This year’s walk was somewhere I’ve always wanted to explore more. I’ve driven through Northumberland a few times and noticed how beautiful it looks. We set off on a ridiculously warm Saturday and headed to Berwick upon Tweed. Berwick is a lovely old market town. The centre itself seems to be suffering the same fate as many high streets and a lot of shops looked closed down or replaced with discount shops but the charm of the place, with it’s huge walls surrounding it and quaint old square. We walked the perimeter and ate in a little cafe. I remember the chairs outside had been in the sun so it was quite hot to sit down but very pleasant.
After a quick drive past Bamborough Castle, we headed to Seahouses to where we were stopping. We had a quick stroll around the place and found something to eat then headed down to the harbour. Distant views over the Farne Islands were nice and we had a few skimming stones competitions. There was also a long walk along the beach to try and take advantage of the dark skies status that Northumberland has. Unfortunately, even at nearly midnight it was too light to see properly.
The next morning, it was another glorious day which is worryingly starting to become a feature in these walks. Thinking back to where it all started 15 years ago on Helvelyn in the cold and wet, it’s a nice to finally have some variety from cold and wet!
The walk started down at the end of a track out of a place called Wooler. That was a nice little town. The sun was really shining as we got out of the car and loaded up with water and supplies. We followed an old track which circled the base of the hill and then disappeared, leaving us to find out own track up the side. We’d later re-join the path nearer the top. It was a very steep climb in the heat but eventually, reaching the shoulder, we were rewarded with a nice breeze and some magnificent views. We picked up a paved path and walked back to find the trig point. Cheese and ham sandwiches (who would have thought) and cake for lunch then retraced our steps back along the paved path, then carried on down a bigger path back to the car. Overall a lovely walk but made so much nicer by stopping at Bamborough Castle again, following the path round the back of it and onto the beach to soak our feet in the sea.
We headed back to Seahouses to get cleaned up, then headed out for the usual curry and beer. Then back to the hotel to go to bed
The next day, the rain started. We were heading back via Lindesfarne which is somewhere I’ve been keen to visit for a while. We drove across the causeway and got parked up. A quick wander in. The Abbey was surrounded in scaffolding but was good to be able to see. We purchased mead and a few other bits, stacked up some stones then had a very rainy trip back home
