I will be joining other Northern & Borders artists & makers at this inaugural art & craft fair in the Pele Tower. The village of Cresswell, a popular tourist destination, sits at the southern end of the magnificent Druridge Bay in Northumberland. The impressive sandstone tower dominates the little village. Pele towers were built between 1350 and 1600 and were miniature castles built as a defensible retreat against attacks from the Border Reivers. At a time when the rest of England was generally peaceful and prosperous, the border folk needed the thick-walled bastle houses and pele towers simply to survive. Cresswell Pele Tower is a well preserved example, one of only two in preservation and open to the public, thanks to recent excavations and an extensive renovation by Cresswell Pele Tower Trust.
