Haltwhistle

Parishes to the South

Villages

To the South of Haltwhistle are the North Pennines, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The villages of the beautiful South Tyne Valley and the North Pennines, are in outstanding walking country and offer the chance to see rarities such as Black Grouse and Hen Harriers. Park Village's cottages cluster around the tiny chapel in the village. The little bypass means that the flowers can continue to bloom on the road's edge out of reach of most passing traffic now. Below Park Village lies Featherstone Camp. In the early 1940s, a training camp for American troops was built beside the river at Featherstone. It was nicknamed "Death Valley" by the inmates because of its isolated location, but the Americans soon made way for Italian prisoners of war and then "intransigent" German Officers. Between 1945 and 1948 some 25,000 Germans were housed at Featherstone camp. There were many compounds surrounded by barbed wire and watch towers. The camp was highly regarded and was one of the six most successful rehabilitation camps in the country, known as the "camp of confidence" and also as "the University on the Tyne." The regime was relaxed in 1945 when Lt Col Vickers became Commandant; the divisions, watch towers and barbed wire disappeared to be replaced by parole, voluntary labour outside the camp, workshops and political or cultural courses. The role of Captain Sulzbach, the camp interpreter from 1946, was important in the success of the camp to rehabilitate prisoners. He was a Jewish refugee from Germany who had been decorated by the German Emperor in World War One and went on to be awarded the OBE by King George VI for "dedicating himself to making this camp a seed bed of British-German reconciliation." There were three orchestras and two theatres in the camp and instruction in all modern and classical languages. Toys and puppet-shows helped local children through the war and post-war years! Remains of the camp survive today as foundations and a scattering of brick buildings in the parkland and visitors come regularly from Germany to maintain the spirit of friendship.