Bamburgh and Holy Island - 29th September ‘21

Another busy day - just the way I like them! The weather was perfect today. Sunshine all day but with a nice crisp cool air - between 10 and 14 degrees.

As yesterday, an early rise and off the site by 9.30. A better breakfast this time. I cooked a bit of bacon and the bagels, with butter this time, made a pleasant start to the day - no Kimbo cheese and mushroom omelette but …

Tilly was keen to begin the day with another beach walk and I didn’t want to disappoint her! We made the 30 minute journey up the coast, through Beadnell and Seahouses and on to Bamburgh and it’s castle. What a place? It’s an impressive site at the best of times but with a beautiful clear blue sky as a back drop it was quite literally breathtaking.

We walked along the beach in the Autumn sunshine - 40 mins south and then 40 minutes north and back to the beach car park just north of the town. The beach was busier than yesterday - partly down to the weather but mainly as this place is such a draw for locals and tourists alike. Tilly had a lot of fun barking at the birds and splashing through the surf.

I drove up the hill to the Castle Car Park. Unlike Alnwick Castle yesterday, Bamburgh seemed much happier to welcome four legged visitors. So one man (that’s me) and his dog (that’s Tilly) paid our £12 and stepped back into history. Bamburgh Castle has had a number of owners over the last 14 centuries. Turns out it’s main claim to fame was that it was the first castle in history to fall to gunpowder based attack during the Wars of The Roses. Every day’s a school day, eh?

Tilly and I walked round the whole site taking in the magnificent vistas. Well to be truthful, Tilly was more interested in eye balling the many other dogs and for no apparent reason, taking a dislike to about 1 in 6 of them! As yesterday, we shared a sausage roll and I had a rather nice coffee which Tilly managed to knock out my hands during one of her aggressive “Billy big bollocks” moments!

Dogs weren’t allowed in the state rooms so I popped her back to the car and went back on my own to have a look around. Given that the castle had stood ruined for many centuries there wasn’t a lot of relevant history inside. All the rooms were restored by a wealthy industrialist (family name of Armstrong) in the 19th century. They had some interesting pieces but it was no Canons Ashby!

By 1.30 we were about done and headed north again to Holy Island. I had checked the tide tables and the causeway linking the island to the mainland was open between 10am and 8pm so perfect timing for the visit. We parked up at the edge of the village and walked in. It was very busy but thankfully Matilda was now behaving herself. I walked around the priory before heading off towards Lindisfarne Castle. 

Russell, Nicky, Simon (old Volvo amigos) and I have a regular monthly catch up on WhatsApp.  This month’s one was scheduled for 2.45pm today so Tilly and I made ourselves comfortable among some old boats in the boatyard with a stunning view of the Castle and enjoyed our 60 minute catch up. Simon joined the call from Watford Gap Services car park - no prizes for who had the best view?!

After the call we headed up to the Castle. I thought I might go in but it said pre-booked only. Tilly and I weren’t too disappointed as the views from the edge of the island were fabulous and definitely worth the walk. We headed back to the car picking up an ice cream on the way.

I was planning another trip to the village pub for dinner but I had the thought of local fish and chips in my mind so that’s what I did. After checking Trip Advisor I settled on Neptune’s in Seahouses - a proper fish shop, 100 yards from the quay the fish were being landed on! I took it back to Brunnehilda to enjoy in front of an episode of The Wire. Not the best fish I’ve had but very good nevertheless.

More episodes of The Wire,  phone calls and, to my shame, 2 bars of Wispa Gold before going to bed to blog.

Today has been ok but not as easy as yesterday. I had a moment on Bamburgh beach. I kept thinking how much better it would be if Kim was experiencing everything with me. Just to hold her hand, give her a cuddle and have a discussion about where to eat and what to do next would have been wonderful and would have turned a nice day into a memorable one. Interestingly I wasn’t sad for Kim that she wasn’t there to experience it but sad for myself that my experience was not as wonderful as it could have been. Nice eh? Tilly got a bit flustered with my sudden change of mood and jumped up at me. A smelly damp dog covered in cold North Sea water is a very effective way of knocking you out of a melancholic mood! I’ve got to say, having Tilly in tow has made a huge difference. I’m not sure how the last 2 days would have gone without her.

For all the times I’ve missed Kim today there was one good thing to report on … She would have never let me walk around among the public with my beanie hat on - Tilly didn’t seem to mind!

Early start tomorrow. Heading south to Harrogate and another Volvo colleague reunion.