The year that Summer just simply didn't bother to turn up.
However, when you just bought a new tent there's nowt you want more than to try the darn thing out, so we booked a long weekend off work and planned to go away for my Birthday weekend. This time of year is always a risk with the weather, so didn't go mad and book a site down south, but decided to check out a spot just outside Bamburgh on the strenght of being impressed with the views of the castle from a previous drive up the North East coastline, and knowing it is an AONB it was a guess that there would be some pretty good scenery. Booked for three nights at a site called Budle Bay.
SatNav Nelly had a hissy fit at the new Carlisle Ring road and got confused, sending us through Hawick on the way up, but we agreed that the scenic route through the Scottish Borders was preferable to the tedium of the drive across the A69 to Newcastle, so that was a good start to a wonderfully scenic weekend.
We had planned to do a bit of walking on the Friday evening once we were settled at the site, but in the event we arrived later than we thought so we just pitched up and cooked dinner. Got to use an early birthday present as Phil & Sandra had bought a camping stove for me - just the sort of pressie I like - exactly what I needed! The campsite was smaller than I expected, which was not a bad thing, and we chose a pitch alongside the river, taking a chance that we may get eaten by mozzies! Very well kept site with a friendly welcome and perfectly reasonable facilities not too far from our tent. Having settled in, we spent the evening planning the following days activities and checking the tide tables so we could visit The Holy Island of Lindisfarne....
Saturday morning we were up fairly early. Jasper is used to being able to go out when he likes at home (as he has a doggie flap) and so he woke me up when he wanted to go out. This was good though as we knew we only had the morning to visit Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, as it is cut off at high tide completely. We had until just before 1pm to get back across to the mainland, so set off straight after breakfast.
Holy Island is a tiny speck of a place with a population of around 160 people. But in the summer months it is bombarded with visitors like us drawn by the religious history, the remains of the Priory, the Castle, the beautiful beaches, the wildlife or just the character of this peaceful little community. It's a place I have always wanted to visit although I never really knew much about it, so this was the ideal opportunity as it was only about 15 minutes away by car.
The castle on the island was built during the reign of Henry VIII and they used stone from the Priory to do so. Henry VIII was behind the dissolution of the monasteries, so this was no great surprise, and the castle was built as accommodation for one of his wives brothers - Jane Seymour I think. It was used as a garrison up until the 18th Century and is now owned by The National Trust. We didn't look around the castle itself as we had Jasper with us, but enjoyed the views of it from across the island.
The remains of the 9th Century Priory itself were very impressive, and we were able to look around these with the dog so that was great. The photos hopefully show some of this. Adjacent to the priory is the Church of St Mary, a beautiful little Parish church which is believed to be built on the original site of St Aidan's church which was built in 635AD. Some of the features are 7th century, but like most similar buildings, there have been many changes over the year and it is mainly 12th century. There is a striking wooden carving depicting the Monks carrying St Cuthbert's coffin to Durham, which is a chainsaw carving, and the stained glass windows depict St Aidan.
Both of these historic men are major players in the spread of Christianity through Northern England, and are particularly of importance in the North East.
The tide came in at lunchtime so we made sure we were back on the mainland before then, and decided to take a trip into Bamburgh to have a peek at the Castle.
I have only seen it once before, on a pretty stormy day journeying up from the south, but it had stuck in my memory that Bamburgh Castle is an impressive structure. My memory did not let me down, although today it was bathed in glorious sunshine so we were able to take some time to wander around and discover the beautiful beached that back onto it. The sands were simply perfect, white and fine and impeccably clean, and the sea was as blue as a summer sky (well, as blue as a summer sky SHOULD be!). Jasper and I went in for a splash, and it wasn't too cold!
We considered walking around the coast just north of the castle, but really we were running out of day so we decided to leave that for tomorrow and just enjoy the sunshine while it was still here!
So, sunday morning arrived and, after breakfast, we grabbed the map and set off on our walk. Basically we walked into Bamburgh from the campsite and then out along the coastal walk which we had consdered the day before. The views across to the Farne Islands were awesome and the fabulous beaches continued all the way around this bit of coastline. Some of them being enjoyed by kite-surfers which made for some dramatic views. Holy Island is just off the coast from here, so we had clear views across to Lindisfarne Castle from here too and could see the causeway disappearing as the tide swept rapidly in.
Back to the tent and spent the rest of the day relaxing and soaking up the sun - cheered by the thought that the weather back home had been forecast to be atrocious! Linzi and Jasper went for a walk up the river that our tent was pitched alongside, and then we just relaxed for the rest of the evening. We did get one rain shower, but what the heck, we were inside with a beer by then.
A great weekend, the new tent did exactly what we asked of it, with plenty of room for all our clobber and Jasper too, and the weather was pretty much just what we had ordered. Drove back home on the Monday and as we passed the sign saying 'Welcome to Cumbria' the heavens opened. Welcome home.
Click here for the rest of the photos.
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