Barrasford is a village in Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is situated to the north of Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

, on the North Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

. Barrasford is an ancient village that lies within the shadow of Haughton Castle

Haughton Castle

Haughton Castle is a privately owned country mansion situated to the north of the village of Humshaugh on the west bank of the North Tyne. It is some 10 km north of Hexham, Northumberland ....

. The village is notable for being the location of a Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 burial site where The Reaverhill Dagger was excavated in 1964. Today Barrasford is noted for its quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

.

A forgotten community which existed for more than 50 years on isolated moor land in Northumberland has been brought back to life in a major heritage project.
The Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland sanatorium opened in 1907 on the moors above the neighbouring villages of Barrasford and Gunnerton.
It treated victims of tuberculosis at a time when 60, 000 people a year were dying from the disease in England and Wales and the annual mortality rate in Newcastle alone was nearly 600.

Fresh air and high hopes as donors tackle the TB scourge.
The scourge of tuberculosis lent urgency to the need for action in the North East.
In 1902 a subscription fund was set up to finance the building of a sanatorium to treat patients.
William Watson-Armstrong, who became Baron Armstrong after the death of his great uncle Lord Armstrong of Cragside, gave £4000 – equivalent to £350, 000 today.

In 1974 Barrasford was the setting for the "Affairs and Relations" episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?.

Governance

Barrasford is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham

Hexham (UK Parliament constituency)

- Elections in the 2000s :- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Elections in the 1970s :-Notes and references:...

.

Transport

Barrasford was served by Barrasford railway station on the Border Counties Railway

Border Counties Railway

The Border Counties Railway was a railway line in Northumberland, England, with a small section in Roxburghshire, in the Borders region of Scotland. The railway was incorporated in 1854; and was absorbed by the North British Railway on 13 August 1860...

 which linked the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway

Newcastle and Carlisle Railway

The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, occasionally referred to as the Tyne Valley Line, is a railway line in northern England. The line was built in the 1830s, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear with in Cumbria. Formal opening took place on 18 June 1838.The line follows the...

, near Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

, with the Border Union Railway

Border Union Railway

The Border Union Railway was a railway line in south of Scotland. It was authorised on 21 July 1859 and advertised as the Waverley Route by the promoters - the North British Railway...

 at Riccarton Junction

Riccarton Junction railway station

Riccarton Junction, in the county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, was a railway village and station. In its heyday it had 118 residents and its own school, post office and grocery store...

. The first section of the route was opened between Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

 and Chollerford

Chollerford

Chollerford is a village in Northumberland, England. It is situated approximately four miles to the north of Hexham on the B6318 road, not far from Hadrian's Wall. There is a roundabout in the village where the B6318 and B6320 roads meet, and the traffic light-controlled Chollerford Bridge...

 in 1858, the remainder opening in 1862. The line was closed to passengers by British Railways in 1956. Part of the line is now beneath the surface of Kielder Water

Kielder Water

Kielder Water is a large artificial reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, the largest human-made woodland in Europe. It was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise...

.

Notable people

Geoffrey Rippon

Geoffrey Rippon

Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chairman of the European-Atlantic Group....

 - The village was for many years the home of Cabinet Minister Geoffrey Rippon

Geoffrey Rippon

Geoffrey Frederick Rippon, Baron Rippon of Hexham, PC, was a British Conservative politician. He was Chairman of the European-Atlantic Group....

 who had responsibility for negotiating Britain's entry in to the Common Market.
The Dragon

The Dragon

"The Dragon", by the Iraqi poet Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayyati , was originally published in 1996. The translation by Farouk Abdel Wahab, Najat Rahman, and Carolina Hotchandani is from the volume Iraqi Poetry Today 2003, edited by Saadi Simawe."The Dragon" is an example of al-Bayyatis's frequent...

- Breathes fire, eats small children.