ONE-OFF occasions at some of the North East’s best beauty spots are to go on offer to help people to solve their present-buying problems this Christmas.
The National Trust in the region is to auction experiences such as a candle-lit dinner for two at the top of Souter Lighthouse in Whitburn in South Tyneside.
Lighthouse cook Lynn Bays will provide the meal and there is also the option of an overnight stay in the trust’s adjacent holiday cottage.
“It will be a dinner with a magnificent sea view,” said a trust spokeswoman.
A wedding with up to 60 guests with canapes and drinks at Washington Old Hall will also be open for bids, while a Georgian dinner for the winning bidder and eight guests will also be laid on at the trust’s 18th Century Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland.
Dinner will be served in the West Wing dining room of the hall, with drinks beforehand in the drawing room.
The team of wardens on the Farne Islands will wade in to pick up successful bidders for two personalised tours. One will be of the islands’ grey seal colony and the other will focus on the birdlife, especially the puffin colony.
There will also be a behind-the-scenes tour of Cragside in Northumberland. The trust is still working on other ideas to add to the list. The auction begins on eBay on November 22 with the full list of lots being announced the day before. All funds raised will go towards helping the National Trust’s work.
The project is being managed by Simon Lee, the trust’s new property manager for Lindisfarne Castle and the Northumberland Coast.
He said: “As a charity the trust is always looking for new ways to raise funds for the places we look after. The auction is about us offering people unique experiences so that we are able to upkeep some of the region’s most precious landscapes and historic buildings.” The final details of all auction lots are being put together in the next two weeks before the bidding goes live. Bidding will end on November 29.
Simon said: “This is an opportunity to buy somebody a truly one-off Christmas gift that they will never forget, and at the same time, put money to a good cause by supporting local conservation.”
Men are being encouraged to bid for a weekend stay in a National Trust cottage on Lindisfarne. The idea is that the winner can take his girlfriend on a stroll to Lindisfarne Castle, where the doors will be opened and champagne served. The couple will then be led into the castle dining room for dinner.
“After such a memorable evening, it would be the ideal opportunity to propose,” said trust bids organiser Simon Lee. The trust’s Gibside estate near Rowlands Gill will lay on a night’s stay in a Mongolian yurt and badger watching with a ranger.
There will be a two-night stay in a trust cottage on Hadrian’s Wall and a tour with a ranger.
A walk around the top of Penshaw Monument near Sunderland is also on offer.
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