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The stone terraces of BELLINGHAM (pronounced Bellinjum) slope up from the banks of the Tyne on the eastern edge of the Northumberland National Park. It's a restful spot set in splendid rural surroundings, and it contains the medieval Church of St Cuthbert , which has an unusual stone-vaulted roof - designed (successfully) to prevent raiding Border reivers from burning the church to the ground. The Heritage Centre just east of the village centre on Woodburn Road (May-Sept Mon & Fri-Sun 10.30am-4.30pm; GBP1) has more on this turbulent period. Buses stop in the centre on Market Place, a few hundred yards down from the helpful tourist office on Main Street (Mon-Sat 9.30am-1pm & 2-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; tel 01434/220616). Central lodgings are available at the modern, en-suite Lyndale Guest House (tel 01434/220361, ; GBP40-50), just past the Rose & Crown pub. Westfield House , a large Victorian residence with fine views at the west end of the village (tel 01434/220340, westfield.house@virgin.net ; GBP50-60), is rather grander, and serves a good dinner to guests. Bellingham's pubs - the Rose & Crown , the Black Bull and the Cheviot - all have a few rooms, too; those at the Cheviot (tel 01434/220696; GBP50-60) are the nicest. Swankiest choice in Bellingham is Riverdale Hall Hotel (tel 01434/220254, iben@riverdal ehall.demon.co.uk ; GBP70-90), a nineteenth-century country house on the village's western edge, with an indoor swimming pool and extensive grounds. The youth hostel (tel 01434/220313, ) has simple self-catering facilities in a primitive-looking hut some six hundred yards from the centre of the village on Woodburn Road (signposted from Main Street). The local campsite is at Demesne Farm (tel 01434/220258; closed Nov-Feb), right in the centre near the police station.
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