Also a day where a number of walk errors meant that it wasn’t as fun as it should have been. Although, there was a big plus - the weather was not as advertised. It was grey and overcast until about 2 and then it was bright sunshine - albeit with a strongish cool wind!
I thought I would go inland today and therefore if the weather was bad there would be things to do. I headed for Alnwick (about 20 mins away) and parked up by the castle. I had picked a route from the OS App around the Castle Grounds - in fact to be precise, Hulne Park. It looked like a nice 8 mile walk through a lot of forestry- it scored highly on the App.
I walked through the town and picked up the route. After about 15 mins walking I was entering the Park. Although I wasn’t - there were signs up saying no dogs allowed. I quickly found another walk going around the North side of the town and following the river. It also sounded nice. And it would have been I’m sure but record rainfall and river walks are never going to be easy bedfellows - it was very wet and muddy. And i’d left my walking stick in the car!
We did get some lovely views of the castle. We crossed a few roads (including the A1) before crossing back over the river on the farthest east side of town.
My OS App showed a footpath cutting through the fields and a housing estate back to Alnwick. Not open!!! They were building a new housing estate and they had shut the footpath. After a lot of walking around in circles, I suspected this was the case but thought it was probably illegal. I asked a young builder and he confirmed the only way to town was back on the main road.
So the last 2 miles of our 5.5 mile hike was on pavements next to a main road. My feet are not great on hard surfaces so by the time we got back to the car we were both knackered and feeling our respective ages!!
They are very friendly up here. A smile normally gets a smile in return and a cheery good day also prompts one back. Town was quite busy. I thought about getting a bite to eat in a local pub but Tilly was very dirty so I decided against it.
At this stage, the sun came out. I headed off to Alnmouth, where the River Aln meets the sea. It was about a 20 minute drive. Here was next mistake. It was about 2.30 and, based on yesterday I expected the tide to be quite far out. It wasn’t. It was very high and still coming in! I decided to walk along the beach towards Boulmer and then walk back into town. Another mistake, when I did get back into town the coffee shops were shut! This was something that Kimbo and I always used to do regularly as well.
Albeit, a bit squashed in an ever decreasingly narrow beach, we did have a nice walk by the waves and then back into town. We sat on a bench and watched the world go by for a bit. It would have been lovely with a coffee and a pastry but …
This sign just rubbed our noses in it! It was 3.15pm and clearly the kettle is not always on!!
We headed back to the van arriving at about 4.15 with the sun still shining. There are now 2 vans and 3 motorhomes here. The 3 middle aged couples in the motorhomes were all chatting - I kept my head down and stayed in Brunnehilda. To my shame I couldn’t face all that positivity and happiness. Probably a sign of my state of mind today as it doesn’t usually phase me!
Yesterday evening was wonderful but today has dipped a bit. Which is a shame as the weather did its best for me! I didn’t really enjoy the walks as much as normal. I’m too tired to process why that might be so I’m just going to put it down to those silly things that went wrong during the day.
Ready meal and Pulp Fiction to finish the day. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before - but I haven’t! Great film. Tilly is absolutely knackered - she has just refused to go out for her evening wee before bed! That doesn’t bode well for a peaceful night!
I had a long chat with Thom tonight (and a shorter one with my mum and Laura) but I don’t think I talked to anyone else at all today. I’m not sure if that’s part of the issue - oh well, we’ll see tomorrow. I’m sure Good Friday will live up to its name?!
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