Seahouses to Beal via Bamburgh

The guide book says this about today’s walk – If you enjoy wallowing around in slippery mud, making your way through crops, crossing a high-speed railway line on trestles and risking the A1 then you will find the official route exciting and rewarding … If this does not grab you, try the Bamburgh to Budle route of clifftops and beaches and catch the bus.

It was also the difference between 21 miles and 6 miles. This was all academic though as Johnny could barely walk when he got up this morning.  Over breakfast we discussed our plans, and Johnny decided to get the bus to Berwick and get his car while Wilf and I walked.

It was only three miles along the beach to Bamburgh. By the time we’d packed and were ready to go, he decided give it a go, making sure first we understand he’s being brave and strong and enduring great pain.

The beach was wonderful – again!

Wilf played with the dog.

Johnny walked along, gazing out to sea, muttering the names of plants under his breath to keep his mind off the pain.

There were views of the Farne Islands., home of birds and seals, and erstwhile home of St. Cuthbert who lived on Inner Farne for a while, when he wasn’t hanging out on a rock just off Holy Island – the island itself being a bit too comfortable for him. St Cuthbert’s Chapel is on Inner Farne.

There are also views of Holy Island, where we were last week looking over to Bamburgh.

It was colder today and we briefly got showered with rain. The wind was blowing the sand in low level drifts across the expanse of beach.

Johnny continued stoical.

Then Bamburgh Castle came into view, splendid, dramatic, enticingly out of the threatening weather. Unfortunately we can’t go in with the dog.

Here’s a list of things I would like to do in Northumberland if I was here without a dog and/or walking itinerary.

Visit Barter Books in Alnwick

Go on a boat trip to Farne Islands

Visit the castle on Holy Island.

Visit Alnwick Gardens and Castle

Go inside Bamburgh Castle out of the rain

and this …

We ate some fabulous scones in Bamburgh with this behind us.

Then we spent quite a long time waiting for the bus with this view.

Then we got the bus to Berwick and found our car and drove back to our B&B near the causeway to Holy Island.

We'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

4 miles.

Dunstan to Seahouses

The BBC had threatened us with rain today, but although there was some before breakfast, by the time we set off it was over. It was a bit blowy, but set for another day of sunshine.

Dunstanborough Castle was up ahead. A romantic ruin painted by Turner, decorated by cows, sound by seagulls, now photographed by more Turners.

Improved by Wilf?

On the cliffs beneath the castle the seabirds were circling and shouting. Wilf thought they sounded  like a school playground at break time.

We walked along a lovely long beach – yes another! 

The dog has swum so much these past few days, and she enjoys surfing too – she swims out to fetch her ball and rides the waves back to the beach. The moment she gets the whiff of salt water she gets excited.

Low Newton by the Sea was very lovely and had nice pub, but really it was too early for a pub break, so we carried on.

Johnny’s feet were really hurting him today. He thinks he’s got some sort of injury, possibly plantar fasciitis. He’s hobbling and wincing with each step.  

Just another few miles of beach.

We stopped at pub in Beadnall, Johnny and Wilf both desperate for break. Some juice, crisps and a meeting with two Siberian huskies revived Wilf. but didn’t mend Johnny’s feet.

We realised the guide book was wrong again and we only had three more miles rather than six, which was a relief for some. I’m beginning to wonder if they just randomly made up some distances to put in the book.

We walked along the beach into Seahouses and rested in our B&B before going down to the harbour for fish and chips.

11.5 miles

Warkworth to Dunstan

The guide book said today’s stretch was 8 miles. Over breakfast out host told us it was thirteen. I measured it on my phone and came up with eleven, if we took the shortest route at Almouth.

We started by walking from Warkworth back to the sea. Here’s the first glimpse.

After that it was a day of walking along the coast, lovely beach to lovely beach with sand dunes in between.

Our first obstacle was the River Aln . The shorest route I’d mentioned was a bridleway, and we guessed the coastal path didn’t go that was because it might be wet at times, over the salt marsh. But it was dry today and easy to traverse.

However, the River Aln was very wet and not easy to traverse.

That place on the other side is Alnmouth, the place where we wanted to be. We thought maybe horses could get across at low tide, but not us.

So back we went and onto the Coastal Path and it’s two mile circle round the town back to the other side of the river. 

Looked like the B&B guy was right after all, and we’d added to our mileage trying to be clever.

We got to meet these guys though.

After an ice cream in Alnmouth, we were back into beach heaven.

It’s just one beach after another along this bit of coast, and most of them pretty empty. They have different characters, some with more seaweed or rockpools, others just sand for miles. They’re all beautiful.

We stopped at a pub in Boulmer for pint, where the beer garden was practically on beach, and Wilf lost a tooth.

After that coast began to get rockier and we could see the cliffs up ahead bearing Dunstanborough Castle.

Before we reached it we diverted off to go to our B&B in the leafy village of Dunstan.

Johnny and Wilf both had sunburned calves and achey feet.

14 miles

Middle Stobswood to Warkworth

Today we walked along an eight mile deserted beach to a pretty town. It was the most enjoyable day’s walking so far, the day after the worst.

Our lovely host from Middle Stobswood drove us to the coast at Cresswell, saving us an hour or two’s walking on roads and field edges. We got out of the car, walked across a small car park and onto the beach.

And we’d got another 8 miles of this to go. Johnny said, this sort of monotony I can handle.

We took off our shoes and dodged the jelly fish.

The tide was in so we were walking on soft sand at the top of the beach, which is pretty hard work. After a couple of miles we moved onto the lane that runs behind the beach, between the dunes and Druridge Nature Reserve.

The Reserve is made from reclaimed mining land and they seem to be doing a pretty good job. There are lakes great for bird watching, and loads of flowers.

Johnny wanted to spend the whole day botanising.

We saw a pair of stoats come running along the path towards us, darting into the grass at the side just a couple of feet from where we stood. A first for me. They were so much more beautiful in motion than in photographs, lithe and playful with fluffy black tails. Of course they didn’t wait to pose for the camera.

At the visitors centre we stopped for a cup of tea. Some of the best moments happen quickly and you wish you’d had the camera ready – in this case on video mode. Johnny was sitting at a bench holding the dog’s lead. Wilf threw a ball and she dashed after it, pulling Johhny backwards of the bench in a comedy fall so quick he landed still in sitting position. He swore a lot but admitted later that it might have been a bit funny. Wilf and I tried not to laugh, but people at neighbouring benches didn’t do so well.

We headed back to the beach, where the tide had gone out leaving wide stretched of hard sand to walk on.

This place has to be the UK’s best kept secret. Eight miles of beautiful sandy beaches, waves that look great for surfing, sand dunes. Hardly a soul to be seen, and today was a beautiful sunny day in August.

Though we met this seagull taking some dunlin for a walk.

Coquet Island was once a place of religious solitude, then the lonely home of the lighthouse keeper. These days the lighthouse is automatic and the island is an RSPB reserve, home to most of Britain’s population of roseate tern. We’d spotted the island from Cresswell first thing in the morning and it seemed impossibly far away. Now we reached and passed it. 

We stopped at the pub in Amble. It’s a different world here to the places we passed through yesterday on the bus. Here there are yachts and thriving independent shops. Everything is better tended.

We walked along the riverside path to Warkworth, enjoying the saltmarsh and waders.

And into the lovely village of Warkworth, which has a fabulous castle, home to the Percy’s and featured in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part One, when it was lost by Harry Hotspur. Who knew?  

11 miles