The prize
The winner and a guest will stay for two nights, B&B, in the magnificent Chapel suite at the Cookie Jar in Alnwick. This chic and boutiquey property rambles through a former convent at the gates of Alnwick Castle, and the Chapel is its iconic guest room.
The enormous suite has a giant bed, a copper bath and stained-glass windows, while the decor mixes 21st-century luxury with a handsome colour scheme of many shades of blue. Several of the other bedrooms look onto the Duke of Northumberland’s battlements.
Beyond the hotel’s front door, Northumberland’s fine sandy beaches and evocative monuments beckon — Bamburgh, Lindisfarne and Hadrian’s Wall among them. For details visit cookiejaralnwick.com.
The hotel plans to reopen on July 4, for residents only, in accordance with government guidelines. Thereafter, the prize must be taken before May 31, 2021, subject to availability and excluding public holidays, December 20 to January 2 and Valentine’s Day.
The clue
I couldn’t help but tut. Friend had turned up dressed like Indiana Jones. “Last time I checked, Harrison Ford wasn’t born here,” I sighed. But Friend wasn’t going to let me rain on his fancy-dress parade. After a little digging, he’d discovered that one of his heroes had lived for a time in this pretty market town, and that his life’s great passion was sparked in a nearby mansion.
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“Can we go?” he asked eagerly, about the big house. “Sorry. It was pulled down nearly 70 years ago,” I tell him. “How about we see some ancient graves instead? They’re 11½ miles south of here — in an area once described as an ‘absolute desert’.” Indy’s ears pricked up at the sound of that. But then I read further in my guidebook. “Oh wait, they’re actually mines. Shall we go anyway?” I looked up, and was met by Friend’s flinty glare. “No.”
“All right then, 8½ miles north-northwest of the mines we’ve got some fine tombs in the remains of a parish church,” I suggested. “It’s just 230 yards from a second, moated house.”
“How old?” asked Friend. “The house? Nearly 540 years,” I told him. But he wanted to stay put and look for signs of his hero.
“Surely this town has a museum?” he asked. It did, just south of the Buttercross. Even better, it contained a room dedicated to his hero’s work. Friend was so pleased that he broke into a ridiculous walk and sang about sand dances — referencing a song from as far back as 1986.
A couple of children gaped in wonder. I, on the other hand, felt cursed.
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Enter the competition
Can’t see the competition form? Enter at thesundaytimes.co.uk/wherewasi
Last week’s prize
The answers are St Mary & St Nicholas and Old Sarum. Dan Thompson of Greater London wins a gourmet break near Oxford as a guest of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.