvements of every description. It maintains more than 250 tugs on the 

 Tyne, as well as numerous pilot-boats off the mouth of the river. Formerly the 

 mouth of the Tyne was obstructed by a bar, and up to 1849 vessels drawing over 

 6 feet of water were unable to enter. But dredges were sot to work, and not only 

 has a depth of 26 feet been secured at low water, but the scour of the river has 

 swept away many sand-banks, and the strong tidal current which now asccmds 

 the river has revived the salmon fisheries, which the poisonous streams discharged 

 by numerous factories had nearly killed. The mouth of no other river, not even 

 excepting that of the Clyde, has been adapted with greater success to the require- 

 ments of navigation. 



Ascending the river Tyne above Newcastle, we pass the village of Wylam, where 

 George Stephenson was born, and reach Hexham, a quaint old town below the con- 

 fluence of the South and North Tyne, with a fine old abbey church, a grammar 

 school, and a little industrj'. The South Tyne, though rich in picturesque scenery, 

 is poor in population. Allendale, in a side valley, has lead mines ; Haltwistle is but 

 a poor place ; and Alston, with its productive lead mines, though geographically 

 within the county, belongs politically to Cumberland (see p. 289). 



Far more interesting is the small town of BclUngham, on the North Tyne. 

 Its environs abound in square camps, and a few miles to the north of it was fought 

 the battle of Otterhuvn (1388), supposed to be referred to in the famous ballad of 

 " Chevy Chase." 



Returning to Tynemouth and proceeding northward along the coast, we pass 

 the fishing village of Cullercoats ; Hartley, well known for its excellent coal ; and 

 Bh/tli, a watering-place no less than a coal-shijDping port. Con-pen, near it, has 

 collieries, as have also Cramlington and Seghlll, situated a few miles inland, but 

 Bedlington is the great mining centre of the district. 



Morpeth is a quaint old town on the Wansbeck, with the remains of a castle. 

 A little flannel is woven, and collieries are worked in its vicinity. These are 

 nearly the last met with in the north of England, and the beautiful valley of the 

 Coquet is wholly devoted to agriculture. Rothhury, its chief market town, is 

 inferior in population to the busy hives in the manufacturing and mining districts, 

 but yields to none in the beauty of its environs. Old camps abound in its vicinity, 

 and about a mile to the west is a peel tower, one of many which formerly 

 defended the Scottish borders.* Warkicorth, a village at the mouth of the Coquet, 

 is remarkable for the noble ruins of one of the strongholds of the Percys. 



AlmcicJc, on the Aln, 4 miles above its mouth at the bathing village of Aln- 

 mouth, is a quaint old town under the modernised castle of the Duke of Northum- 

 berland. This castle contains valuable paintings and collections of various kinds, and 

 the park which surrounds it forms one of the great attractions of the neighbourhood. 



The coast of Northumberland, to the north of the Aln and as far as Budle 

 Bay, is bounded by limestone cliffs, and at a few places by basalt. On one such 

 * Peel tower, derived from pila, a stake, pillar, statue. 



