The triumph of Northumbria: An Anglo-Celtic kingdom - ideas for a possible TL

In the 7th century Northumbria was the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom, to be replaced by Mercia in the 8th century, and Wessex in the 10th and 11th centuries after the Danish/Viking invasions. I would like to explore ideas of how Northumbria could become the foundation kingdom of England instead of Wessex, and is now the dominant nation in what is now called Britain in OTL. Its capital city would be in the area of the historic kingdom of Northumbria - such as Durham or York or Edinburgh or *Newcastle-on-Tyne.

So how could the decline of Northumbria in the 8th century have been prevented? Here are some possible PODs:
King Ecgfrith of Northumbria is not decisively defeated at a battle near the River Trent in 679 by King Aethelred of Mercia.

In 685 Egcfrith does not invade Pictland and there is no battle of Dun Nechtain. Or if he does invade he wins that, or another battle, in which he crushes the Picts and is not killed. Here is the wikipedia entry for Ecgfrith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecgfrith_of_Northumbria.

Aldfrith dies sometime after 705, or Osred I is not murdered in 816. He marries and fathers children. Here is his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20903.

How could the Northumbrian Renaissance or golden age keep flourishing after the mid to late 8th century?
 
Or Edwin defeats Penda and Cadwallon at Hatfield Chase.

Agreed. I think the more interesting question is what this country would look like in the long run. Would York stay the capital or would the capital eventually move south to London? I think the balance of power was much more fragile in England at the time, so a change in an outcome to a battle or campaign could radically alter it. Mercia is wedged right in the middle, so its possible that had Northumbria triumphed, Mercia might have not been long for this world.
 
Isn't London in a sweet spot in terms of sea-access+defense from the sea, while also being in the middle of a lot of good land?

It's hard to top that.
 
So Edwin wins the battle of Hatfield Chase in 633, and dies a natural death around ten years later, when he would be about 57 years old. Oswiu, Ecgfrith's father, lived till he was 57 or 58. Edwin would presumably be succeeded by Osfrith, his eldest son, who in OTL was killed at Hatfield Chase.

For about 80 years from the reign of Coelwuf [729-731] the kings of Northumbria were all deposed, murdered or abdicated. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Northumbria. To avoid its decline it would need to be more fortunate with its kings.

Maybe Northumbria peaked too early, and thus allowed Mercia and then Wessex to take its place as the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

In an English kingdom based on Northumbria, York could still be the capital with London as a major port.
 
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