Bamburgh & Holy Island

Men at work

The finished fort

First stop was Alnwick in search of wi-fi so we could find out tide times for Holy Island and therefore plan our week.  We happened across a Lidl so we stocked up on groceries and then headed to Barter Books.  Wow!  What a place.  This is one of the biggest second hand bookshops in the country.  It is housed in an old railway station.  First thing you see when you walk in is a roaring fire and a refreshment station with filter coffee, biscuits and an honesty box.  This is our sort of a place.  Tom was overjoyed as well as there was an overhead model railway with at least 3 trains, so he was rooted to the spot watching them with glee.  We were all very happy.  Matt got the tide times in for Holy Island – the causeway was clear 11.05 to 17.35 so today was the best day for it.  We had decided to  do Bamburgh at the same time as Holy Island and as Bamburgh was nearest we went there first.

Wow!  What a castle.  A huge, imposing structure on a cliff, overlooking the town and bay.  It was used in the first series of Black Adder although to be honest I didn’t recognise it from there.   The plan was to take photos of the castle and to have a play on the beach rather than tramp around the castle, so we headed down across the dunes to a very lovely yellow sandy beach.  The sandy was perfect for building sand castles, so that is what we did (we had come prepared with buckets and spades).  We spent a good hour making a rather large castle complete with moat and seaweed decorations and were quite pleased with ourselves.

Bamburgh Castle

We were the only ones being industrious on the beach – yes it was grey and overcast, but it wasn’t raining or that windy and we are in Northern England what more could we expect?  We were all quite pleased with our efforts.  Although we had been well prepared for the beach, we didn’t have a drink or snack with us so in the end our tummies told us that we should move on in search of food.  We carried on along the beach, around the castle and found ourselves in the village green.  After a little hunting we found a sandwich shop, so ordered ourselves some lunch and then went to eat it in the green looking at the very splendid castle.  After lunch we carried on round the castle so we had done a full lap and then headed back to the car to drive to Holy Island.

Small boy, big castle

Holy Island (or Lindisfarne) is one of those places that I have heard of and wondered about, being so close to it I had requested we go for a look.  It didn’t disappoint, we drove across the dry causeway to the head of the island ( a good 3 miles) and parked with the 1,000 or so other cars and joined the throngs in the village (it was Bank Holiday after all).  We decided to rejoin the National Trust whilst up here as there are so many National Trust properties, one of which would cost us at least half the yearly membership fee to enter.  Once joined, we headed towards the castle which dominates the island, built up on a rock at the end of a peninsula.  The castle itself wasn’t that big, but the view from it was good, and the walk out very pleasant.  AND the skies clearer and we had proper sunshine.  I even took my fleece off!!!!!!

The bay 

Unfortunately Matt was wearing his sandals for the first time this year which were causing him grief so we didn’t walk any further than the castle, but headed back to the village for tea and a bun at the least efficient café in the country (even slower than the Tavistock Pasty House and that’s saying something!).  Matt was in a queue for coffee and cake for a good half hour, with only 5 people in front of him, there was a lot of eyeball rolling and huffing when he finally arrived with drinks.  Luckily the drinks and cakes were good, so they redeemed themselves a little.

We had a quick look around the village and then headed back to the car, we drove back to Powburn completing a circuit.  The plan was to have showers and then head out for tea, but we were tired, cooking and eating in was more favourable for us all, so that is what we did.  A good day.