Day Five - journey's end at last - in the very attractive village of Warkworth. Built on a loop in the River Coquet, the village is dominated by Warkworth Castle, with its medieval (14th century) keep, towering walls and gatehouse. The castle belonged to the Percy family for a large part of its history. The first Earl of Northumberland's son, 'Harry Hotspur', became a legendary figure. Shakespeare's Henry IV Part II begins at Warkworth Castle: "this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone, where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland, lies crafty-sick." These days the castle, reflected so beautifully in the river, has a lovely air of tranquillity that belies its colourful past.
And so we packed up our boots and headed home...but I always feel I leave a little of myself behind in the fresh air and wonderful space of this part of England. I'm grateful for the beautiful weather we had. (Nothing short of miraculous, some would say! - not a drop of rain for five whole days, though it did rain the day we came home.) No blisters, no injuries, lots of photos and some lovely memories of a wonderful time with friends. Aren't holidays great?
Ah well, back to Saltaire tomorrow, folks....Hope you enjoyed the vacation.
Day Four's walking, mostly along the beach, was from Seahouses via Beadnell to Craster, an attractive little fishing village with another small harbour. (Craster is famous for its smoked fish - kippers and salmon.) These beaches are some of the best - long stretches of golden sand with outcrops of rock that give lovely rockpools. The rock formation above is known as Saddle Rock - a folded limestone outcrop, buckled by the intrusion of molten dolerite (locally called whinstone). It was at about this point that I nearly got felled by a flying golfball. The cry of "Fore!" made me reconsider the shot I was about to bag, of an orange flag against the outline of Dunstanburgh Castle! Northumberland must be heaven for golfers (those prepared to put up with a bit of wind, anyway.) 
And here is Dunstanburgh Castle - an impressive ruin that from a distance looks a bit like teeth! Built in 1313 by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, it was a status symbol rather than a strategic castle, to demonstrate the Earl's opposition to King Edward II. The Earl's rebellion was defeated and he was executed in 1322. The castle was strengthened and improved by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in the late 1300s and during the Wars of the Roses it was captured twice by the Yorkists. After that, the castle fell to ruin - but what remains has survived for nearly 700 years! It's now in the care of English Heritage.
And so on to Seahouses, which is a lovely little seaside town with proper amenities like good fish and chip shops and pubs, ice cream and gift shops. It has an attractive harbour, which gave me an hour of deep enjoyment, wandering around with my camera in the evening light. You can take boat trips from here to the Farne Islands to see the birds and seals. Seahouses also has a RNLI Lifeboat. I always used to love looking around lifeboat stations as a child and marvelling at the heroic stories - they usually have pictures and newspaper cuttings on display about their rescues. I find it astonishing that the lifeboats are crewed by volunteers - what heroes!
I took far too many photos that evening. (Thank heavens for digital!) The colours were glorious and it was all so tempting.
(Best viewed large)
The third day's walking, from Belford to Seahouses, was, I think, my favourite. It took us through the Nature Reserve at Budle Bay, and then on to Bamburgh, a small village with a magnificent castle. (You could spend a week simply visiting all the amazing castles in Northumberland - Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, Alnwick, Dunstanburgh, Warkworth.) Bamburgh was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. There has been a castle here since 547, initially a wooden one, and the present structure incorporates a Norman keep dating from 1164. Some of the castle is still inhabited (it has belonged to the Armstrong family since 1894) as well as being a major tourist attraction and wedding venue.The village itself is attractive (one of its coffee shops provided a welcome stop for us!). St Aidan's Church has a memorial to Grace Darling, daughter of the Longstone lighthouse keeper on the Farne Islands, who, in 1838, helped rescue nine people from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire in a terrible storm, using only a coble (a large rowing boat). It's an interesting story and she became a celebrated Victorian heroine, much sentimentalised.
Our second day's walking in Northumberland took us another 13 or so miles from Holy Island to Belford, which is a village slightly inland. We were following St Cuthbert's Way, a way-marked path that goes past St Cuthbert's Cave, one of the places where it's said that the monks rested with St Cuthbert's bones when they were fleeing the Vikings.We had to cross the busy A1 road, as well as the main Edinburgh to London East Coast rail line (which involved protracted chats by phone with a signalman!) As we were walking towards the line, we more or less bumped into this steam train. On searching the web I have discovered it was a Railway Touring Company tour - the Great Britain III - on its way from Edinburgh to York and then London. At this point the loco was the Princess Elizabeth 46201. And that, not being a train buff, is all I know. But I do like to see steam trains and so it was a serendipitous moment.(For those who like trains, a click on the pic will make it bigger.)
Day Five - journey's end at last - in the very attractive village of Warkworth. Built on a loop in the River Coquet, the village is dominated by Warkworth Castle, with its medieval (14th century) keep, towering walls and gatehouse. The castle belonged to the Percy family for a large part of its history. The first Earl of Northumberland's son, 'Harry Hotspur', became a legendary figure. Shakespeare's Henry IV Part II begins at Warkworth Castle: "this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone, where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland, lies crafty-sick." These days the castle, reflected so beautifully in the river, has a lovely air of tranquillity that belies its colourful past.
