Adventures in Northumberland
Jul. 29th, 2013 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jacko8 adults, 4 kids, 1 holiday cottage, 2 minutes walk from the beach.
1 fantastic week, 3 castles, 2 island trips, 1 hydroelectric-powered stately home.
72 photos - Click here to view as a gallery, or all the photos are in the write-up below.
Day 1 - Friday 19th July:
I left work at lunchtime and drove up with Gillian, accompanied by suitably sixties holiday music ("We're all going..."). We arrived in Almouth just in time for dinner and plotting what to do each day for the rest of the week.
The cottage was just about perfect - six bedrooms which meant no sharing (apart from families), two living rooms (one for the kids and a quiet room for grown-ups) and a huge (if poorly laid-out) dining kitchen, where we sat up nattering or playing games on various evenings. It was ideally placed for the beach too, just over the road from the estuary and just around the corner from the actual sea.
Day 2 - Saturday 20th July:
The weather was overcast and cooler than it had been, but still warm and dry. I'd suggested a gentle start for the first full day, so we ended up doing Alnwick Castle and Garden, which was probably our busiest day. It couldn't be helped, there was just too much stuff to fit in!
The castle and gardens were very impressive, and there was loads of stuff for kids to do, from dressing up to the Dragon Quest (although Jamie didn't like the scary dragon!). There were broomstick flying lessons with Professors Izzlefizzle and Toffeebottom (Evie: "Are those real Hogwarts professor names?" Izzlefizzle: "This is Alnwick Castle, not Hogwarts. You must be getting confused with that documentary they filmed here a few years ago.") Ju, Andy and I joined in too. Ju and I collided with each other ("Nothing to see here, professor!") but Andy was a star pupil and was called on to show the rest of the class how it should be done ;o)
The State Rooms were well worth a look. There were hidden owls and dragons in each room for the kids to find, some of which were really difficult to spot. I could happily live in the enormous library with mezzanine floor and its own bar! The broken china / Lego Hero Factory table decorations in the dining room were inspired and I want some, please :o)
There were re-emnactments in the grounds and several museum exhibits as well. After lunch in the cafe, we had a quick look around the gardens before a few of us dashed back for the "Lost Cellars" performance. This was spooky, but undermined by a slight feeling that we were taking part in an episode of Knightmare... Meanwhile, some of the others had been to the "Poison Garden" which I also wanted to see. We split up and I went in there on my own, which meant I unfortunately missed the comedy sight of Evie getting trapped behind a fountain just as it switched on!
On our way out we visited the enormous treehouse restaurant and all had great fun running across the rickety bridges, including with Gillian's wheelchair!
Returning to Almouth, we had a pub dinner at The Red Lion, which was okay but it was a shame they weren't serving food outside, as it was a nice evening. We investigated the beach and had a quick paddle in the sea (Not the estuary - the signs were very clear about not doing that!) before bed.
Day 3 - Sunday 21st July:
We lost the Clarks on Sunday as Jacquie was doing Race for Life, so we drove to Seahouses and caught a boat trip to the Farne Islands, as they were happy for us to do that without them. We had a brief look around the lifeboat station before catching our boat, the "Glad Tidings V". We didn't want to ask what happened to Glad Tidings I to IV!
We didn't disembark on any of the islands, but we sailed all around them and saw loads of wildlife. I'd never quite seen anything like it and it was certainly one of the most memorable trips of the week. The islands were completely covered with thousands of birds, including oh-so-cute puffins. We also saw a surprising number of grey seals. I was expecting to see maybe one or two in the distance, but no, we saw a whole group (herd? pod?) of them really close up.
Most people were sat at the stern of the boat, but you could also go right to the prow and stand at the edge, which meant you got a great view, so that's what a few of us did. We got slightly split up and at one point Uncle Adam got in a tickle war with Jamie and Evie and had to call for rescue assistance!
We had a picnic lunch overlooking the harbour and then a lazy afternoon back at the cottage. This may have involved a certain amount of playing with Lego... Dinner was fish and chips in Almouth (surprisingly hard to find for a seaside village!) while sat on the beach. Krissy brought her poi with her, so we each had fun taking it in turns to have a spin.
Day 4 - Monday 22nd July:
Monday's plan was originally to go to Holy Island, but the causeway times didn't work out. Andy and Jacquie were meeting up with a friend in Alnwick, so Ju and I hitched a lift with them so we could have a look around the town.
We started (and probably spent the next couple of hours!) in the awesome treasure trove that is Barter Books. It's a converted railway station, and I don't just mean the waiting rooms, etc. They've converted the whole Victorian platform shed for platform 2 into a shop and filled it with books! The building is fascinating in itself and I came out with loads of books, although I resisted the £940 1st/2nd edition Lord of the Rings...
After that we met back up and wandered around the town, which is a lovely old place full of craft and other interesting small shops. And a chocolate shop, where I purchased goodies for work. And a cheese shop where I purchased Northumberland garlic cheese :o)
Ju and I took Evie, Jamie and Toby to the beach after we got back, although I was soon left with the two boys as Evie needed the loo and Ju took her back. We had a lot of fun paddling and splashing in the sea. I felt like such a meanie when it was time to go. Toby kept pointing back at the water and tearfully saying, "That way!" I was even meaner by washing all the sand off him in the bath, although he seemed to forgive me once he was back in dry, clean clothes.
Dinner was barbequed, albeit we ate indoors as there was limited space in the back yard. Afterwards a few of us made the most of the big kitchen table by staying up playing Mapominoes.
Day 5 - Tuesday 23rd July:
We went to Bamburgh Castle which is in a spectacular setting (We could see it from Seahouses on Sunday!) and was shrouded in atmospheric mist. We had persuaded Adam to go on the basis of it having "cool stuff" - loads of pieces of old aircraft and WWI/WWII exhibits. That Lord Armstrong was a bit of an engineering geek, to say the least!
There was an archaology dig going on, courtesy of Bamburgh Research Project and some of their finds were on display in the castle. We listened to an interesting talk given by a dig supervisor who studied in Sheffield, so naturally we compared notes on The Red Deer ;o)
We met up with the Chivers (who didn't come with us to the castle as they'd visited recently) and made our way to Bamburgh beach just below the castle, where we had our picnic lunch. The forecast was for storms, so we'd brought blankets and extra layers, but were totally unprepared for the glorious sunshine we ended up with!
I suggested we head back to Almouth beach where we could be better equipped. Adam, Ju and I took our turn to do the shopping on the way back, which we did in record-breaking time to maximise our time on the beach. It was hot enough to actually swim in the sea, which was something I'd not done for ten years (far too long!). Krissy, Gillian, Adam and I all braved it and emerged with all our extremities intact!
Dinner that evening was roast chicken and salad. I had bought Lindisfarne Mead at Bamburgh, so we cracked that open after dinner. We stayed up late playing silly games and introduced various folk to Martian Dice and the need to always "keep the chickens!" ;o)
Day 6 - Wednesday 24th July:
Wednesday's trip was the only other day (apart from Alnwick) where we all set out together, this time to visit Cragside. It's worth visiting just as a stately home and garden in beautiful surroundings (another picnic lunch!), but what really makes it fascinating is that it's the first hydroelectric-powered house in the world - thanks to that Lord Armstrong and his engineering geekery again!
It was a very full and tiring day, with lots of grounds to explore as well as the house. It didn't help that I slightly aggravated last year's back injury pushing a wheelchair uphill, but fortunately not too badly. The Clarks had to leave halfway through due to a busy schedule involving driving to Edinburgh(!).
The pump house and power house in the grounds were full of interesting machinery and were well worth a look, although we got told off for not supervising the kids properly. Ooops!
Ju cooked meatballs and pasta for us that evening while the Chivers and I took kids x 3 to the beach again. Jamie enjoyed being spun around in the sea a lot. Although it had been a long day, we stayed up late watching several episodes of The Big Bang Theory.
Day 7 - Thursday 25th July:
The last full day, and I'm very grateful to Andy for driving all the way to Holy Island despite driving hundreds of miles the previous day and getting up at 5am to take Jacquie fishing. I didn't think I was going to get to visit, so it was much appreciated. He, Isabelle, Ju, Jamie and I braved the mysterious fog and eventually found Lindisfarne Castle hiding in it!
We went around the castle and by the time we left the sky had cleared. We caught the shuttle bus back to the village where we saw the priory (which incidentally you can see pretty well without paying to go in...) and made a compulsory (and slightly expensive...) visit to St Aidan's Winery shop while Isabelle ran around outside.
We drove back in time for a late lunch at the cottage, started packing up in the afternoon, then in the evening we all wandered out for a last visit to the beach and a last paddle in the sea.
Day 8 - Friday 26th July:
Of course, the sun started beating down with a vengeance again just as we were about to leave. Mind you, I can't complain about the weather. If it had been this hot all week, we wouldn't have wanted to go out and do stuff. We had a leisurely breakfast, eating up the leftovers, then finished packing up and drove back to Sheffield.
All in all, it was a very successful holiday which everyone enjoyed. It was great to spend time together and the kids greatly enjoyed having one another to play with as well. A special thank you to the drivers and everyone who brought home-made cakes with them or cooked during the week. The days out were all good and it was also nice just spending time in the cottage and on the beach. I just wish it could have lasted longer. As Ed said, this only means we're going to have to do something similar again next year :o)
1 fantastic week, 3 castles, 2 island trips, 1 hydroelectric-powered stately home.
72 photos - Click here to view as a gallery, or all the photos are in the write-up below.
Day 1 - Friday 19th July:
I left work at lunchtime and drove up with Gillian, accompanied by suitably sixties holiday music ("We're all going..."). We arrived in Almouth just in time for dinner and plotting what to do each day for the rest of the week.
The cottage was just about perfect - six bedrooms which meant no sharing (apart from families), two living rooms (one for the kids and a quiet room for grown-ups) and a huge (if poorly laid-out) dining kitchen, where we sat up nattering or playing games on various evenings. It was ideally placed for the beach too, just over the road from the estuary and just around the corner from the actual sea.
Day 2 - Saturday 20th July:
The weather was overcast and cooler than it had been, but still warm and dry. I'd suggested a gentle start for the first full day, so we ended up doing Alnwick Castle and Garden, which was probably our busiest day. It couldn't be helped, there was just too much stuff to fit in!
The castle and gardens were very impressive, and there was loads of stuff for kids to do, from dressing up to the Dragon Quest (although Jamie didn't like the scary dragon!). There were broomstick flying lessons with Professors Izzlefizzle and Toffeebottom (Evie: "Are those real Hogwarts professor names?" Izzlefizzle: "This is Alnwick Castle, not Hogwarts. You must be getting confused with that documentary they filmed here a few years ago.") Ju, Andy and I joined in too. Ju and I collided with each other ("Nothing to see here, professor!") but Andy was a star pupil and was called on to show the rest of the class how it should be done ;o)
The State Rooms were well worth a look. There were hidden owls and dragons in each room for the kids to find, some of which were really difficult to spot. I could happily live in the enormous library with mezzanine floor and its own bar! The broken china / Lego Hero Factory table decorations in the dining room were inspired and I want some, please :o)
There were re-emnactments in the grounds and several museum exhibits as well. After lunch in the cafe, we had a quick look around the gardens before a few of us dashed back for the "Lost Cellars" performance. This was spooky, but undermined by a slight feeling that we were taking part in an episode of Knightmare... Meanwhile, some of the others had been to the "Poison Garden" which I also wanted to see. We split up and I went in there on my own, which meant I unfortunately missed the comedy sight of Evie getting trapped behind a fountain just as it switched on!
On our way out we visited the enormous treehouse restaurant and all had great fun running across the rickety bridges, including with Gillian's wheelchair!
Returning to Almouth, we had a pub dinner at The Red Lion, which was okay but it was a shame they weren't serving food outside, as it was a nice evening. We investigated the beach and had a quick paddle in the sea (Not the estuary - the signs were very clear about not doing that!) before bed.
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Day 3 - Sunday 21st July:
We lost the Clarks on Sunday as Jacquie was doing Race for Life, so we drove to Seahouses and caught a boat trip to the Farne Islands, as they were happy for us to do that without them. We had a brief look around the lifeboat station before catching our boat, the "Glad Tidings V". We didn't want to ask what happened to Glad Tidings I to IV!
We didn't disembark on any of the islands, but we sailed all around them and saw loads of wildlife. I'd never quite seen anything like it and it was certainly one of the most memorable trips of the week. The islands were completely covered with thousands of birds, including oh-so-cute puffins. We also saw a surprising number of grey seals. I was expecting to see maybe one or two in the distance, but no, we saw a whole group (herd? pod?) of them really close up.
Most people were sat at the stern of the boat, but you could also go right to the prow and stand at the edge, which meant you got a great view, so that's what a few of us did. We got slightly split up and at one point Uncle Adam got in a tickle war with Jamie and Evie and had to call for rescue assistance!
We had a picnic lunch overlooking the harbour and then a lazy afternoon back at the cottage. This may have involved a certain amount of playing with Lego... Dinner was fish and chips in Almouth (surprisingly hard to find for a seaside village!) while sat on the beach. Krissy brought her poi with her, so we each had fun taking it in turns to have a spin.
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Day 4 - Monday 22nd July:
Monday's plan was originally to go to Holy Island, but the causeway times didn't work out. Andy and Jacquie were meeting up with a friend in Alnwick, so Ju and I hitched a lift with them so we could have a look around the town.
We started (and probably spent the next couple of hours!) in the awesome treasure trove that is Barter Books. It's a converted railway station, and I don't just mean the waiting rooms, etc. They've converted the whole Victorian platform shed for platform 2 into a shop and filled it with books! The building is fascinating in itself and I came out with loads of books, although I resisted the £940 1st/2nd edition Lord of the Rings...
After that we met back up and wandered around the town, which is a lovely old place full of craft and other interesting small shops. And a chocolate shop, where I purchased goodies for work. And a cheese shop where I purchased Northumberland garlic cheese :o)
Ju and I took Evie, Jamie and Toby to the beach after we got back, although I was soon left with the two boys as Evie needed the loo and Ju took her back. We had a lot of fun paddling and splashing in the sea. I felt like such a meanie when it was time to go. Toby kept pointing back at the water and tearfully saying, "That way!" I was even meaner by washing all the sand off him in the bath, although he seemed to forgive me once he was back in dry, clean clothes.
Dinner was barbequed, albeit we ate indoors as there was limited space in the back yard. Afterwards a few of us made the most of the big kitchen table by staying up playing Mapominoes.
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Day 5 - Tuesday 23rd July:
We went to Bamburgh Castle which is in a spectacular setting (We could see it from Seahouses on Sunday!) and was shrouded in atmospheric mist. We had persuaded Adam to go on the basis of it having "cool stuff" - loads of pieces of old aircraft and WWI/WWII exhibits. That Lord Armstrong was a bit of an engineering geek, to say the least!
There was an archaology dig going on, courtesy of Bamburgh Research Project and some of their finds were on display in the castle. We listened to an interesting talk given by a dig supervisor who studied in Sheffield, so naturally we compared notes on The Red Deer ;o)
We met up with the Chivers (who didn't come with us to the castle as they'd visited recently) and made our way to Bamburgh beach just below the castle, where we had our picnic lunch. The forecast was for storms, so we'd brought blankets and extra layers, but were totally unprepared for the glorious sunshine we ended up with!
I suggested we head back to Almouth beach where we could be better equipped. Adam, Ju and I took our turn to do the shopping on the way back, which we did in record-breaking time to maximise our time on the beach. It was hot enough to actually swim in the sea, which was something I'd not done for ten years (far too long!). Krissy, Gillian, Adam and I all braved it and emerged with all our extremities intact!
Dinner that evening was roast chicken and salad. I had bought Lindisfarne Mead at Bamburgh, so we cracked that open after dinner. We stayed up late playing silly games and introduced various folk to Martian Dice and the need to always "keep the chickens!" ;o)
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Day 6 - Wednesday 24th July:
Wednesday's trip was the only other day (apart from Alnwick) where we all set out together, this time to visit Cragside. It's worth visiting just as a stately home and garden in beautiful surroundings (another picnic lunch!), but what really makes it fascinating is that it's the first hydroelectric-powered house in the world - thanks to that Lord Armstrong and his engineering geekery again!
It was a very full and tiring day, with lots of grounds to explore as well as the house. It didn't help that I slightly aggravated last year's back injury pushing a wheelchair uphill, but fortunately not too badly. The Clarks had to leave halfway through due to a busy schedule involving driving to Edinburgh(!).
The pump house and power house in the grounds were full of interesting machinery and were well worth a look, although we got told off for not supervising the kids properly. Ooops!
Ju cooked meatballs and pasta for us that evening while the Chivers and I took kids x 3 to the beach again. Jamie enjoyed being spun around in the sea a lot. Although it had been a long day, we stayed up late watching several episodes of The Big Bang Theory.
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Day 7 - Thursday 25th July:
The last full day, and I'm very grateful to Andy for driving all the way to Holy Island despite driving hundreds of miles the previous day and getting up at 5am to take Jacquie fishing. I didn't think I was going to get to visit, so it was much appreciated. He, Isabelle, Ju, Jamie and I braved the mysterious fog and eventually found Lindisfarne Castle hiding in it!
We went around the castle and by the time we left the sky had cleared. We caught the shuttle bus back to the village where we saw the priory (which incidentally you can see pretty well without paying to go in...) and made a compulsory (and slightly expensive...) visit to St Aidan's Winery shop while Isabelle ran around outside.
We drove back in time for a late lunch at the cottage, started packing up in the afternoon, then in the evening we all wandered out for a last visit to the beach and a last paddle in the sea.
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Day 8 - Friday 26th July:
Of course, the sun started beating down with a vengeance again just as we were about to leave. Mind you, I can't complain about the weather. If it had been this hot all week, we wouldn't have wanted to go out and do stuff. We had a leisurely breakfast, eating up the leftovers, then finished packing up and drove back to Sheffield.
All in all, it was a very successful holiday which everyone enjoyed. It was great to spend time together and the kids greatly enjoyed having one another to play with as well. A special thank you to the drivers and everyone who brought home-made cakes with them or cooked during the week. The days out were all good and it was also nice just spending time in the cottage and on the beach. I just wish it could have lasted longer. As Ed said, this only means we're going to have to do something similar again next year :o)
