Beadnell - January 2025

And so to what has become our annual holiday in Northumberland in January, I say Northumberland but it's specifically Beadnell. We have come to love our winter week on the wide-open beaches of the North-East.

Our trip up on Saturday was a good one, ok we had the 20-minute or so delay that we have come to expect as we near Newcastle, but thankfully the 4-years worth of roadworks there is coming to an end, so next year may be better. We did our usual stop-off at Alnwick to do some food shopping, and then before heading to our home for the week, we spent an hour in the Craster Arms in Beadnell having a lovely meal.

Now the weather forecast had led us to expect some nice days for the first half of our week away, however, Sunday morning just brought grey lifeless skies. No rain though, so a bonus.

To stay away from the busier Sunday crowds, ok not so busy this time of year, we headed inland to a walk I had found. It was about a 45-minute trip inland, and we parked near the historic Twizel Bridge. This was in the area where the English fought at Flodden.

Although it wasn't a long walk, just about 3 miles, we saw the bridge, which was the longest single arch bridge when it was built, a castle ruins, a viaduct, a boathouse and ruins of a chapel. Plus, we had a lovely lunch stop next to the River Tweed, looking across the river to Scotland. So there is plenty to see on the walk.

By the time we arrived back at the house, it was around 4pm, so we took a short walk on the beach and then back to cook Sunday lunch.

Monday would be a 'cross border raid' as we headed up the coast into Scotland. We had found a couple of places near St Abbs, and all reviews on the internet were positive, so an hour up the coast we went.

It was a tad disappointing however when we arrived to find that the route down to the bay we had planned to go to, is not open to cars. You have to park up and then it's a 3-4 mile round-trip hike, which in itself doesn't sound bad, however as quite a chunk of it is along the coastal path atop the cliffs, it's not something Donna would put on her Christmas list!

So we made do with a short walk around the harbour at St Abbs, had a sandwich in the car as all the cafes were closed, and then jumped in the car for the journey back.

After toying with where to go next, Donna came up with a great plan, "why don't we do our annual Holy Island walk on the way back?" - a great idea. So after checking the safe crossing times we took the opportunity.

Unusually for when we visit the island, it wasn't windy, and as it's quiet this time of year it made a great destination. Before going anywhere though, we popped into the only cafe open as that closes early. A couple of hot drinks and some flapjack for me.

We spent about 2 hours walking around the bay, just taking in all the interesting things there are there to see. It's a bit of a photographer's paradise, to be honest, there is always something to take a photo of no matter what the time of year or the weather. Although there was little in the sky to add any drama, we did get some low sun before it dropped below the horizon, to paint its glow on the castle. A great day out.

Tuesday was the first day, and the forecast was for some sun, not wall-to-wall, but quite a bit of blue sky was expected. So it was a good day to go for a bit of a beach walk.

Often when up here we get the bus to Bamburgh and then walk back, but today we decided to drive to Seahouses and then walk to Bamburgh and back. And there was a bonus at the start of the day when we parked up next to the harbour in Seahouses, and another couple who paid for a full day's parking, had finished with their ticket so gave it to us. £8 saved.

On the way there we walked along the beach, it was low tide so you get the whole expanse of the stunning beach, with its interspersed sections of black whin sill where the rock looks almost man-made in some areas with the straight lines and 90-degree angles. It was a beautiful walk, looking out to the Farne Islands sitting beneath blue skies.

After arriving in Bamburgh we headed to the recently opened Walled Garden cafe for lunch. Plenty of teething problems, one couple walked out as they had waited so long for their food, and our food took close to 30 minutes to come. My seafood chowder was very good, but Donna wasn't impressed with her steak sandwich, so a bit of a disappointing visit.

For the walk back, we started walking through the dunes, then went to the road until I got sick of the noise of cars, and then back onto the beach. My knee was playing up so I was glad when we got to the end of our 7-mile walk, and I was looking forward to getting back to the house to put my feet up.

On each visit up here, I have always wanted to go and tour the Cheviot Hills, the nearest we had been was when we had been to Cragside. So given today's good weather forecast I planned out a 127-mile round-trip.

However, after about 30 miles, and me getting the face on, we turned back. And why, FOG! We had driven for many miles and you just couldn't see a thing. I was gutted, and obviously, Donna thought it was funny seeing me in a mood...which I suppose it was.

So we headed back inland, back over to Beadnell. And what did I do, I went for a 2-hour sleep. I arose at around 3:30pm and we went straight to the Craster Arms for a meal, and there was no risk of not getting a seat as it was virtually empty. We sat over near the fire and tucked in.

After getting back to the house we just went for a short walk on the beach, just to blow away the cobwebs and soak up some fresh air after what had been a frustrating day, for me at least.

And on to Thursday, only two more days until it is time to return to normality. Unusually for me I got out of bed early, and seeing some colour in the sky I quickly dressed and headed towards the harbour. It was a bit of a waste as although the sky was mainly clear, there was a bank of clouds that sat right over where the sun would rise.

The weather forecast for the rest of the day was a tad damp, particularly in the afternoon, so we headed down to Craster and did the 3-mile walk to Dunstanburgh Castle and back. And to be honest it was enough for my knee.

We then drove down the coast for an ice cream at Spurellis in Amble. We have started making a habit of this when the forecast isn't great. While we were there, we had a short walk in the harbour, and eagle-eyed Donna saw some Seals. They were busy catching and eating fish with their heads popping out above the water.

For the rest of the day, we had nothing planned. We headed over to Alnwick and did some food shopping, eventually getting back to the house around 3:15pm. Chill out time.

On our last day, a storm was heading our way, so we didn't have too much planned. We had booked a meal at The Running Fox, I say meal but it was an Afternoon Tea. That was booked for 12:45, so all we did the rest of the day was to spend some time on the beach, just checking out the sea and the beach given the winds of close to 90mph. It was just a pity that today's high tide was not a particularly high one, so although there were some waves they weren't near enough to crash onto the harbour at all.

It was however a nice steady way to spend the last day of our week. All we had planned for the rest of the day was to start some packing...