Month: September 2019

From Embleton to Craster…

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Another wet night though the rain had passed on by the morning and gave us a lovely sunny morning, though a rather grey afternoon, quite windy out too! To pick up where we left off yesterday we found parking in the village of Embleton and set off to walk the mile or so down to Embleton Bay.

We walked along to the end of the sandy part of the beach (south),

where we had to clamber up into the dunes (not very high) to continue our journey with a lovely view back down along the beach….

It would have been nice to see these beaches in the sunshine, perhaps we will get the chance to come back? Onward we went towards Dunstanburgh Castle, whose dramatic profile we have been following for some days.

We decided to go into the castle as it was free (NT) and sits on such a prominent headland.

As you can see it is mostly ruins, though they have built steps up the inside of the right hand tower – we only got up to the second (out of three) landings as Poppydog is really frightened of any kind of walkway that you can see through and this sprial staircase, though concrete had gaps between the steps which she did not like at all! Still we got a good look out of the window on the second landing.

Leaving the castle behind we carried on along the footpath to Craster.

A very pretty little fishing village, nestling around it’s harbour.

With a little bit of sandy beach within the harbour walls.

After a wander around the village, a pub, a lifeboat station, a smokehouse selling smoked kippers and rather a lot of holiday lets, we left the village to follow Cycle Route 1 back to Embleton.

Another nice holiday destination to add to my rather long list! 8.5 mile round trip.

From High Newton to Dunstan Steads…..

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A bit of a mizzog day today, spitting most of the day though not enough to actually make you wet especially as there was a brisk sea breeze. Today we drove to High Newton, parking the car in the village (free) and wandering the mile or so down to Football Hole Beach to pick up where we left off yesterday.

It doesn’t look quite so appealing on this grey and damp day. After a little play for Poppydog we picked up the path along the dunes and around Newton Point. Along this stretch there is no beach just rocks being battered by the waves, until you arrive at Newton-by-the-sea a pretty village of mostly holiday lets (NT) by the looks along a pretty sandy crescent shaped cove.

Judging by all the buoys in the bay, during the summer it is probably full of small craft with only a few left out there at the moment. It also manages to support a Pub – a great place for a holiday.

The beach doesn’t stop even though it is almost high tide and around the corner is Embleton Bay.

A long sandy bay stretching around a wide bay, backed with dunes and the obligatory golf course beyond that!

At the far end of the bay stands the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle, creating a dramatic silhouette against the grey sky.

We continued on to the end of the bay, which we more or less had to ourselves with the exception of one brave soul kite surfing and seeming to spend much of the time airborne!

At the end of the beach we made our return journey through the dunes as the beach had disappeared under the tide in parts. Just outside Low Newton up in the dunes are about 20 little cabins (1 bed, living / kitchen area and bathroom), some really exposed and some nestling in the dunes with no vehicular access for at least a mile- apparently wheelbarrows are an essential item to life in one of these – how fab!

The weather might have been against us but it was still a lovely 8 mile walk.

A walk along Tughall Dunes to Newton Point…..

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Another wet night but a lovely sunny day for us to enjoy. Today we walked from site to join the Coastal Path which passes through the Tughall Dunes behind Beadnell Bay and beyond.

After a couple of miles of this untamed wilderness we cut back across to the shore at Newton Point (our turning back point) – it was quite stony and the tide high, but still enough room for Poppydog to have a bit of a run around.

Back up on the Dune tops for a while until we dipped down onto Football Hole Beach (yes it really is called that!).

What a beautiful little beach, the sand was lovely.

Brings a whole new meaning to the words ‘footsteps in the sand’!

After a bit of a play we continued along the dunes.

Soon we were looking down on Beadnell Bay or that is the thin strip of sand still exposed at high tides.

The tides are too high for us to walk back along the beach so we again headed inland a bit to cross the river that runs across Beadnell Bay.

We followed the coastal path along the dunes until we arrived each in the village. A beautiful day and a lovely 8.5 mile walk. Now a glass of wine in the last of the days sunshine is in order.

From Bamburgh to Budle Bay…..

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Wet overnight again but quite sunny in the morning and overcast during the afternoon. Though it looked quite threatening whilst we were out, it didn’t really start raining until we were almost back at the car around 4ish, so we pretty much got away with it! We parked up just beyond the castle on the edge of Bamburgh (free parking along the coastal road and also around the village, it is just the main castle carpark that is a P&D) and wandered into the village for a little poke about. It is quite pretty, though more hostelries and eateries and just a few little shops.

We then walked down to the Lighthouse and picked up the coastal path from there. Even though it was coming up to high tide, there was still a bit of exposed sand for us to enjoy.

Not enough though to get much further along the shore, so we back tracked and took the coastal path along the tops of the cliffs. Looking down with envy at the little coves of Budle Bay.

Shortly we arrived at Budle Point and across the bay we could just make of Ross Back Sands and the distant twin obelisks.

Here we ventured back down over the dunes to the little slither of beach and out onto a sand bank for Poppydog to have a bit of a run around.

At this point we again ran out of beach and decided to start to make our way back, with a view to coming again when the tides are more in our favour.

As the tide has turned we made our way slowly back along the beach and mostly managed to return via the little beaches with the odd scramble over rocks and dunes here and there!

A lovely 7.5 mile walk.

Ross Back Sands to Guile Point….

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Another wet night but not a bad day and with a stunning beach and a colony of seals – all is very well in our world. We drove down a narrow no through road in pursuit of the sea and ended up in the little hamlet of Ross where we left the car (there was space for maybe half a dozen cars) and set off for the mile or so walk to the beach. A couple of moments of sheer terror as the path took us through a field of cows and their calves and then over a series of dunes and…

How absolutely stunning is this (Lindisfarne Castle visible on the right)?

The beach was deserted and Poppydog enjoyed her freedom as we wandered along the beach towards Holy Island. The tide was fully in but what an amazing beach. As we reached the far end (Guile Point), I spotted a number of blobs floating in the sea….

I realised that they were seals and quickly put Poppydog back on the lead as we headed around the point – just as well look….

Maybe a 100 grey seals of all ages shuffling or basking on the sand….

Amazing – we crept along, keeping as tight to the dunes as we could so as to not disturb them and then sat up in the dunes for awhile completely mesmerized….

After a time we continued on our way arround the back of Old Law Dunes, past the twin navigation obelisks…

Along the edge of the Lindisfarne Nature Reserve…

Until we could rejoin Ross Back Beach by cutting through the gap between the Old Law Dunes which are fenced off as a Nature Reserve and the Ross Dunes.

As the tide begins to recede this beach just gets better, with Lindisfarne Castle to the North and Bamburgh to the South…

With this glorious 3 mile stretch of sand to ourselves (oh and 100 or so seals!) And a fair bit of sunshine we really are ‘living the dream’….