Monday, December 8, 2008

Blogging about Northumberland

We are reading so much in the news about how businesses are looking to the internet to make that extra sale and keep their profits healthy. So we wondered how is Northumberland marketed and talked about on the internet? Who is writing about the county? It's not just the large tourist board web sites. They do their bit, advertising accommodation, places of interest and what's on, that's their real job. But we wondered who is talking about the county for the simple reason, they want to?

To help answer this we spent a little time searching through Google to make the following selection. These are not necessarily the best blogs about Northumberland, but what they do is provide a varied cross section of people who are proud to live and work in the North of England, and in their own way they provide a rich fabric for our society.

Wife in the North
. This is probably the most famous blog about Northumberland and certainly the only blog which we know has been turned into a book. Judith O'Reilly's meditations on the perils of moving from London to coastal Northumberland, whilst her husband stays to earn a crust in the City have certainly struck a chord with many people. Although to some of us this is almost a rerun of the temporary popularity of the Peter Mayle books about Provence.

Mary's blog at Barter books
. Most book lovers will know about or will have visited Barter books in Alnwick. What they might not know though is that the owner, Mary, has her own charming blog. Sure enough it's not regularly updated, but hey, working in a place with so many books who would have the time? And the blogs when they come are invariably charming.

Ptyxis, botany and fungi. This was a real surprise. Who would have thought that the fungi and mold growing on trees could be so interesting? John and Clare O'Reilly ( no relation to Judith...from wife in the north?) live and work in and around Haltwhistle. Their life seems to revolve around ecology and in particular fungi. So what's so interesting? Well, they blog about their walks in the woods, what they find and then show their photographs. So you start to think...yes , I went on that walk, I've probably been passed that tree and next time I'm out with the dog I'm going to have a closer look!

The blog ecelectic. Strange, one this. It mixes Buddhism and business, but with more down to earth common sense than the average improve yourself book. There aren't a lot of posts to browse through and we found the navigation a little quirky, but yes, this was a blog we would recommend and one which is truly set in the north east.

The Blog on the Tyne. For all of us who remember Lindisfarne, the band not the Island that is. We couldn't really talk about blogs and miss out the over riding passion Geordies seem to have for their football club. This blog looked like one of the better ones but not being followers of NUFC we felt unable to judge here. For all those Northumbrian ex-pats out there it will be one not to miss.


Newcastle photos. This is what the web allows you to do. Take one area, say photos of Newcastle, and then indulge yourself as much as you want. Great to see the pictures of places you know and over time sites like this will become the key resource for historical images of the city growing and changing.

These are only 6 of our random choices covering a huge cross section of subjects. If you have a particular hobby or interest try typing it into Google with the words "in Northumberland" at the end. You never know, you may find your passion in the north east!!

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