Today we are launching the first in our series of Blighty Guides. Throughout the series we will be focusing on British towns and cities. Being rather orderly types we will start with the letter A and work through the alphabet. Therefore, today’s featured town is Alnwick.

The first thing to know about Alnwick is that it isn’t pronounced Anne Wick or Alan Wick. It is pronounced Hogwarts. The castle of the same name that overlooks the town was originally built in the 11th century. For much of its history Alnwick Castle was owned by the Percy family. They ruled over northern England and endeavoured to keep out Melvyn Braveheart and his merry band of transvestite men from over the border in Australia. During these terrible conflicts the castle was ravaged. It had to be restored in the 18th century. Today it is a private school for mentally disturbed children.

In 2002 the town won the accolade of being The Most Bearable Town North of Henley-on-Thames by Moneyed Life magazine. It was particularly commended for being cheap and having a nice castle to look at. It was also considered far enough away from those grimy industrial towns that the judges were reluctant to stay in.

Apart from the castle, places to visit while in the area are, the Northumberland National Park with it’s popular paddling pool and ornate bandstand, the picturesque coastline to the east where you can make ice lollies in the breeze and the rather good secondhand bookshop at the railway station where you can shelter from the rain.

All in all Alnwick is well worth the visit. Just watch out for those weird kids!