Bank holiday today, and I think that we have the best weather of the country, warm and sunny – hurray! Rothbury is hosting a street fair with music, so we are going to investigate that before we take a wander around Cragside a National Trust estate of some magnitude!
It felt a little like Petticoat Lane at Malmesbury Carnival and Musical Lea all rolled into one. It
was all colour and enthusiasm but not necessarily a lot of style!! But we did enjoy our wander round, and ate our sandwiches on the green, and listened to the local bands give it their all!
A little reluctantly, it has to be said, we moved on to allow enough time to do justice to a visit to Cragside, which had been full and the volunteers were turning folk away, when we had passed it earlier.The first stop was the house, as it was the first to close, and it was an Arts and Crafts delight with William Morris wallpaper in nearly every room. But the best bit was possibly the Turkish
Baths in the cellar, with some fabulous tiling. If you are an engineer, it is possible though that the best bit was seeing the first domestic hydraulically operated lift.After the house, we decided to drive the six miles of grounds some natural and some landscaped, and after our luxury tea break(!) over looking Nelly Moss Tarn, we parked up and walked round
the formal and the rock gardens. Unfortunately we had to do this at the usual rush, as gates were closing at 7pm and as usual we had dawdled too long some where along the way!Tuesday 27th May - day 213
It is our anniversary today, and we are going to spend the day visiting Lindisfarne – “the cradle of Christianity”, where we can stop awhile and say thank you for 8 years of happy friendship and
loving companionship. For such a little island there is so much to see, and we start at the Winery, but pass quickly through, and go on to the Priory. The wind was whistling and howling around the ruins, making it very atmospheric, and made it a little easier to imagine how life must have been for the monks back in AD 700.We had our sandwiches on the green, but as it was a special day we went into the Bean Goose for a very welcome pot of tea. We must have lingered too long there (can you believe it!!) as when
we set off to visit the Castle, we were told that it had just closed – drat. We could still go up and walk round, and it was still worth visiting the Lime Kilns and Gertrude Jekylls garden – which 
was a pretty rectangular design of plantings, protected by a high stone wall, rather a long way from the Castle, we had to assume it was something to do with the viewing position, as she had been asked to design something that Edward Hudson – Editor(?) of Country Life (owners, who had bought it as a holiday retreat!!) could could gaze out at it whilst there!The tide was due in at 7pm, making Linisfarne an island again, so we had to make a decision, we had thought that we made us feel like celebrating, so we headed back and ended up at the “Blink Bonny” at Christon Bank for a very relaxed pub meal, a very pleasant way to end the day.
Wednesday 28th May - day 214
There must have been something in the wind yesterday, because we were just too whacked to go out in it again today, plus the rain didn’t help, although it didn’t rain for long. So we decided to stay in and book a few more camp sites, and confirm with the workmen in Ambleside, ready for next week.
By late afternoon though we were beginning to get a little stir crazy though, and had to get out for a blow.
The campsite is just the other side of the road from the sea, so we put on boots/wellies and went
out to see the sea. It was out so we went to explore the exposed rock pools and seaweed flats, but as we were gazing about, I noticed that the water was moving and flowing with increasing speed around behind us. We were not really in any danger, but it was quite exciting making our way back to the sand and sea weed as water levels rose and rivulets became, streams then fast flowing rivers! Once on dry land, we stood for ages watching the seascape change, and the hungry birds that were making the most of it!!Thursday 29th May – day 215
This is our last day at Annstead Farm before we go to the flat for 2 weeks, and it is a glorious day, just as well as we have planned a walk from Craster back to Beadnell. We catch the bus to
Craster, and pay the most we have paid for a single fare - £3.20 for a 20 minute journey, Chris could not help coughing a little at the thought!!But we were dropped right in the harbour, which was perfect. We decided to check out the Kipper Smokery first, it was more commercial than Whitby and sold much more than the kippers, but it gave us some good ideas for meals next week!!
Along with the madding crowd we made the first leg of our walk to Dunstanburgh Castle, another relic, which dominates the Northumbrian coastline. I think the best bit was the panoramic views from the top of the Gatehouse tower, but it was another interesting piece of Northumberland history so we lingered there, stopping to have our lunch overlooking some craggy rocks that were being pounded by the foaming surf. The next leg took us along the shore 
line of yet another vast and magnificent sandy beach. There were more people about enjoying it today, but it still didn’t feel in any way crowded.We walked close to the sea, until we got near Low Newton-by-the-Sea. Here we veered to the left until we came to the little triangle of 18th century fishermen’s cottages, who had in their midst a pub called the Ship Inn, which has a good reputation locally. We felt it necessary to stop
and patronise the establishment, and some 60 minutes later, left feeling nicely hydrated!
The final leg of our walk was over the headland and back onto the golden sands of Beadnell Bay, another 2 miles easy walking by the sea, and much stopping to watch the birds.Actually we nearly felt like we were in the Hitchcock film “Birds” as we walked into a large
colony of Terns, who were very noisy, especially when disturbed, and though not aggressive at all, as they had been on Farne, they made a cacophonous noise as they flew off in all directions, swooping and darting and making great show off displays in the air, until all human life had moved on and they could return to their resting positions on the sand.We approached Beadnell Bay as the tide was beginning to come in, and we stood for quite a while
watching the harbour, which had been completely empty, begin to refill. We left just as the first little skiff started to float, but it would be a long time before the harbour was really full I think.We had driven into Beadnell at the start of the day, which is only a mile or so from the campsite, but as we didn’t know where the bus stop was, or had the time to wander round looking for it, we drove there. Good plan in the morning, but a bit of a whoops in the evening as it was further into the village than we had thought, and that last mile, was probably the longest of the day!
Friday 30th May – day 216
We are leaving Northumberland today for two weeks at the flat. We have to move the caravan first to its storage bay at Elford Farm, and then go to Craster to pick up Kippers and fishcakes for the family. So it was about 1pm before we were really on the road to Cumbria. We had decided to go cross country as there is an almost direct route from Alnwick to Ambleside,
passing through lovely Alston, (where we had to stop to purchase more bread from the “Moody Bakers!”) so we estimated that it would take two and a half hours to do the 100 miles, so you can imagine that we were a bit surprised to find that we were only just arriving at the flat at 5pm, which meant that there was only time to throw everything in the rooms and head off for Oxenholme to pick up Hannah, who was joining us for a few days. I am not sure that she was very pleased to start her trip by pushing the trolley round Morrisons, and not being fed before 9pm, the wine did help but we must do better tomorrow!!Saturday 31st May - day 217
We are being joined by the wrinklies today, (also learned that we are Hannah’s wrinklies, now that is a worry!!!!) so it will be a day of feeding and resting! We started with lunch at Lucy’s of
Ambleside as Mum had made a request to eat there for her birthday treat. Unfortunately it had recently had a very poor review from the Telegraph, but it was still a lovely dining experience for us, and we enjoyed ourselves!After a little wander round town, it was time for a rest! By early evening the light was so inviting
that we set off for an appetite enhancing stroll to the lake side! On the way back we had a real treat though as “Virgin” was preparing to take a basket load for a spin in their hot air balloon. We were passing the rugby ground at the beginning of the process, and stood with the warm sun on our faces to watch how they inflated the balloon. The whole procedure took about 40 minute to complete, and by the time they were manoeuvring the basket into place as the balloon lifted 
from its horizontal position to the vertical they had drawn quite a crowd. In fact such was the interest that I thought that there may be a cheer when the balloon and its occupants set off!We had stood so long that it now meant a shuffle round the cooker to get the very yummy Craster kipper cakes (and salmon cakes for the faint hearted!!) on the table before the fainting began!! The wrinks left at about 10pm, which was late for them, and we watched some rubbish on the box until the duvet called!
Sunday 1st June – day 218
The weather starts out lovely again today, and we decide to take Hannah up Wansfell, but by the time we were ready to go the rain had started, so there was some discussion about whether it was worth setting off, but we did, and I am so glad that we did!!!
We decided to go up the steep side as Chris’s gammy knee is better at going up than down, and Hannah set a cracking pace, so we had made it to the summit by within the hour, which is pretty good going for us! The views were once more spectacular but the top was crowded so we carried on, not stopping for lunch until we got to Robin Lane in Troutbeck.
Once refreshed we were off again at a bracing pace and by 5.30pm we were sitting in the “WaterEdge” beer garden enjoying our well deserved pints by the lake, until it got too cold and we retreated inside. We had not been to this hotel before, and were impressed with its layout and décor, I think that we may make a return visit.
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