No beating about the bush, or tree, or hedgerow - I am in the midst of a passionate love affair with Northumberland.

Since moving here in 2001, I have become smitten by its landscape - the shapes, the colours, the seasons, the light, the sounds - the whole experience of moving through it. Equipped with an aging camera (but not as aged as me) and a cassette recorder, I embarked on a project of walking alongside the rivers of the County. I estimate that it will take about ten years.

I used to work in higher education and, before that, in town planning, and found both to be fulfilling but also frustrating. Walking through Northumberland is simply fulfilling, because its sights are good for the soul.

I hope that you enjoy this project as much as I do. Please SLOW DOWN and savour this web-site. There's too much busyness in the world (don't you think?) and I'd like you to regard this site as a refuge from a hectic lifestyle - a haven from the '9 to 5' as it slides into the '9 to 9'.

Let Northumberland work its magic on you.

Tony Claydon