Northumberland businesses gear up for bumper Easter weekend

Katie Cole has been to some of Northumberland's top tourist attractions as they open their doors for the Easter season.

Businesses in Northumberland are gearing up for a bumper bank holiday weekend as the Easter holidays begin.

Easter is among the busiest time of the year for tourism, bringing a boost to the local economy.

Ad Gefrin is Northumberland's newest visitor attraction in Wooler, and it houses an Anglo Saxon museum as well as the region's first single malt whiskey distillery.

This weekend the family run distillery is marking its first anniversary and is hoping to get the season off to a great start, after visitor numbers exceeded expectations last year.

The whiskey distillery has had more than 65,000 people visit in its first year. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees.

Chris Ferguson from Ad Gefrin said: "We've had people travel from north America and east Asia because they are interested in the medieval history story that we tell, but they are also interested in the whiskey.

"We've got a vast appeal and that's what makes us a bit different."

"We've really outperformed what we thought our visitor numbers would be, we've had 65,000 people come and see us in the last twelve months and we're looking forward to even more than that coming this year."

Oscar Elliot-Selkirk works at Ad Gefrin and says the tourist attraction has bought life to the community. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees.

There are 65 employees at Ad Gefrin, most of whom are from Wooler. They say the new attraction has done a lot for the town.

"Beforehand there wasn't a lot going on in Wooler," said Oscar Elliot-Selkirk works at the site.

"It was quite a quiet town and most people would only come here for a walk with the dog, but now its become a real destination. It's brought so many jobs to the place but not only that, it's bought life to the community."

Alnwick Castle saw lots of visitors on its first day of the season. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees.

Among the venues opening up their doors today (29 March) is Alnwick Castle, which has welcomed visitors for the first time this year after being closed for the winter season.

The Castle, which has been has been closed since October, saw 1,700 people pass through its doors by midday.

Catherine Neil from Alnwick Castle told ITV Tyne Tees: "The four day weekend is a big boost for tourism as it focuses people in terms of coming away."

"There's a lot of holiday cottages, hotels, campsites and glamping sites all over north Northumberland.

"I think on those bank holidays (four day ones) its not just those coming from a long way away. People may come on a two or three day break, but I also think families think 'we've got a long weekend lets go out for the weekend and do something on one of those days.'"

One family visiting the attraction for the day said they plan on making trips to other well known Northumberland areas over the weekend too.

"We're staying in a caravan and we're going to go out to Lindisfarne tomorrow as part of a four day weekend in the area. The north gets a bad name but I tell you it's the best place to be."

Another lady from Reading had chosen to visit Alnwick Castle because she had seen the Harry Potter films.

With more dry and sunny weather predicted over the weekend, it is hoped a high footfall will continue across the rest of the Easter weekend.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...