Monday 19th day 205
We are leaving lovely Haltwhistle today, we have enjoyed this spot very much, the weather has
been kind, the scenery and walks superb and the visits to the magnificent Hadrian’s Wall have been fab. But we are on now to Beadnell Bay up on the Northumberland coastline, and we are excited to discover the delights of this beautiful spot too! We have another sunny day for the journey, and we arrive safely at Annstead’s Farm by 3pm, and spend the rest of the day cleaning! The site is clean and well maintained, but lacks the charm of the last place for me. No doubt it will grow on me!
Tuesday 20th day 206
Although chilly, the sun is bright and we were tempted to have breakfast outside, but the breeze changed our minds! First stop after breakfast, was to fill up the petrol tank, the garage down the road was selling diesel at 115.9p and even with 1p per litre added for payment by visa, it was still
much cheaper than the 128.9 a litre being charged in Alnwick, thank goodness for petrolprice.com!!!! We also had to fill up the cupboards so we went on to Alnwick to do some shopping, in the hope of having time to go to the famous Gardens designed by Lady Northumberland, which received some attention whilst it was being developed, as the BBC did a programme on it. Anyway, at £10 each to get in, we decided to return tomorrow, when we will have more time to do the visit justice. So we left Alnwick to visit Alnmouth (further down the 
river), and we were so glad that we did. The light was lovely, and the air was fresh, so after our cuppa, which we drank sitting next to a patch of the most beautiful and enormous double headed Poppies, we set out for a long stroll along the beach. It was the dog walking time of day, and we watched as Labradors hurtled themselves with speed into the water, then two of them made a bee line for us, fearful of a soaking, Chris was very encouraging of their equally speedy departure!
It was also time for the tide to go out, and as we walked along the beach, it was lovely watch rocky outcrops rise from the water like a series of little Phoenixes, and the birds returning to pick them over – pity the binoculars have broken!
Wednesday 21st day 207
We are off to visit Alnwick Gardens today, having postponed yesterday, and as the weather is clement, so we are trying a little experiment. Rather than dash back for 7.30pm to try and get
dinner on the table before 9pm we decide to pack food for the day. So I made a selection of salads and accompaniments, and we packed the box, complete with wine and glasses (well this is a first of the season!) and by lunch time we were ready to go!!!!!
The gardens were absolutely fabulous; we were often without words to describe the delights
before us. The principle attractions were the water features and fountains, but there were also some amazing gardens. The first we visited was the ornamental garden, with 16,500 different European plant species – and all of them delightful. We wandered round for ages, David Bailey 
taking every opportunity to capture a bloom! We had our lunch by a large fountain set against a wonderful beech green back drop of an arbour, and then drifted through the Rose garden, still yet to come into full glory, and lost ourselves for a while in the Bamboo labyrinth – not quite a maze, but a series of smooth corners leading to another high and narrow avenue of rustling Bamboo, it was easy, for a moment, to forget that we were in the middle of a busy garden. We were almost ready for tea, but wanted to visit the interactive water garden first, but we stayed there so long we almost missed our tea opportunity! The water garden was FAB. The designers had used smooth shiny stainless steel to set off the water play, and there were many shapes and 
water movement concepts to be explored and explained but the one that held most of us captive with fascination of small children, for a long time, was the vortex. A 4ft diameter cylinder, that shot water in through horizontal pipes near the bottom of the basin, causing a swirl that settled into a vortex, changing shape and rhythm as the water rose up to top, where it seemed to settle and become very still at the waters edge, whilst the vortex was a maelstrom of movement in the middle, utterly mesmerising, and even aging cynics were dipping their fingers in just to be part of it!!
Tea took place in the café overlooking the Grand Cascade, which at regular intervals shot jets of watery patterns up and down the massive steps; you can imagine that it took a long time to drink our tea!!
Our final visit before leaving was to the poisonous plant garden, which you could only see by joining a tour. We learned at speed (well it was nearly 6pm) about Belladonna, Daffodil bulbs, Salix, Rhubarb leaves and much more. We staggered out, not sure what we could touch now, as a fair few things that we had seen were growing back in 104’s garden!
We left the garden via the magnificent Treehouse, another treat for childhood memories, as a
huge eatery had been built, quite literally up in the trees. It was approached by rope bridges and wooden gangways, and the terrace was full of gnarly old wooden seats, benches and tables; the restaurants interior was a darkly woody weave of tree roots and old bark, and would have encouraged many childhood fantasies I’m sure.
It was now time to turn our attention to our picnic feast, all prepared for a little alfresco dining. We drove to the sea, trying hard to ignore the incoming clouds and the rustling of the trees. We parked up on an empty bit of shore line, and I even got out, and pretended to give it some serious contemplation, but it was not too long before we had to admit that the joy of alfresco dining had somehow cooled along with the weather, so we headed off back to the caravan to eat in the comfort of our warm van (we still had the wine though!!)
Thursday 22nd day 208
Although the sun was shining brightly, we have to have a morning of washing and domestics to
attend to, before we can go and play. We had packed a picnic lunch, but by the time we were ready to leave it was lunch time, so we picnicked at the campsite before departure! We decided to go and organize a trip to Farne Islands for tomorrow, and after a wander round the lovely little harbour at Seahouses we set off for a walk along the sea shore towards Bamburgh, and enjoy a little bird watching in practice for tomorrow. We did not do too badly as we saw Eider, Ringed Plover and Pipits in the Dunes. What we did not expect to see was a small pond isolated from the sea, filled with wriggly frog spawn, we did wonder how many would make it to adulthood though.
Friday 23rd day 209
We need to get moving this morning because we have to be present and correct at Seahouses
harbour by 12.00, as we are booked with “Sovereign” to take a 3 hour tour around the Farne Islands, stopping for an hour at Inner Farne. Although the sea looked calm from the harbour, when we were sailing it was really choppy, and between that the heady smell of the guano, I was 
feeling quite queasy by the time we reached land! However it did not spoil the fun as we sailed between islands and the Skipper took us alongside the cliffs for closer inspections. I have to say that the cliffs really did smell like a Gents Lavatory block that had not been cleaned for weeks, it was bad indeed! But the bird life was amazing. On the first few stops the cliffs were filled with 
Guillemots, but later we spotted Puffins, Razorbills, Shags and the occasional Cormorant, and flying overhead were big white Gannets.
We also learned the story of Grace Darling, local hero. She had been the daughter of the lighthouse keeper, and the family lived on Brownmans Island, one of the outer islands. One stormy night she noticed that there were people clinging to the rocks after a boat had been wrecked as it had tried to make its way between the Farnes. Grace and her father had rowed out in terrifying conditions to rescue the survivors. She died herself 4 year later of TB, aged 26yrs.
As we rounded the outer islands to make for Inner Farne, we spotted the Seals and their pups
for the first time, what a joy, not so graceful when they are on land, but still very appealing.
We disembarked then on Inner Farne, owned now by the National Trust, and spent the next hour ducking the Terns. The island was large enough to take 30 minutes to walk around, and the NT had created a carefully marked out gangway for us to walk along, however the Eider and the Terns nested where ever they chose, including on and around the planks. As it was nesting time
and most of the birds were sitting on eggs, we had to tread very carefully, the Eiders just sank further into the earth, as we approached, trying to look like a stone, but the Terns got very cross and screeched and dive bombed us if we got too close for them, ( a little tricky when they were sitting on the gangway)
We got back to land by mid afternoon, and though we had spent most of the time standing on the boat, trying to balance in the waves and look out, we both felt like we had walked a distance so we drove over to Bamburgh for a mooch round, too late to go to the castle, but lovely to stroll in the sunshine.
We are leaving lovely Haltwhistle today, we have enjoyed this spot very much, the weather has
been kind, the scenery and walks superb and the visits to the magnificent Hadrian’s Wall have been fab. But we are on now to Beadnell Bay up on the Northumberland coastline, and we are excited to discover the delights of this beautiful spot too! We have another sunny day for the journey, and we arrive safely at Annstead’s Farm by 3pm, and spend the rest of the day cleaning! The site is clean and well maintained, but lacks the charm of the last place for me. No doubt it will grow on me!Tuesday 20th day 206
Although chilly, the sun is bright and we were tempted to have breakfast outside, but the breeze changed our minds! First stop after breakfast, was to fill up the petrol tank, the garage down the road was selling diesel at 115.9p and even with 1p per litre added for payment by visa, it was still
much cheaper than the 128.9 a litre being charged in Alnwick, thank goodness for petrolprice.com!!!! We also had to fill up the cupboards so we went on to Alnwick to do some shopping, in the hope of having time to go to the famous Gardens designed by Lady Northumberland, which received some attention whilst it was being developed, as the BBC did a programme on it. Anyway, at £10 each to get in, we decided to return tomorrow, when we will have more time to do the visit justice. So we left Alnwick to visit Alnmouth (further down the river), and we were so glad that we did. The light was lovely, and the air was fresh, so after our cuppa, which we drank sitting next to a patch of the most beautiful and enormous double headed Poppies, we set out for a long stroll along the beach. It was the dog walking time of day, and we watched as Labradors hurtled themselves with speed into the water, then two of them made a bee line for us, fearful of a soaking, Chris was very encouraging of their equally speedy departure!It was also time for the tide to go out, and as we walked along the beach, it was lovely watch rocky outcrops rise from the water like a series of little Phoenixes, and the birds returning to pick them over – pity the binoculars have broken!
Wednesday 21st day 207
We are off to visit Alnwick Gardens today, having postponed yesterday, and as the weather is clement, so we are trying a little experiment. Rather than dash back for 7.30pm to try and get
dinner on the table before 9pm we decide to pack food for the day. So I made a selection of salads and accompaniments, and we packed the box, complete with wine and glasses (well this is a first of the season!) and by lunch time we were ready to go!!!!!The gardens were absolutely fabulous; we were often without words to describe the delights
before us. The principle attractions were the water features and fountains, but there were also some amazing gardens. The first we visited was the ornamental garden, with 16,500 different European plant species – and all of them delightful. We wandered round for ages, David Bailey taking every opportunity to capture a bloom! We had our lunch by a large fountain set against a wonderful beech green back drop of an arbour, and then drifted through the Rose garden, still yet to come into full glory, and lost ourselves for a while in the Bamboo labyrinth – not quite a maze, but a series of smooth corners leading to another high and narrow avenue of rustling Bamboo, it was easy, for a moment, to forget that we were in the middle of a busy garden. We were almost ready for tea, but wanted to visit the interactive water garden first, but we stayed there so long we almost missed our tea opportunity! The water garden was FAB. The designers had used smooth shiny stainless steel to set off the water play, and there were many shapes and water movement concepts to be explored and explained but the one that held most of us captive with fascination of small children, for a long time, was the vortex. A 4ft diameter cylinder, that shot water in through horizontal pipes near the bottom of the basin, causing a swirl that settled into a vortex, changing shape and rhythm as the water rose up to top, where it seemed to settle and become very still at the waters edge, whilst the vortex was a maelstrom of movement in the middle, utterly mesmerising, and even aging cynics were dipping their fingers in just to be part of it!!Tea took place in the café overlooking the Grand Cascade, which at regular intervals shot jets of watery patterns up and down the massive steps; you can imagine that it took a long time to drink our tea!!
Our final visit before leaving was to the poisonous plant garden, which you could only see by joining a tour. We learned at speed (well it was nearly 6pm) about Belladonna, Daffodil bulbs, Salix, Rhubarb leaves and much more. We staggered out, not sure what we could touch now, as a fair few things that we had seen were growing back in 104’s garden!We left the garden via the magnificent Treehouse, another treat for childhood memories, as a
huge eatery had been built, quite literally up in the trees. It was approached by rope bridges and wooden gangways, and the terrace was full of gnarly old wooden seats, benches and tables; the restaurants interior was a darkly woody weave of tree roots and old bark, and would have encouraged many childhood fantasies I’m sure.It was now time to turn our attention to our picnic feast, all prepared for a little alfresco dining. We drove to the sea, trying hard to ignore the incoming clouds and the rustling of the trees. We parked up on an empty bit of shore line, and I even got out, and pretended to give it some serious contemplation, but it was not too long before we had to admit that the joy of alfresco dining had somehow cooled along with the weather, so we headed off back to the caravan to eat in the comfort of our warm van (we still had the wine though!!)
Thursday 22nd day 208
Although the sun was shining brightly, we have to have a morning of washing and domestics to
attend to, before we can go and play. We had packed a picnic lunch, but by the time we were ready to leave it was lunch time, so we picnicked at the campsite before departure! We decided to go and organize a trip to Farne Islands for tomorrow, and after a wander round the lovely little harbour at Seahouses we set off for a walk along the sea shore towards Bamburgh, and enjoy a little bird watching in practice for tomorrow. We did not do too badly as we saw Eider, Ringed Plover and Pipits in the Dunes. What we did not expect to see was a small pond isolated from the sea, filled with wriggly frog spawn, we did wonder how many would make it to adulthood though.Friday 23rd day 209
We need to get moving this morning because we have to be present and correct at Seahouses
harbour by 12.00, as we are booked with “Sovereign” to take a 3 hour tour around the Farne Islands, stopping for an hour at Inner Farne. Although the sea looked calm from the harbour, when we were sailing it was really choppy, and between that the heady smell of the guano, I was feeling quite queasy by the time we reached land! However it did not spoil the fun as we sailed between islands and the Skipper took us alongside the cliffs for closer inspections. I have to say that the cliffs really did smell like a Gents Lavatory block that had not been cleaned for weeks, it was bad indeed! But the bird life was amazing. On the first few stops the cliffs were filled with Guillemots, but later we spotted Puffins, Razorbills, Shags and the occasional Cormorant, and flying overhead were big white Gannets.We also learned the story of Grace Darling, local hero. She had been the daughter of the lighthouse keeper, and the family lived on Brownmans Island, one of the outer islands. One stormy night she noticed that there were people clinging to the rocks after a boat had been wrecked as it had tried to make its way between the Farnes. Grace and her father had rowed out in terrifying conditions to rescue the survivors. She died herself 4 year later of TB, aged 26yrs.
As we rounded the outer islands to make for Inner Farne, we spotted the Seals and their pups
for the first time, what a joy, not so graceful when they are on land, but still very appealing.We disembarked then on Inner Farne, owned now by the National Trust, and spent the next hour ducking the Terns. The island was large enough to take 30 minutes to walk around, and the NT had created a carefully marked out gangway for us to walk along, however the Eider and the Terns nested where ever they chose, including on and around the planks. As it was nesting time
and most of the birds were sitting on eggs, we had to tread very carefully, the Eiders just sank further into the earth, as we approached, trying to look like a stone, but the Terns got very cross and screeched and dive bombed us if we got too close for them, ( a little tricky when they were sitting on the gangway)We got back to land by mid afternoon, and though we had spent most of the time standing on the boat, trying to balance in the waves and look out, we both felt like we had walked a distance so we drove over to Bamburgh for a mooch round, too late to go to the castle, but lovely to stroll in the sunshine.
Saturday 24th day 210
Chris pulled his back again the other day, so all thoughts of distance walking have again temporarily disappeared, so we are making the most of this beautiful coastline which is also rich in heritage; and today we are going to Warkworth. We popped into Amble first to check whether
it was worth including in our itinerary, but alas it lacked the necessary charm; and the enormous car boot sale, which was desperately trying to redistribute creaking table loads of rubbish, did nothing to persuade us to stay. Warkworth on the other hand was delightful, almost cotswoldy in parts. Our first stop was to the castle, now owned by English Heritage. They may not be quite so classy as the National Truss, but they do provide an excellent free audio tour. We had a 12th century guard took us right round the keep, introducing us to scenes from his working day, amazing that the tape recording was still working after all those centuries!
There was not much of the castle left unexplored by the time we had finished, as it was so interesting, and we left with a pretty good impression of how it worked!!
We left there to explore the town; it was a little like Burford to walk down, but without all the expensive antique shops. We reached the river and spotted a Heron, which gave the impression that he was fishing for supper, we watched for a while, but he moved very little - but come to think of it, neither did we!!
On the way back to the car we were tempted into (well I was anyway) an intriguing gifty shop, filled to the brim with pretty, interesting and mostly useless stuff, from floor to ceiling, and even hanging from it. All was cream, pink and twinkly, staying too long in there might lead to sensory overload, but it was worth having a good old investigate.
As we have been very well behaved and positively abstemious this week, we have saved up enough sheckles to treat ourselves to a pub supper, and we hoped to find some local hostelry serving from the local catch, and we were in luck. The fish speciality of the day at the Grey Inn at Embleton, was Sea Trout, and it was just delicious, and a lovely way to end the day.
Sunday 25th day 211
We are doing well with the weather, it seems that the rest of the country are experiencing freak storms, and unseasonably horrid weather conditions, but although there is a cold breeze, we are basking in sunshine again, writing this could be the kiss of death though so I will say no more. We are back to Bamburgh to have a look at their Bank holiday fate, then on for a picnic and walk along the shore. We are still trying to keep Chris’s back calm so no great hikes yet.
What excitement there was when we got to Bamburgh, it was heaving to start with, but we soon got parked, a little way out of town though, but enjoyed the walk back to town. I had rather assumed that the fate would be the usual pants, cakes and tombola, and it is true those stalls were there, but there too were some really classy antique, and craft stalls. But first prize went to a very charismatic older gentleman (with very twinkly blue eyes!) who buys and restores interesting old pieces that he finds in sales around Northumberland. We were completely taken
by several of his pieces, and could have bought an old gentleman’s chair, a blanket box, an occasional table or a hat stand, they were all superbly restored, but in the end, after several interesting conversations and a little haggling we left with a beautiful old chest of drawers and two beautiful decorative chairs. We may not have somewhere to live, but we now have furniture!!!
After such excitement we needed to rest awhile so drove out to Warren Mill, parked up and took
our picnic to eat it down by the sea, which was out so we sat by the muddy channels in the sunshine, it was still lovely though to watch the birds forage for their lunch too.
Once lunch had settled we took a long and lovely walk along the sea shore towards Bamburgh as the tide started to come in and those rivulets turned into rivers and wide channels, and the kite
surfers could be seen screaming down the surf at high speed being pulled by their colourful semicircular kites.
The beach near Bamburgh was wide, and there were acres of soft sand and dunes, and apart from the chill wind we could have been in the Mediterranean - except that these beaches were almost empty. We got to Bamburgh as the sea had almost reached high tide, and the wind was really whipping up the surf. We sat for ages watching to see how far up the rocks the sea would come, and only moved on when it finally crashed over the highest point, cascading down the other side.
On the way back one of us gave into the temptation to kick off the shoes and paddle, and walked
blissfully along the shallow waters, great until we had to detour further onto the sand, when all romantic notions vanished and then began the painful business of trying to make progress across very soft and shifting sands!
But my hero came to the rescue with tissues and gentle fingers, and soon we were back to making steady and pain free progress back to the car and home for supper.
Chris pulled his back again the other day, so all thoughts of distance walking have again temporarily disappeared, so we are making the most of this beautiful coastline which is also rich in heritage; and today we are going to Warkworth. We popped into Amble first to check whether
it was worth including in our itinerary, but alas it lacked the necessary charm; and the enormous car boot sale, which was desperately trying to redistribute creaking table loads of rubbish, did nothing to persuade us to stay. Warkworth on the other hand was delightful, almost cotswoldy in parts. Our first stop was to the castle, now owned by English Heritage. They may not be quite so classy as the National Truss, but they do provide an excellent free audio tour. We had a 12th century guard took us right round the keep, introducing us to scenes from his working day, amazing that the tape recording was still working after all those centuries!There was not much of the castle left unexplored by the time we had finished, as it was so interesting, and we left with a pretty good impression of how it worked!!
We left there to explore the town; it was a little like Burford to walk down, but without all the expensive antique shops. We reached the river and spotted a Heron, which gave the impression that he was fishing for supper, we watched for a while, but he moved very little - but come to think of it, neither did we!!On the way back to the car we were tempted into (well I was anyway) an intriguing gifty shop, filled to the brim with pretty, interesting and mostly useless stuff, from floor to ceiling, and even hanging from it. All was cream, pink and twinkly, staying too long in there might lead to sensory overload, but it was worth having a good old investigate.
As we have been very well behaved and positively abstemious this week, we have saved up enough sheckles to treat ourselves to a pub supper, and we hoped to find some local hostelry serving from the local catch, and we were in luck. The fish speciality of the day at the Grey Inn at Embleton, was Sea Trout, and it was just delicious, and a lovely way to end the day.
Sunday 25th day 211
We are doing well with the weather, it seems that the rest of the country are experiencing freak storms, and unseasonably horrid weather conditions, but although there is a cold breeze, we are basking in sunshine again, writing this could be the kiss of death though so I will say no more. We are back to Bamburgh to have a look at their Bank holiday fate, then on for a picnic and walk along the shore. We are still trying to keep Chris’s back calm so no great hikes yet.
What excitement there was when we got to Bamburgh, it was heaving to start with, but we soon got parked, a little way out of town though, but enjoyed the walk back to town. I had rather assumed that the fate would be the usual pants, cakes and tombola, and it is true those stalls were there, but there too were some really classy antique, and craft stalls. But first prize went to a very charismatic older gentleman (with very twinkly blue eyes!) who buys and restores interesting old pieces that he finds in sales around Northumberland. We were completely taken
by several of his pieces, and could have bought an old gentleman’s chair, a blanket box, an occasional table or a hat stand, they were all superbly restored, but in the end, after several interesting conversations and a little haggling we left with a beautiful old chest of drawers and two beautiful decorative chairs. We may not have somewhere to live, but we now have furniture!!!After such excitement we needed to rest awhile so drove out to Warren Mill, parked up and took
our picnic to eat it down by the sea, which was out so we sat by the muddy channels in the sunshine, it was still lovely though to watch the birds forage for their lunch too.Once lunch had settled we took a long and lovely walk along the sea shore towards Bamburgh as the tide started to come in and those rivulets turned into rivers and wide channels, and the kite
surfers could be seen screaming down the surf at high speed being pulled by their colourful semicircular kites.The beach near Bamburgh was wide, and there were acres of soft sand and dunes, and apart from the chill wind we could have been in the Mediterranean - except that these beaches were almost empty. We got to Bamburgh as the sea had almost reached high tide, and the wind was really whipping up the surf. We sat for ages watching to see how far up the rocks the sea would come, and only moved on when it finally crashed over the highest point, cascading down the other side.
On the way back one of us gave into the temptation to kick off the shoes and paddle, and walked
blissfully along the shallow waters, great until we had to detour further onto the sand, when all romantic notions vanished and then began the painful business of trying to make progress across very soft and shifting sands!But my hero came to the rescue with tissues and gentle fingers, and soon we were back to making steady and pain free progress back to the car and home for supper.
No comments:
Post a Comment