Haltwhistle enjoys its status as the ‘Centre of Britain’. All main compass bearings have equidistant opposites. So, for example, it is 290 miles north to North Orkney and south to Portland Bill; 36 miles west to Bowness-on-Solway and east to Wallsend. Haltwhistle is equidistant from the extremities of the British Isles: 370 miles to Shetland, Jersey, Scilly Isles, Fastnet and Bantry Bay. A whinstone monument in the town centre acknowledges that the Romans extracted coal from the area, and that there has been mining and quarrying ever since. Throughout the Middle Ages Haltwhistle was at the heart of the feuding which formed a constant ordeal of robbery, murder, kidnap and arson for the people of the border regions. Because of this, many houses had thick stone walls and entrances on two floors: the ground floor doorway led to the basement, where animals and supplies were defended; the first floor doorway to the living quarters, reached by a ladder which could be drawn up in order to fend off raiders. There are lots of these houses in Haltwhistle. You need a keen eye to spot them, with their thick walls, their corbelled parapets, and their stone plinths.