Beadnell - March 2026

For a good few years, we have been coming up to Beadnell during the winter months, normally the first few months of the year. As we had holidays booked in January this year, we were a little later than normal, but still before Spring arrives, and at least this time of year we would have more daylight..

We drove up on Saturday, and we were greeted by clear blue skies. So after unpacking, a walk on the beach was the order of the day, before we came in to watch the rugby. When, unfortunately, England lost for the first time ever to Italy!

As it was a clear night, I wrapped up warm, put on the headtorch and spent an hour on the harbour just enjoying the peace and quiet, and the clear skies. En route, I grabbed a Mocha from The Landing to keep my hands warm, which unfortunately I also managed to spill down my coat!

Sunday was another fine day, but what to do? Well, even though we have been on a boat to the Farne Islands a few times already, we decided that, as the weather was so nice, we would do it again today. It's not quite the same as later on in the year, when the islands are covered in breeding birds of all types, but it's just nice to spend 90 minutes on a boat, and there are always plenty of Grey Seals to see. Plus, we just love being out on the sea.

After getting back to the house, I went outside and read my new Freddie Flintoff book whilst Donna slaved over a Sunday Lunch, very much appreciated. Of course, I had to go for my now regular Sunday afternoon nap, and on getting up, we went for a walk on the beach for an hour or two. Some clouds had now come over, so it was a little chillier than earlier in the day.

Monday for me was a workday. As I only had 4 days of holiday left, I had to work a day, so I chose Monday to get it out of the way. Donna went for a walk whilst I went and worked for a couple of hours from The Landing, the bar and restaurant by the beach. In the afternoon, Donna read outside, and I took my laptop out to work in the fresh air.

And as the evening drew closer, I switched off my laptop for a week, and we set off out for a walk. We drove 10 minutes up the coast to Bamburgh, and did a steady 2 miles along the beach from the Castle to the small lighthouse and back. It was nice to get out and stretch the legs after a day sitting at a table.

The forecast for Tuesday was for another lovely day with plenty of sun. So, of course, where do we always go when we are up here? Yes, Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, take your choice.

There was a window of around 8 hours today when you could cross the causeway, so we were free to set off around 9:45am, which would give us plenty of time to explore. We were rather surprised when crossing the causeway when we saw three Grey Seals just relaxing on the sand, not something we have ever seen there before, but a pleasant surprise.

We spent over 4 hours on the island, plenty of walking, and plenty of photos taken. It has to be one of the places where photo opportunities are abundant; we just love it there. Before leaving, we stopped off at 1st Class Food, the cafe that is part of the island Post Office. Hot drinks and lovely cakes.

On the way back, we went the long way round and visited Alnwick to do some grocery shopping, so it was around 4:30pm by the time we got back to the house.

After a hot drink and half an hour sitting outside, I set off to the harbour with my camera and tripod to take some photos. To be honest, though, the tripod was a little pointless given how windy it was down there. I set off back as it was getting dark, stopped off at The Landing en route, and sat outside with a Mocha. Funny, I was the only person sitting outside, oh, and yes, wearing shorts.

On to Wednesday, and one of the walks that we always do when up here is the one from Craster back to Beadnell, and this time would be no different. We got the 11:19am bus down the coast, so we arrived in Craster around 25 minutes later. And our first port of call, before setting off back, was Pipers Pitch.

We sat down for some food, Donna had a BLT, and I had their famous Auchtermuckty, layers of Haggis and Bacon on a breadcake. Both were cooked to perfection.

The route back takes us up past Dunstanburgh Castle, the ruins of, of course, and then along the stunning Embleton Bay. Possibly our favourite beach, which looked stunning under the blue skies. We stopped off for a drink at the pub in Low Newton, as we often do, then set off on the second half of the walk back up the coast.

By the time we arrived back at our house, we had been out for around 5 hours, and our legs knew it. We both sat down to read for an hour or so, and then, in hope, I headed down to Beadnell harbour hoping for a nice sunset. But whilst 90% of the sky was cloudless, unfortunately, over in the west was a bank of cloud drowning out the sun. Never mind, though, another lovely day at the coast.

And then on to Thursday, and yes, the weather forecasters were correct. It didn't look like it early morning, in fact, I managed to sit outside in the sun and have breakfast. Yes, it was windy, but that was it. However, it soon changed, and the storm arrived. So, apart from a brief early evening walk and a drink in The Landing, we spent the day cooped up in the house, just chilling out. Both reading our books and, of course, my afternoon nap.

For our last day, we decided to drive down to Craster and do the coastal walk down to Howick Bay and back. And we did do that, well, sort of. We set off on the walk, but after about 30 minutes, we decided to turn around as the ground underfoot was a little greasy, and slipping underfoot was the norm. Of course, we visited Pipers Pitch again for brunch, before heading back up the coast.

We drove past Beadnell and up to Seahouses, where we parked up for an hour and went for an ice-cream at the new parlour that has opened there. Loads of great favours on offer, well worth a visit when you are in the area, and saves the drive all the way down to Amble, which we would often do for our ice-cream parlour fix. The rest of the day was spent reading. I was outside for a couple of hours until the rains came again, the wind got its breath back, and the heavens opened. I was hoping for an evening walk on the beach, but would I get to do it?