Felton, Northumberland

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 55.298
longitude= -1.707
official_name= Felton
population = est.600
shire_district= Alnwick
region= North East England
shire_county = Northumberland
constituency_westminster= Berwick-upon-Tweed
post_town= MORPETH
postcode_district = NE65
postcode_area= NE
dial_code= 01670
os_grid_reference= NU185005

Felton is a small village in north Northumberland in North East England. Felton is situated about 10 miles south of the town of Alnwick, and 9 miles north of Morpeth. The nearest city is Newcastle upon Tyne (24 miles away) and the Scottish border is about an hour away.

Felton has two bridges crossing the River Coquet. One is very old (approx 500 years), and the other was built in 1926. The older bridge is closed to traffic, and is often used for village events.

Felton has a close community centred around events in the village, spread across the calendar. Every summer Felton has a fair and a fun run around the village, whilst a pantomime was performed in the village hall for the ninth time this year.

Felton has two shops; a newsagents and coffee shop, and the other a post office and village store. It also has a hairdressers and doctors surgery. The Village magazine, The Bridge, was first published a few years ago, and is delivered to the villagers bimonthly.

Felton also has a very successful football team called Felton FC, mainly known for the fans that support them. The Felton Ultras are a gang of Felton FC fans and have been described as the "Best Sunday league football fans in the world" by local legend Tom Hopper. After every game, they are known to frequent the resident local The Stags Head.

Education

Felton Church of England First School has served the village for years and plays a vital role in the village community, organisng and holding events. It serves children between the ages of 3 to 9, from where they go on to the middle school, Lindisfarne Middle School in Alnwick.

They also have a very successful Football School where many youngsters are made into the next star player of the local team Felton Fc. also many of the players from the team come to the "Soccer School" and give the youngsters tips and knowledge.

port

A speedway training track operated near Felton in the late 1970s. Trainees particpated in junior league type events against fellow Northern England and Scottish tracks.

On 27 April 2008 Felton FC, the local football team, won the Morpeth Sunday League Division 4. [ [http://www.morpethsundayleague.org/div4.html Morpeth Sunday league division 4, 2008 table] ]

Communications

Road

Felton lies adjacent to the A1, the main national north/south trunk road, providing easy access to Newcastle upon Tyne (24 miles south) and to the Scottish capital Edinburgh (100 miles north).

Rail

The main East Coast railway link between Edinburgh (journey time approximately 1:10) and London (journey time approximately 3:45) runs via the nearby Alnmouth for Alnwick Station, with a weekday service of 15 trains per day north to Edinburgh and 13 trains per day south to London.

Air

Newcastle Airport lies around 45 minutes drive-time away, and provides 19 daily flights to London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and London City), with regular flights to other UK centres. The airport also operates regular flights to many European destinations, along with destinations in Africa and North America.

E.M. Forster

The notable novelist's Uncle Willie lived at Acton House, near Felton. Forster spent part of the summer with him for several years around 1900. He wrote a letter from there on 27 July 1899:

'Yesterday I went to Bamborough (sic) saw the castle and tombs of my ancestors - I've no reason to suppose they are, though the name is the same and the arms similar, but Bamborough is such a nice cradle for one's race that I shall always call them mine. Then I paddled on the deserted beach...'

Forster, by his own account, used Acton House as a model for Cadover in his own favourite novel The Longest Journey (1907). This was Forster's most autobiographical work, in which, again by his own account, the character of Mrs Failing owes something to Uncle Willie. [ [http://www.seaham.i12.com/myers/m-forster1.html Forster in Felton] ]

References