Chris is king of the castle with new job; New administrator at top tourist attraction.Byline: By Tony Henderson IT is taking a while for Chris Calvert and family to become accustomed to the fact that home is now one of the North's great castles. Chris is the new administrator of Bamburgh Castle Bamburgh Castle is an imposing castle located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland, England (grid reference NU184350). History Built on a basalt outcrop, the castle was known to the native Britons as Din Guardi in Northumberland and the job comes with quarters at the fortress, where he has just moved in with wife Grazia, a holistic therapist, and children Otello, 11, and Wallace, 10. He said: "We wake up in the morning and we have to tell each other we are not on holiday, especially when we can just walk out on to the beach." Chris's job is to oversee the day-to-day running of the tourist attraction Noun 1. tourist attraction - a characteristic that attracts tourists attractive feature, magnet, attractor, attracter, attraction - a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts; "flowers are an attractor for bees" , which draws 120,000 visitors a year and is owned by the Watson-Armstrong family, who inherited it from Lord Armstrong of Cragside. Chris, who comes from Kirkby Stephen Coordinates: Kirkby Stephen is a small market town in Cumbria, England. It was historically part of Westmorland. It is located on the A685. The River Eden, rises 6 miles away in the fells above Mallerstang Dale, and passes east of the town centre. in Cumbria, remembers visiting Bamburgh as a boy on a family holiday. He has arrived at Bamburgh in the steps of St Aidan. Chris worked for Historic Scotland Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Executive, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland. Its website states:
When King Oswald of Bernicia called on the monastery of Iona for a spiritual guide who would help him convert his people to Christianity, it was St Aidan who came to the king's base at Bamburgh and who worked from Lindisfarne. Chris later managed the Borders heritage sites of Hermitage Castle Hermitage Castle is a semi-ruined castle in the border region of Scotland. It is under the care of Historic Scotland. The Castle has a reputation, both from its history and its appearance, as one of the most sinister and atmospheric in Scotland. in Newcastleton, Smailholm Tower and Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose abbeys. He has taken over at Bamburgh from Ronald Bewley, who has retired after 12 years in the post. During his time as administrator at the castle, Ronald, with wife Lorraine and daughters Rachel and Lucy, welcomed over a million visitors and brought hundreds of couples together with the introduction of weddings. There are now between 200 and 300 weddings a year at the castle. Ronald, who lives at Wall near Hexham, took up the job at Bamburgh after working as a police detective based in Alnwick. He said: "The castle was an absolutely fabulous place to work. It is everybody's dream job and there are thousands of years of history there." CAPTION(S): SETTLING IN: Chris Calvert is the new administrator of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. Picture: Lewis Arnold www.icNewcastle.co.uk/buyaphoto ref: 00960133 |
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