Falstone

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Just eight miles from the Border at the south end of Kielder Water, the pretty village of Falstone was once the main dwelling of the troublesome Robsons.
John Robson of the Falstone was the heidsman of the primary Robson ‘grayne’ or family branch, from 1535 to 1552. Other lines where headed up by Cuddy Lyell ‘Couer de Lion’ Robson of Yarrowhall, Geoffrey Robson of the Belling and Symont Robson of Langhaugh.
Henry and John Robson once lived in the pele at Falstone and may have been the brothers that once famously raided over the border into Graham territory, lifted their sheep and brought them back into Northumberland. Unfortunately, the Graham’s sheep had scab, which infected the Robsons own flock, so they went back over the Border, hung seven Grahams in retribution and left a sign saying: “The next time gentlemen came to take your sheep, they are not to be scabbed.”
There are records of the North Tyne Robsons being involved in murder and villainy as far back as 1293.
Kielder Water and Forest Park was created in the 1970s when a dam was built and the valley flooded to create the reservoir which is almost six miles long and two miles wide and is now a major visitor attraction with around 250,000 people a year enjoying the leisure facilities including mountain biking, walking and boating.
The nearby Kielder Observatory is home to Northumberland’s ‘Darker Skies’ project.

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