FY
OU8217Dhad 163
20,000
in
1960,you
could8217vebought
CloseHouse.
Considering
my
parents
paid
about
1634,000
for
ab
og s
tandard s
emi
just
afew
years
later
8211 t
hat8217s
not
ab
adp
rice!
Now
this
impressivecountr
y
pile
in
Heddon-on-the
Wa
ll,
Nort
humberland,is
no
doubt
wort
h
severalm
illion
pounds.I8217d
heardo
f
CloseHousebut
never
visited
before,
so s
taying t
he
night
withm
y
part
ner
in
Ma
y
was
a r
eal t
reat.
One
or
tw
of
riends
had
considered
CloseHousef
or
their
wedding
,b
ut
as
it
only
had s
even
bedrooms,they
werep
ut
off.
However
after
recently
closing
for
refurbishment,it
no
w
boasts
19
sumptuous
bedrooms
which s
hould
boost
its
appealf
or
weddings.It8217s
also t
he
perfect
locatio
nf
or
a s
pecial
occasion w
here y
ou
cani
ndulge y
our
lottery
w
in
fantasies
and
imagi
ne
bein
gLordand
Ladyof t
he
Manor
for
the w
eekend.
You
don8217
t,ho
wever,have t
obea
lottery
w
inner
to s
tay
hereas
dinner,
bed
and
breakfast
for
tw
oi
s
163200
a
night.Just
16320
extragets
you
the
specialcelebration
package w
ith
drinks
in t
he
drawing r
oom
on
arr
ival
plus
ac
hilled
bottle
of
champagne
and
gorgeous
tr
uffles
waiting
for
you
in y
our
room.
And w
hat
a r
oom
it
was.The r
ich
and
opulent
interior
of
chocolate
brownand
emerald
green
looked
like
it
hadl
eapt
from t
he
covers
of
a
glossy
magazine
and
instantly
made
me w
ant
to r
edecoratebackh
ome!
Within
10
minutes
the
dinky
chocolateg
ift
box
lay
empty
,the
champagne
corkh
adbeen
popped
and w
e w
erebusy
filling t
he s
pace-
age
ba
thi
n t
he
huge
en s
uitecladi
n
luxur
ious
hotel
ba
throbes.It
was
definitely
a"this
is
the
life"
moment.
Ha
vin
g s
kipped
lunch t
o r
eally
build u
panappetite,wecert
ainly
weren8217
t
disappointed w
ith t
he
food,
described
on t
he w
ebsiteas
"very
seasonal,modernand w
itha s
trong
Frenchi
nfluence."
For
start
ers
Iopted
for
the
delicious
baked
goats
cheesecrottin
withFrenchbeanand w
alnut
salad
drizzled
in
beetroot
syr
up w
hile
my
part
ner8217s
dishconsisted
of t
hree
part
s
8211a t
iano
fblack t
ea s
moked s
almon,
amini
pancake w
ithca
viar
and
creme
fraiche
plus
a s
hot
of v
odka
and s
oy.
Hef
ollo
wed t
his
withafillet
of
aged
Nort
humberland
beef w
ith
bone
marr
ow
cru
st,panacalty
cake,
braised
leeks
and
Newcastle
Brown
Ale s
auce.
Ic
hose t
he
poche-g
rille
monkfishl
oin
in
pancetta w
ith
cru
shed
potatoes
(mashed t
o y
ou
and
me),young s
pinachand
pea
puree.
Both w
eree
xcellent
and r
ight
up t
herei
nm
y
dining-out
top
five.
Although t
he
dessert
choices
were
pretty
varied,webothp
lumped
for
a
chocolateo
ption
-h
ot
chocolate
fondant
withi
ced t
arr
agon
parfait
for
him
and w
hitechocolate t
ru
ffle,
orange
compoteand
cocoaicecream
for
me.
Ib
egan t
o w
onder
why
I8217d
left
that
last
tr
uffle
in t
he r
oom
for
later.
All
in
all,C
loseHousei
s
a
fantastic v
enuei
f y
ou
want
top
ull
out
all t
he s
tops
and t
reat
someone
special8211and
all t
his
just
15
minutes
from
Newcastle
City
Centre.
LO
OKING
FOR
AL
UXURIOUS
GET
AWA
YW
ITHIN
EASY
REACH
OF
NEWCASTLE?
KA
REN
WILSON
FOUND
THE
NEWL
YR
EFURBISHED
CL
OSE
HOUSE
COUNTRY
CL
UB
THE
IDEAL
LO
VERS
RETREA
T.HOME
I
Close t
oTRA
VELFA
CTSTHE
HISTORY
CloseHouse w
as
built
for
the
Bewicke
family
in
1779although
amonastichouse
stood
on t
he s
itef
rom t
he
early
thirteenth
century
.
It
was
owned
by
Newcastle
Univesity
from
1960
tobeforei
t
was
bought
by
localbusinessmanGrahamWylie, w
ho
has
developed t
he
now
renamed
Close
HouseCountry
Club, w
hicho
pened
in
March 2
005.
FA
CILITIES
As
well
as
the
19
bedrooms,it
has
a
restaurant,c
onferenceand
meeting
rooms,privated
ining
facilities,drawing
room,b
ar
and
an1
8-hole
golf
courseas
well
as
being
licensed t
oh
ost
civil
wedding
ceremonies
and r
eceptions.
CELEBRA
TION
BREAK
The
Celebration
Breaki
ncludes
an
overnight
stay
at
CloseHousef
or
163220
per
room.
This
includes
complimentary
drinks
on
arrivali
n t
he
lounge,c
hilled
champagne
and
chocolates
in y
our
suite,
luxury
bathrobes
and s
lippers,dinner
served
in t
he
Bewickes
Restaurant,a
complimentary
newspaper
and
full
Englishbreakfast.
WHERE
IS
IT?
CloseHouseCountry
Club,
Heddon
on
the
Wa
ll,N
ewcastle
Upon
Tyne,N
E15
0HT
.Tel:(01661)
852255,
www
.closehouse.co.uk,email
events@closehouse.co.uk.
HOW
TO
FIND
IT
:
From t
he
A1/A69 r
oundabout
Close
HouseCountry
Clubis
approximately
7
miles.Follow
the
A69 w
est
for
4m
iles
until t
he
junction
marked
CloseHouse
(B6528).
At
the
junction, t
urnl
eft.Close
HouseCountry
Clubis
signposted
(on
the r
ight)f
rom
here.CITYLIVING69
Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40Page 41Page 42Page 43Page 44Page 45Page 46Page 47Page 48Page 49Page 50Page 51Page 52Page 53Page 54Page 55Page 56Page 57Page 58Page 59Page 60Page 61Page 62Page 63Page 64Page 65Page 66Page 67Page 68Page 69Page 70Page 71Page 72Page 73Page 74Page 75Page 76Page 77Page 78Page 79Page 80 Produced by PageSuite