An Early Morning Walk Along Embleton Beach

I woke early this morning and at 6.15am decided it was such a beautiful morning I would go for a walk along Embleton Beach. At dinner last night I had suggested this and asked for company but there were no takers. It was as clear as a bell and there was nobody else about. 

It was High Tide and It was wonderful to walk along the shoreline in bare feet to the end of the beach and back a distance of 2 miles

Embleton Beach

The obligatory self. At 7.00pm in the space of 5 minutes the North Sea Haar came in and the sun disappeared . It was just coming back to normal when we left for home at 9.30am.

The Last Walk of the Week From Alnmouth to Craster

We decided to finish the week with a coastal walk of 8 miles from Alnmouth to Craster starting from Alnmouth at 11.00am . When we arrived the North Sea Haar was still there but in 15 minutes it lifted and it was a beautiful day.

The last of the mist still lingering but not for long 

Nearly Gone

There were loads of nice little beaches on this walk with hardly anybody on them

We crossed this bridge which was ideal for a photograph 

Just after our half way lunch at The Fishing Boat Inn at Boulmer we met this party of young people all set for an adventure jumping into the many rock pools formed by the incoming tide.

Near Craster there is a sea bird colony but nothing quite as spectacular as at The Farnes yesterday

Another spectacular beach

Time to consult the map 

Poppies 

Two spectacular beaches

The rock pools the youngsters would be jumping into soon.

A Misty Trip to Farne Islands

This was the view of Inner Farne as we approached it but when we landed for an hour about 45 minutes later the mist had lifted and the weather was warm and sunny. I will let most of the photographs speak for themselves as I took loads and have only randomly selected a few.

The Lighthouse where Grace Darling was based 

Elspeth getting dive bombed by a Tern

There were hundreds of chicks like these running about

A Visit to Howick Hall Gardens

Wednesday was a non walking day as we were all booked on a trip to The Farne Islands in the afternoon so it was a case of doing your own thing. Gaye and I headed for Howick Hall Gardens just about 4 miles from Embleton and we had a most enjoyable visit. The gardens are quite extensive and will be well worth another visit sometime in the future as we only saw about half of what there was to see. It was a bit misty at the start but soon warmed up. 

We did enjoy the many little places to stop for a seat and admire the flowers. 

These are a particular favourite of mine 

Howick Hall 

The tea room behind Gaye was lovely and our morning visit enabled us to have proper tea with loose tea in the pot and some superb cakes on offer.

We were back in Embleton by 12.30pm and ready for my next adventure to the Farne Islands

Walking Inland at Hulme Park due to North Sea Haar

Last night in the space of 15 minutes we went from a bright sunlit evening to a cold North Sea Haar and it was still there this morning so we chose an inland walk at Alnwick in Hulme Park. The walk was a 6.5 mile route through the park with Hulme Priory as its centre piece at the half way point. No dogs were allowed in the park as well as no cars so we hardly met anybody else. It is a beautiful place and was well worth the visit. We were down to 7 of us for this walk as Aileen and Martin have headed back to Edinburgh and Gaye and Elspeth are shopping in Alnwick.

There are loads of bridges in the park over the river Aln

Hulne Priory is at the centre of the park at the top of a hill. It was well worth the steep climb to the Priory 

The Priory was built in the mid 13th Century by Camelite Friars

At this exit to the park there are these 2 statues  

The River Aln

Yet another bridge

The river is quite slow flowing and there is loads of wildlife. I saw a Kingfisher for a few seconds. 

Our last bridge over the river Aln