Bamburgh or Bust!

Farne Islands from the beach
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Our last full day in Seahouses and the wather is not looking good. The boats can’t go out because of the wind and there are showers passing through. Still that doesn’t stop us heading for the beach – albeit for a walk rather than a swim.

We are heading north into the cold wind, towards Bamburgh Castle. We’ve seen it from so many angles we have to have a close up look. The beach is flat and firm but walking is still difficult. I’m using my walking pole and the others are impressed, I look like a polar explorer apparently. It actually turns out that they are jealous, because it genuinely does make it easier to walk.

The wind makes walking hard, but eventually the castle comes into sight.

Approaching Bamburgh Castle from the beach
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All along the beach I can see small birds darting about. Everyone wants to know what they are and I’m stumped. I’ve had a pretty good look at them but I’ve never seen them before. My best guess is that it’s a sandling, but I’ll have to wait until I can check my bird book.

The wind makes walking hard, but eventually the castle comes into sight. It’s an impressive view, particularly with a beautiful sandy beach in front of it. I’ve never seen a beach like this down south. There are a few people about, but not many. If this was Weymouth, there would be thousands, even on a cool day like today.

Grace Darling's memorial, Bamburgh
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We have one final obstacle to negotiate before we can storm the castle. It is protected by massive sand dunes. We manage to scramble up the dunes (my stick came in very handy again). At the top we realise we need to head back down and up the next ridge before we get to the castle. Having done this we decide to head into the village and stop for refreshments in the Copper Kettle coffee shop. I have a really magnificent cream tea to celebrate.

After a lovely break we head out into the cold to visit St Aidan’s church. Here we visit the grave of a Victorian woman who showed that the fairer sex were just as capable in an emergency. Her name was Grace Darling and she helped her lighthouse keeper father to rescue nine people from the wreck of the Forthfarshire. They had to row across a wide expanse of water in stormy seas to collect the victims, making two trips in total. When news reached London she became an instant celebrity. Sadly she only lived for another four years, succumbing to TB in her mid 20s. The nation mourned its heroine and Queen Victoria was first to make a donation so that a suitable memorial could be build for her. The resulting memorial depicts her lying on a couch, clasping an oar and looking out to sea.

Bamburgh Castle
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We finally headed back to the castle to take a look round inside. It’s very pleasant, but not too over the top – it still has family photos out on display. It’s apparently the third largest castle still occupied today (preceded by Windsor and Alnwick in that order). In fact the current owner now lives in a nearby farm on his estate, but they still occupy the castle when entertaining visitors.

The King’s room is the grandest room in the house and is now used for weddings. Part of the room is cordoned off by ropes, which even the groom and best man have to step over. They only move it to one side when the bride arrives, after all no one wants to see her go flying.

The Cheviot Hills from Bamburgh Castle
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Finally we decide it’s time to head back. We decide to walk through the dunes until we find a suitable point to get back to the beach. This gives us the opportunity to see some different flora and fauna. The others had seen signs staying there were orchids around but couldn’t see them. So I call them back when I spot some. I think they were looking for something a little more exotic.

When we finally reach the beach, walking is an awful lot easier. We are no longer heading into the wind, now it’s blowing us along at double quick speed. In fact it seems to halve the time we take getting back.

Dinner tonight is ordinary fish and chips again. We feel we’ve earned it again with all our hard work. Afterwards we take a final wonder round the town before discovering a pub with live music playing. We pop in and find it heaving again and the singer is just about to stop. Luckily for us she is persuaded to have a quick break and then start an extra set of songs. She really does have a great voice. It’s a great last night and we have a brilliant time, returning after dark with just enough time to pack our bags.

Each of us is harbouring a hope that we can come back again next year, we have a long list of places we haven’t been able to go this year and want to come back. It’s been an amazing trip and we’ve met some wonderful warm hearted people, a trait that seems common in Northumberland.