Hopping Mad

I'm not sure Northumberland is as undiscovered as once it was - as holiday cottage rental rates indicate. Berwick has its detractors but I've always liked the place. As for the South East, well, Whitstable has been mentioned. Parts of Rochester are OK, Canterbury is decent, bits of Broadstairs and Deal are pleasant enough, Lewes is a nice little town and Rye is very twee.

Got a soft spot for Annan and Kirkby Stephen, myself.

Wow, so much choice. I'll nominate Blyth, Bridgwater, Burnley, Caerphilly, Crewe, Dover, Keighley, Kettering, Middlesbrough, Morecambe, Redcar, Redruth, Scunthorpe, Sittingbourne, Wrexham.

You certainly can. I had an ex who'd lived in Folkestone. She still shuddered about the place 20 years later.

A few favourites (which I don't think have appeared yet): Aberaeron, Alnmouth, Appleby, Bridgnorth, Filey, King's Lynn (the older bits), Nantwich, Peebles, Penzance-Newlyn, Saltburn, Stamford, Stirling, Stonehaven, Tynemouth, Ulverston.

Mmm. Salford City FC - NWCL football and crowds less than a hundred - were a bit of a joke before the Class of 92 came along. Now, they've got a smart stadium (the sort that would suit Salford RL!) and Football League status. The day I went to SFC, I found myself sitting next to a woman who'd watched the club in its NWCL days. She was thrilled by the turn of events!

http://oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/158/roughyeds/122463/oldham-fan-andy-bags-top-rfl-job

No mention for Peter Stoddart (Cumbria, Whitehaven and Workington)?

Not Super League but a shout out for Norman Lofthouse, a Whitehaven and Cumbria wing of the late Eighties/early Nineties. He'd run through a brick wall, that lad. Norman had alopecia as a child hence his hairlessness. Being on the wing, he'd take some stick from the opposition fans. Didn't seem to faze him. Middle of the middle row in this Haven team pic...

It's Brough Park, in the Byker district of Newcastle, still used by Newcastle Diamonds speedway team and for dog racing. Only one side, where the grandstand is, remains open to spectators.

There's certainly a void to fill between amateur teams in North Yorkshire and amateur teams in County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. Teesside Steelers were a successful ARL club, based at the Billingham RU ground. Shame they folded. With more rugby league activity in the North East now, a Teesside (i.e. Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton) club or clubs would be less isolated. The ARL club at Yarm seem to be thriving (at youth level, at least). That's virtually on Middlesbrough's doorstep.

Is rugby union 'normal for Norfolk'?

Wouldn't joining the university's athletics club make more sense?

Bridlington Bulls (playing on the RU club's ground) lasted a few seasons, certainly longer than semi-pro Scarborough Pirates. IIRC, Les Dyl set up the amateur team in Brid. Not sure about 'sea air' in central Newcastle!

I'm sure Swindon is lovely (at least to railway enthusiasts). In Swindon, I stayed in the worst (the absolute worst, by a country mile) B&B I've ever stayed in. It was called (IIRC) Roses. No choice because the Fairford (?) air show had left the town booked up. I didn't hang around for breakfast. Thirty years on, I still shudder at the memory.