This morning I woke up late, intentionally, and did not feel much like going walking.  I am very cozy here in my Sun Studio suite, and I imagined a day of lazing about, finishing the novel I am reading, having multiple sessions of coffee and biscuits…  Also, my knees were sore and the morning was grey, with rain predicted by the afternoon. But, I really did want to go up on Church Hill, so I decided that I would go at least that far and then decide from there whether to continue on to Warkworth.

I took the road out of town, crossed the river Aln, and continued on the road for another kilometer before the path turned south and travelled along the outside edge of the estuary marshes, with views of the town and Church Hill in the distance.

The trail had to go a long way south before it could swing around and head back towards the town and Church Hill.

At the base of the hill, on the west side, was the ruins of a small chapel, built in 1870.

I climbed atop Church Hill and was surprised to see that the cross is made of wood.  I took pictures straight on, to the left looking over the estuary and harbour, and to the right towards the sea.  Then I sat for a while and enjoyed the views.

Then I had to decide whether to walk to Warkworth.  It had already been a lengthy walk all the way around the estuary to get to Church Hill (I was wishing the ferrymen were still in operation), and would be not too much further, maybe an additional two kilometers or so, to carry on to Warkworth instead of return to Almouth.  Originally, I had pictured myself walking on the long beautiful beach to Warkworth, but beach walking is harder on my knees so I decided to take the inland trail behind the dunes.

At times, the trail had an overlook of the beautiful beach below and I was a little sad to not be walking down there.

But, I was also happy on the trail, and lost in thought, along the trail behind the dunes, then beside a golf course, and then rising to a surprise view of Warkworth Castle across a tilled field, just as the rain was starting.  Almost there!

I walked over the lovely River Coquet on the old bridge, and quickly found a bus stop and a nearby seat that was sheltered from the rain.  I would explore this town, and its castle and historic center tomorrow.

I caught the first bus going north, but it was not going all the way into Alnmouth, so I had an additional mile walk in the now pouring rain to my accommodation.  But that was okay, because this was in my future.

I dried out, relaxed, and was having my dinner when I noticed a rainbow outside my window.  Not really wanting to, but feeling I should (this was how my day started), I put my wet boots back on and headed out to the beach to take these last photos of the beautiful Northumberland seaside at Alnmouth.

Goodnight.

I was very glad that I decided to have a good day of rest in Alnmouth.  The next morning, yesterday, I took the bus up to Craster and started my day by walking to the end of the harbour peir and taking a picture north to Dunstanburgh Castle, and then one looking towards the village.  I found the Coast Path trail, behind the Jolly Fisherman Inn, and started walking south.

The seashore along Craster and for some distance south was rocky, and fun to walk on with lots of tide pools.  I sat for awhile on the rocks, lucky to once again see gannets just off shore diving into the water with great speed and rising up again to circle and glide and then dive again.  I could hear some of the splashes!

There were interesting rock formations, the sun was shining, and I really enjoyed walking beside the rocky shore along a grassy path.  Before I knew it, I could see the Howick Bathing House in the distance across the bay.

The Howick Bathing House was built by the second Earl of Grey (of Earl Grey tea fame) as a place for the family (with 16 children!) to bathe in the sea.  They carved out some pools in the rock, and a little past the bathing house there was a wonderful little curve of beach and some great rocks to climb on and play.  The Bathing House can be rented out for a week at a time, but it’s very pricey! Nearby Howick Hall has a garden, open for public viewing, which includes an arboretum of 1,800 different kinds of trees from all over the word, 11,000 trees in all, spread over 65 acres.

Here’s a view across a beach, looking back at the Bathing House, and then the inviting path ahead, encouraging me to continue on.

After a while, I approached a very special place where an arched concrete bridge passed over a pretty stream that flowed across a small beach of golden sand.  Everyone was there, and by that I mean six people, enjoying the very scenic spot.  I stopped there for a while to air out my boots and feet, have a snack, and enjoy the view.

Two more beautiful beaches followed.  Viewed from above, they are named Sugar Sands and Howdiemont Sands.

Amazingly, sometimes when I looked back, I could still see Dunstanburgh Castle, way off in the distance.  Now, if anyone is planning on walking the Northumberland Coastal Path, or parts of it, I recommend walking from south to north for several reasons.  First, that is the traditional way, and it is how the guidebooks are written – it is very annoying reading the directions backwards!  Secondly, if you are walking from south to north, the sun is behind you which is better for photos. And finally, as you walk north you have those far distant, and then getting closer and closer views of Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh Castles.

After more easy, pleasurable walking, I arrived at the small fishing village of Boulmer.  Fishermen here still go out in small open fishing boats (cobles) to catch salmon, crab and lobster, and they haul their heavy boats out of and into the sea using tractors!  I was beginning to feel hungry and thought of stopping in at the Fishing Boat Inn for some fish and chips, and maybe a gin and tonic because I had read that in the 18th and 19th century smugglers operated out of this inn and most of their illicit trade was gin!  But, I carried on. Instead of fish and chips and gin and tonic, I would have my bread and cheese and raw carrot and pepper sticks. Oh well!

Soon the trail entered an area of dunes, and then a lovely section of beach walking.

Then it climbed back up into the dunes, and along a caravan site, and then it climbed higher, up onto a ridge, with views over the Alnmouth golf course and towards the town and estuary.  Almost there!

The trail descended into town and soon I was at my wonderful little Sun Studio, preparing a dinner of a hamburger smothered in fried onions and melted cheddar, with a side of salt and vinegar crisps and a half bottle of Apsalls cider.  Yum! (I’m having the same dinner tonight, just as soon as I finish this blog!) It was a brilliant day of walking, with beautiful sunshine and superb coastal views. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

After my day of walking south to Dunstanburgh Castle and Craster, my knees were aching so badly and I worried about the next day’s walk south to Alnmouth (19 km from Embelton).  I decided to take the bus to Alnmouth instead, and do the walk the following day as I was staying in Alnmouth for three nights.  It was good that I changed my plan!  I enjoyed the bus ride south, with stops in all the little villages, and my hostess allowed me to leave my bag with her well before check-in so I was free to explore the town of Alnmouth which has been a seaside holiday resort since Victorian times.

It is a very pretty town, with grand houses converted to holiday accommodations, and a festive and lively Main Street lined with shops and restaurants.  I was impressed by how flowers abound and gardens are tucked into almost every conceivable space! (I keep forgetting to mention that you can click on any photo in a collage for a close-up view).

After my walk up Main Street and a few side lanes, with peeks into courtyards and walled gardens, I walked to the edge of town to do a short and easy stroll along the river estuary.  The walk started at the 19th century bridge over the Aln River, and looped around towards the small harbour where I could see colourful boats across the salt marsh, many of which were grounded by the low tide. Boats always look so forlorn when they are grounded!

The trail carried on and across the river I soon saw Church Hill, topped with a cross. Church Hill was once on the town side of the river, but a violent storm in 1806 broke through the sand dunes and changed the course of the River Aln, separating Church Hill from the town.  It is believed that Church Hill was the site of a very early church, and two fragments of a late 9th century Saxon cross were discovered there in 1789.  As well, there was a 12th century church on the site, dedicated to St. Waleric, but there are no longer any remains of that church.  Incidentally, Church Hill is also the side of another “Vera” murder (!), with a partially buried body found atop the hill by walkers (if I remember correctly). I will visit the top of Church Hill when I walk to the other side of the river on the way south to Warkworth.

Back to my side of the river, I came across this tiny museum, The Ferryman’s Hut, which was started and maintained by a local resident.  The hut is around a century old and was used by ferrymen who would row people across the river to the other side of the estuary.

I continued along the river until it widened and met the sea, and took these photos south to the other side, so beautiful with the dunes and long finger of sand.

I followed the beach as it curved north to reveal another wide, long expanse of beautiful Northumberland beach, with late-season vacationers and very happy dogs enjoying the sand and the sun and the sea.

After my visit to the beach, I still had time before check-in so I went to visit the Friary of St. Francis (one can stay there on a silent retreat).  The Friary is set in a Victorian mansion on a hill, with a beautiful garden landscaped on multiple levels, with little nooks and quiet areas, and religious statuary well-placed in the garden.

I took this path up to a paved seating area.  You could not see the sea, but you could feel it in the sky, and I sat for a long time alone and listened to the birds in the garden.

I climbed further up the hill, to the very top of the garden, and there was a view south to the beaches and the sea.

Then I visited the chapel and sat there for a long while too, resting and appreciating the calmness of the space, before I returned to the joys of the garden.

Finally, it was time for check-in and I had been greatly looking forward to this accommodation, a little self-catering suite called the Sun Studio at the Old Granary.

It was so cute! And the interior did not disappoint either!

The hostess had provided a welcome pack of milk, bread, butter, jam, tea and coffee, and there was a box on the counter with this in it!

And I turned it into this!

After my cake and coffee, I enjoyed buying a few groceries in town to cook up a simple vegetarian stir fry, and I visited the beach (only 3 minutes away) once more near sunset at the end of a very enjoyable and restful day in pretty Alnmouth.

Yesterday morning I rose to an overcast, rainy day but a good conversation over breakfast with four elderly guests at my B&B, and one young man who had been diving with seals at the Farne Islands the day before.

After breakfast, I headed out for my 12 km walk south and took this picture of these empty benches overlooking the harbour.  Yesterday, in the late afternoon sunshine, every bench had been full with “grey heads”, including mine as this is where I had enjoyed my little gin and tonic and conversation with the retired nurse.  There are so many seniors, and older couples with either no children or grown children, who are on holiday here now that the kids have gone back to school.

The Coastal Path circled the edge of town close to the sea and then was set to follow beside the fairly busy coastal road, but there was the option of walking along the beach to Beadnell which I did.

Half-way along the beach, I took a photo back towards Seahouses.  These golden Northumberland beaches are so wide and long!

I rejoined the Coastal Path as it made its way through the seaside village of Beadnell, and then followed a paved road through several caravan parks, filled with mobile homes that are used as holiday homes.  Finally, the pavement ended and the path began to traverse a long section of protected meadow lands, tucked in behind the dunes.

There were some of my favourite flowers along the path, bluebells, thistle, fireweed, and a small vividly coloured geranium that I hadn’t seen before.

I arrived at this bridge over a small river and took a photo from the center of it looking out towards Beadnell Bay and the sea.  I could have chosen to walk on the beach either north or south of here, instead of the path, but I was enjoying the quiet and solitude of the meadows.

I walked along until the path went up over the dunes to the coast and the approach to the tiny village of of Low Newton by the Sea where I got my first distant views of Dunstanburgh Castle.

I stopped for only a few moments to take a photo of the whitewashed 18th century fishermen’s cottages and the somewhat famous Ship Inn.

The path continued around behind Low Newton and through more meadows and dunes until it reached a view point over the long curving sands of Embelton Bay with the castle still far in the distance.

A ways to go yet! Back on the path, and I was starting to feel tired.  I stopped to speak to some walkers and then, not paying sufficient attention, I neglected to take a turn to head inland about a mile towards the village of Embelton and my accommodation for the night.  My original plan was to leave my big bag there and carry on the additional distance to Dunstanburgh Castle and then back again.  My knees were feeling sore from all of the beach walking I had done in Bamburgh, and my pack was feeling heavy as I’ve accumulated a few little odds and ends along the way (all light, but it adds up). When I finally realized my error, I was halfway between my accommodation and the castle.  Go there with my bag, or backtrack? I decided to backtrack, and I hate backtracking! I dropped off my bag and had time for only a short rest at my B&B, as I did not have much time before the last entry time to the castle.  I very nearly decided not to go.  “It’s mostly just ruins,” I thought, “I can skip it.”  Thankfully, I did decide to go. Here are a few views of the approach towards the back of the castle.

A trail angled up and across the hill around to the entrance at the massive gatehouse on the south side.

A spiral staircase led three floors up into the tower on the right side of the gatehouse where there were views up the coast to the north and down the coast towards Craster a mile and a half away.

Here are some other photos of the scenic ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. I was so glad I went!

After viewing Dunstanburgh castle and learning about its history, I decided to continue south down the coast to Craster and take a bus from there back to Embelton.  I was so glad that I made that choice as I had these wonderful views each time I turned to look back at Dunstanburgh Castle.

Finally I had my fill of looking back at Dunstanburgh Castle (I have about 20 more photos!), and I looked forward, in both senses of the word, to my visit to Craster.  Craster is a small village that is famous for its smoked kippers, made by the Robson family since 1865. The smokehouse was working as I walked into town and smelled wonderful.

In its heyday in the early 1900s, the now quiet harbour was busy with fishing boats, and smokehouses in Craster and Seahouses were smoking over 25,000 fish a day, as well as processing great barrels of salted herring for export to Europe and sending fresh herring to London and other domestic markets. This evening though, as I walked through town, it was a very quiet village with the holiday makers all returned to their cottages or in the various pubs and restaurants for dinner.

I waited for the bus happily, and was very glad to get a ride back to my bed and breakfast.   My knees were so sore, but I was grateful for my day and for my walk south along the beautiful Northumberland Coast.

This morning was to be the start of my walk south on the Northumberland Coastal Path (only about 5 km from Bamburgh to Seahouses), but the beginning of the path across the fields (which I had scouted the day before) had a “bull in field” sign and that was a good enough reason to decide to sleep in and take the bus instead!

It was a quick trip to Seahouses and I went immediately to the harbour to catch my boat ride to the Farne Islands, with a one hour stop on Inner Farne. This was to be my last stop associated with Saint Cuthbert who lived on Inner Farne as a hermit for ten years and died there in 687. He followed the Celtic Christian monastic tradition of choosing a remote and challenging place to live in order to devote his thoughts to God.

It was a beautiful sunny day today, and Seahouses is very much a “holiday town” where people stroll around, buy fish and chips and ice cream cones, and look at the sea. I boarded the Serenity III and sat right at the front to enjoy the wind and the rolling swells and the views of the islands as we approached.

The Farne Islands are famous as a place to see nesting sea birds.  In May, June, and July,  the islands teem with up to 37,000 pairs of puffins that you can see at close range, as well thousands of Arctic terns who are protective parents and can dive bomb human visitors to Inner Farne (the advice is to wear a hat (for more than one reason!) and let the tallest person go first!).  Guillemots, kittiwakes, shags, fulmars, razor bills and over 20 more kinds of sea birds nest here, and as well sightings can be made of over 180 different kinds of migratory birds in the spring and fall.

I hope to visit the Farne Islands again in the future during the nesting season to see the puffins and terns, but today was a quiet visit to see Saint Cuthbert’s place of hermitage.  We did see some gulls, a few eider ducks, and many shags (in the cormorant family) on several of the rocky islets.

We passed close to an area of rocks known as the pinnacles.

The Serenity III continued to the Outer Farne islands for a view of the lighthouse on Longstone Island, built in 1826, and famous during Victorian times for the story of Grace Darling, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter who rowed with her father across more than a mile of stormy sea to help rescue nine survivors of a shipwreck who were clinging to one of the rocks.  I visited the Grace Darling museum in Bamburgh as well as her gravesite at Saint Aidan’s church.

The Serenity then stopped close to an island where grey seals were sunning themselves on a gravel beach.  The Farne Islands are home to the largest colony of grey seals in the U.K., and the seals will soon be giving birth to their pups.  This boat trip was another occasion where I regretted leaving my zoom lens at home! Trust me, there are seals on that beach! We also saw many seals swimming and looking at our boat.

Finally we approached the back side of Inner Farne where there is a tiny beach of golden sand and a concrete landing jetty.  This island was also the site of an other episode of “Vera”, with a dead body found on the rocks near the beach, and the island off-limits to any visitors until the crime was solved.  But, I was not at all creeped out on this beautiful sunny island as I had been at Saint Cuthbert’s Cave!

We climbed off the boat and up the concrete ramp and could see Saint Cuthbert’s Chapel, built in 1370, likely on the original site of Saint Cuthbert’s 8th century oratory.  Beside the chapel is the Information Center for the National Trust, in a building which was also once a chapel, and behind the chapel is a 15th century Pele tower which was used for defence during the border wars and also housed monks during its history.  In the late 1600s, it became a light beacon, with lit fires placed atop it, until the white tower lighthouse was built in 1809.

Here are some photos of the interior of Saint Cuthbert’s Chapel.

Beyond the chapel, there is a boardwalk leading to the other side of the small island towards the lighthouse.  Access is restricted to the boardwalk paths in order to protect the puffin burrows and nesting sites.

The lighthouse is beautiful!

Close to the lighthouse were tall, rock ledges where guillemots and gulls and other birds lay their eggs and raise their chicks.

I walked around the boardwalks and admired the clumps of white sea campion, and a sign informed me that this plant has an intricate root system that helps to support the structure of the puffin burrows.

From the island, there was a good view across to Bamburgh Castle and the golden sand beaches of the mainland.

During our hour on the island, there was a brief talk given by one of the National Trust rangers about the birds and seals of the Farne Islands, and the rangers’ work to monitor and help protect the wildlife on and around the islands.  The rangers live on the island for nine months of the year in the lighthouse residence and in the Pele tower.  I was happy to have visited the island on a quiet, peaceful day, in honour of Saint Cuthbert, and I learned that he had introduced special laws in 676 protecting the eider duck and other seabirds nesting on the island.  These are thought to be the earliest bird protection laws anywhere in the world!

The Serenity III picked us up, and I was happy to put down my camera and just enjoy the 30 minute ride, up and down swells, until we reached the calmness of the protected harbour, bathed in sunlight.

Then, I did as one does in Seahouses and got a takeout of fish and chips.  The biggest piece of fish, and the best fish and chips I have ever had!

I took a few quick pictures about town…

and then because I was about 30 minutes early to check in to my B&B, I bought a small can of gin and tonic from the co-op grocery store (only 1£ 20!), and drank it above the harbour, on a bench in the sun, while having a nice conversation with a retired nurse from Scotland.  The gin and tonic (as well as the sun and wind and pleasures of the day) might account for my expression in the photo below taken at my Seahouses accommodation at Malabar Guesthouse.

Technical problems not too bad this evening.  Hourray! Time for bed soon as I have a good day of walking ahead of me tomorrow down the coast to Embelton. All the best from Seahouses!