Belford, Northumberland

:"This article is about the place in Northumberland, England. For other places with the same name see Belford"infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Belford
latitude= 55.598
longitude= -1.828
population = 1,000
shire_district= Berwick-upon-Tweed
shire_county = Northumberland
region= North East England
constituency_westminster= Berwick-upon-Tweed
post_town= BELFORD
postcode_district = NE70
postcode_area= NE
dial_code= 01668
os_grid_reference= NU108339

Belford is a village in Northumberland, England about halfway between Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed, a few miles inland from the east coast, and just off the Great North Road. It has a population of about 1,000.

The town has a church with a Norman chancel, and the Blue Bell hotel. The 18th century Belford Hall, now residential apartments, has Grade I listed building status.It achieved some momentary fame in April 2000 when protests about the closure of its bank was picked up and used by the mainstream media to illustrate stories of rural decline brought about by bank branch closures.

Belford is surrounded by rich pastoral farmland, and to the west of the village is found one of the better rock climbing locations in the county, Bowden Doors.

In 2008, Belford Junior Football Club was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. [cite web | url= http://www.queensawardvoluntary.gov.uk/winners/northeast08.html | title= 2008 Winners, North East | work= The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service | publisher= The Cabinet Office |accessdate= 2008-06-08]

References

External links

* [http://www.northofthetyne.co.uk/BelfordCastle.html Images of Belford Castle site with history notes]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/705062.stm Village 'devastated' at losing bank] - news from the BBC in April 2000
* [http://www.ukclimbing.com/databases/crags/craginfo.html?id=824 Bowden Doors] described, at UKClimbing.com