Children follow in Earl Grey's footsteps from Howick Hall

Jul 7 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

PRIME Minister and Northumberland landowner Earl Grey set a test of courage for each of his 15 children. And on Friday people will have the chance to follow in the Grey children’s footsteps in a special commemorative event.

Earl Grey, who stands on top of his monument in the centre of Newcastle, had been taken to see a public execution as a boy and the experience gave him nightmares for the rest of his life.

So he devised a method to cure his children of any fear of the dark.

At the first July full moon after their 10th birthday, they were required to make the one and a half mile Long Walk in the dark from the family seat of Howick Hall to the coast.

To prove they had accomplished the task, the children had to bring their father a white flower, called Grass of Parnassus, which grows on the coastal dunes and flowers in July.

On Friday the Howick estate is staging a Moonlight Walk along the same route, led by head gardener Robert Jamieson. The aim will also be to hopefully locate the flower on what is now a site of special scientific interest between Sugar Sands and Cullernose Point.

Robert said: “It will give people a taste of what is was like for the Grey children.”