A Northumbrian Adventure
The journey to Newcastle began on Friday 5th September from Hereford. The plan was for Cheryl and me to get established in Tony and Lesley's caravan ready for the 'SunWalk' charity event raising money for breast cancer, which involved a half marathon walk. We were later starting off than we hoped, the weather was terrible and the traffic awful. When the M1 ground to a halt we decided to spend the night in Nottingham. We started off early the next morning and had a smooth journey to Newcastle and on to the caravan, some 30 minutes drive north. It was obvious from the persistent heavy rain and the near flood conditions on the A1 that there would be problems.
Later on Saturday it took people 2 hours to drive that 30 minute journey, Morpeth was flooded, eventually the A1 closed and our walk cancelled! 1500 walkers were expected and an enormous amount of organisation was involved as well as the work of individuals (like Lesley) in decorating the bras that we all were to wear to emphasise that raising money for breast cancer was our aim. Much of the course was flooded and the field for the start ws so waterlogged that no marquees could be put up.
Sunday 7th September
We decided to do our favourite walk -Craster to Dunstanburgh castle. It was wet underfoot and a weak sun shone from time to time. We met the castle keeper who had never seen it so wet with so much standing water. The little stream at the foot of the castle mound was a torrent and we had to search for a place to cross. We eventually walked about 6 miles and were tired at the end of it! A good lunch in Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel, Embleton, ended our activity for the day.
Monday 8th September
We set out for Warkworth Castle, parked and had a little look at the castle and the surrounding town. The river was very swollen and the old bridge, now used only for pedestrian traffic was closed. We spoke to a couple who lived there and the river was 3m down on Saturday levels when a boating shed was washed away. We walked along the river lookin
g down onto houses that were mopping out-so sad.
Our walk took us along the beach as far as Alnmouth estuary and there was no way of crossing the river in present conditions. There was an enormous amount of debris, including large tress that had been washed down in the floods. We did come across a full barrel of beer but we could not pick it up! We chose to walk back along the top of the dunes and got another perspective of the beach. At times the weather was pleasent and the sun shone for almost a minute! The beach is magnificent and we both said that if we had come across it in NZ or Oz we would be wondering what place in the world's top 10 to place it.
Lunch was a couple of rolls on the beach as we looked across to Coquet I
sland.
In the afternoon we went to Wallington gardens and somehow I had convinced Cheryl that this was new for us, whereas I have been at least 3 times before and she at least once! Nevertheless it was great and very relaxing to walk around. Cheryl was looking for inspiration and I took a number of photos of plants and groupings of plants that appealed to me.
We were too tired to eat out and had a fry-up in the comfort and warmth of the caravan.
Tuesday 9th September
We were at Alnwick Gardens by opening time, 10am. Although we knew what to expect the Grand Cascade took our breath away - quite magnificent and we 'oohed' as each water spout began!
We spent 3 hours walking around enjoying every part of the gardens. One stainless steel sculpture uses the Coanda effect where water clings to the underside of the structure when you expect it to drop off. Coanda studied sculpture with Rodin and engineering with Eiffel. Not a bad CV.
The rain set in and we had lunch in the local pub as it was one of their special days and spent the rest of the day indoors with Cherryl working as I watched the TV and the rain.
Wedneday 10th September
It was a glorious morning - blue sky and sunny - almost warm! We set out for Newton-on-the-sea where we had just called in on a previous day. The stretch of coast northwards was new to us and we set out for Beednel marked as 2.5 mile on the sighpost. The beach was wonderful! This part of England has beaches to compare to anywhere in the world - if only the sea was warm!l
Beednell bay was quite magnificent and we had it all to ourselves - if only the sea was warm! We kept close to the sea and found we were faced with an estuary and no chance of crossing, so we had to back track to a bridge with sighposts of 1 3/4 miles back and the same forward. Where did the extra mile come from?
Beednell had nothing to offer - no pub or coffee shop that we could find and even the Post Office was relegated to the outskirts.
We hurried on to Seahouses with the thought of fish and chips in the Neptune foremost in our minds. We were not dissapointed! A lovely piece of fish with a thin batter served almost immediately. In and out quickly and we set about the return journey heading inland for the shortest way, as we calculated we had walked about 6 miles, confirmed by the feelings being passed upwards from our legs. We did the crossword as we walked and now the weather was closing in and there were just a few drops of rain. Back to the caravan by 4.30 so at least 5 hours of walking!
Cheryl opted to work in the caravan - she decided that was better than seeing Joseph and his amazing...you know the rest. I met up with Lesley and sister Lisa and we had a good time hamming it up to a bright and bouncy production. Afterwards we went to 'Starter and Puds' where L and L had had starters before the show and I helped them with the puds - delicious.
Thursday September 11th
We rested in the morning and visited a garden at Longframlington in the afternoon, There were many beds, all of which were labelled up so it was really good for Cheryl. However lots of work was needed in this high maitenance garden so it was not really set up for the general public. I was impressed by many boards with interesting material about climate change.
In the evening I was back to Newcastle to go jiving in Wallsend with Lesley and Matt. A good evening and Matt is coming on in leaps and bounds!
Friday 12th September
We cleaned the caravan and then set out for Longhoughton where we parked and walked to Craster - another lovely part of the coast. I had kippers for the first time and they were
excellent. I had always worried about the bones but you just have to eat them with lots of bread and butter. We looked in Mick Oxley's gallery - liked what we saw and both bought prints which we collected with the car after the walk back.
In the evening Lesley, Tony and Matt joined us for a final meal at the Cook and Barker - a good finale to the holiday.
The journey back was on Saturday with a stop in Nottingham to watch Forest play - the less said about that the better.
We are very grateful to be able to spend time in the caravan to explore this lovely part of the country. On this trip there was more time to visit with L, T and M which was an enjoyable bonus.
Later on Saturday it took people 2 hours to drive that 30 minute journey, Morpeth was flooded, eventually the A1 closed and our walk cancelled! 1500 walkers were expected and an enormous amount of organisation was involved as well as the work of individuals (like Lesley) in decorating the bras that we all were to wear to emphasise that raising money for breast cancer was our aim. Much of the course was flooded and the field for the start ws so waterlogged that no marquees could be put up.
Sunday 7th September
We decided to do our favourite walk -Craster to Dunstanburgh castle. It was wet underfoot and a weak sun shone from time to time. We met the castle keeper who had never seen it so wet with so much standing water. The little stream at the foot of the castle mound was a torrent and we had to search for a place to cross. We eventually walked about 6 miles and were tired at the end of it! A good lunch in Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel, Embleton, ended our activity for the day.
Monday 8th September
We set out for Warkworth Castle, parked and had a little look at the castle and the surrounding town. The river was very swollen and the old bridge, now used only for pedestrian traffic was closed. We spoke to a couple who lived there and the river was 3m down on Saturday levels when a boating shed was washed away. We walked along the river lookin
g down onto houses that were mopping out-so sad.Our walk took us along the beach as far as Alnmouth estuary and there was no way of crossing the river in present conditions. There was an enormous amount of debris, including large tress that had been washed down in the floods. We did come across a full barrel of beer but we could not pick it up! We chose to walk back along the top of the dunes and got another perspective of the beach. At times the weather was pleasent and the sun shone for almost a minute! The beach is magnificent and we both said that if we had come across it in NZ or Oz we would be wondering what place in the world's top 10 to place it.
Lunch was a couple of rolls on the beach as we looked across to Coquet I
sland.In the afternoon we went to Wallington gardens and somehow I had convinced Cheryl that this was new for us, whereas I have been at least 3 times before and she at least once! Nevertheless it was great and very relaxing to walk around. Cheryl was looking for inspiration and I took a number of photos of plants and groupings of plants that appealed to me.
We were too tired to eat out and had a fry-up in the comfort and warmth of the caravan.
Tuesday 9th September
We were at Alnwick Gardens by opening time, 10am. Although we knew what to expect the Grand Cascade took our breath away - quite magnificent and we 'oohed' as each water spout began!
We spent 3 hours walking around enjoying every part of the gardens. One stainless steel sculpture uses the Coanda effect where water clings to the underside of the structure when you expect it to drop off. Coanda studied sculpture with Rodin and engineering with Eiffel. Not a bad CV.The rain set in and we had lunch in the local pub as it was one of their special days and spent the rest of the day indoors with Cherryl working as I watched the TV and the rain.
Wedneday 10th September
It was a glorious morning - blue sky and sunny - almost warm! We set out for Newton-on-the-sea where we had just called in on a previous day. The stretch of coast northwards was new to us and we set out for Beednel marked as 2.5 mile on the sighpost. The beach was wonderful! This part of England has beaches to compare to anywhere in the world - if only the sea was warm!l
Beednell bay was quite magnificent and we had it all to ourselves - if only the sea was warm! We kept close to the sea and found we were faced with an estuary and no chance of crossing, so we had to back track to a bridge with sighposts of 1 3/4 miles back and the same forward. Where did the extra mile come from?Beednell had nothing to offer - no pub or coffee shop that we could find and even the Post Office was relegated to the outskirts.
We hurried on to Seahouses with the thought of fish and chips in the Neptune foremost in our minds. We were not dissapointed! A lovely piece of fish with a thin batter served almost immediately. In and out quickly and we set about the return journey heading inland for the shortest way, as we calculated we had walked about 6 miles, confirmed by the feelings being passed upwards from our legs. We did the crossword as we walked and now the weather was closing in and there were just a few drops of rain. Back to the caravan by 4.30 so at least 5 hours of walking!
Cheryl opted to work in the caravan - she decided that was better than seeing Joseph and his amazing...you know the rest. I met up with Lesley and sister Lisa and we had a good time hamming it up to a bright and bouncy production. Afterwards we went to 'Starter and Puds' where L and L had had starters before the show and I helped them with the puds - delicious.
Thursday September 11th
We rested in the morning and visited a garden at Longframlington in the afternoon, There were many beds, all of which were labelled up so it was really good for Cheryl. However lots of work was needed in this high maitenance garden so it was not really set up for the general public. I was impressed by many boards with interesting material about climate change.
In the evening I was back to Newcastle to go jiving in Wallsend with Lesley and Matt. A good evening and Matt is coming on in leaps and bounds!
Friday 12th September
We cleaned the caravan and then set out for Longhoughton where we parked and walked to Craster - another lovely part of the coast. I had kippers for the first time and they were
excellent. I had always worried about the bones but you just have to eat them with lots of bread and butter. We looked in Mick Oxley's gallery - liked what we saw and both bought prints which we collected with the car after the walk back.In the evening Lesley, Tony and Matt joined us for a final meal at the Cook and Barker - a good finale to the holiday.
The journey back was on Saturday with a stop in Nottingham to watch Forest play - the less said about that the better.
We are very grateful to be able to spend time in the caravan to explore this lovely part of the country. On this trip there was more time to visit with L, T and M which was an enjoyable bonus.
posted by Bob's Blog @ 1:55 PM
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