The area is steeped in history and a welcome lunch is taken at Duncan's nearby coffee house where the 18th century landscape gardener Capability Brown served his apprenticeship and grew Northumbrian melons. Real ale from the 2 man Wylam brewery is served with genuinely homemade food. The bicycle collection and giant model railway fill in the time between the Roman wall beef casserole and the homemade plum crumble. Duncan's pictures hang from the walls because his wife won't have them in the house.