NORTHUMBERLAND is widely regarded as Britain’s best kept holiday secret, with its brooding castles, spectacular coastline and hauntingly beautiful moorlands where lead miners and Roman legionnaires once trod.

But there’s more to England’s most northerly county than Roman ruins and deserted beaches.

For discerning diners are moving out of the towns and cities to take advantage of some top quality cuisine in the country house hotels, restaurants and pubs of the county.

The wild North Sea which pounds against the silver sands is home to some of the choicest seafood in the country, and there is nothing finer than tucking into a fillet of fish so fresh it is almost still wriggling.

Go inland, and the moors are studded with sheep, nibbling at the heather shoots which give the local lamb its unique flavour, while tucked away in the forests are shy deer, which provide delicious venison.

The country’s great estates provide other game, as well as prime cattle which yield beef of the highest quality.

This is the raw material upon which the county’s talented chefs and cooks work their magic in kitchens throughout the county, making a meal in any of Northumberland’s many eateries a totally unforgettable experience.