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!
