Tapp's Travels

As usual, this is running late!  Very late!

After a busy time visiting (and revisiting) old haunts in the Lake District, like the Inn on the Lake in Glenridding …

… and having viewed Blencathra from all sides,

… we left Askew Rigg CL, sadly without a supply of mega-eggs!  But we did call into the local Inn at Threlkeld for a full Cumbrian breakfast before we departed.

You may have read Bill Bryson’s description of UK grey weather as living inside Tupperware.  Well, our trip across the country to Northumberland was like driving inside a Tupperware filled with water vapour.  Low clouds, poor visibility, slow speeds and a very mucky caravan after negotiating the narrow, muddy lanes through Guyzance.  But the next morning dawned clear and sunny.

After breakfast…

… we went to the coast at Boulmer, where we were engulfed in coastal mist – or “The Fret” as they call it here.

I’m not sure if that photo is the right way up, but the sea is out there somewhere.  We can hear it!  The plan is to walk south.  So the sea will be on the left.  We just keep walking.  When our shoes get wet we veer slightly right.  When we hit sand dunes we go left a bit…

After best part of an hour we find the Foxton Golf Club emerging from the gloom.  This is another golf club of which we are life-time non-members! And after a coffee and bacon roll, the sun came out…

… and we walked back north in full sunshine!

Weird!  Very weird!  And very wonderful!

The Walkmill campsite arrival instructions are pretty clear about one thing.  “Don’t follow your sat nav.”  They take you, from more or less any starting point, down narrow lanes and over a ford.  A ford which, after heavy rain, can wash small vehicles off towards The Netherlands at the drop of a hat.

And talking of the ford and Dutch-land, there is indeed a Dutch campervan on site.  The Dutchman is sporting a few plasters and numerous bandages.  He managed to fall off his bike in the middle of the ford and hurt his elbow!  He then proceeded to slip over again on the algae-covered, submerged roadway and bashed his head and other arm for good measure.  His wife cycled through the ford unscathed!  I too was shaping up to cross the water, but got a very stern warning from the navigating officer.  “We are NOT risking that, Barry!”  So I took the photo and went the long way round!

Time for a walk.

The beach near Longhoughton is as fabulous as ever.  But the parking fee has been hiked from £1 in an honesty box to £3.50 paid by electronic ticket machine under the watchful eye of an ANPR camera.  So, instead of maybe 60 cars at one pound each (£60 IF everyone is honest!), the car park now sported six cars for a total of £21.  Well, they have to try and recoup the costs of all the signage, ticket machine and camera.  Obviously, one of the local councillors had been on holiday in South Devon and thought he’d spotted a business opportunity!  But my sums suggest they are substantially out of pocket.  A quick photo, with the car out of ANPR camera range, and we are off to the free parking nearer Craster – with everybody else!  Cheapskates!

The coastal path passes beach after beautiful beach.  Mainly empty of people!

All along the path, we found red arrows (not THE Red Arrows, obviously).  We were clearly on the route of some event past, present or near-future.  When we got to Craster we discovered that the Northumberland Coast Mighty Hike was to take place the following day.  More than 2800 hikers will trudge a full marathon distance (or half- marathon).  (PS, The event raised over £1.2 million for Macmillan Cancer Support, which helps people living with cancer.)

And now, the sad story of the Nunnykirk camp site…  We moved there after three days at Walkmill.  And managed to get a pitch in our “normal” zone.  In four visits, we haven’t strayed more than three pitches from ground zero.  Sadly, when we leave the site after a three week stay, the site is to be closed – closed permanently.  Where will we go next time???

The weather is super-dry.  Really beautiful – much drier here than the South of England.  The Isle of Wight was notably wet!  So we were able to take a number of walks.   From Rothbury, we hiked up the Coquet River.

On another occasion, we managed a fairly strenuous walk up to the fells overlooking Rothbury and the valley.

We had some spectacularly coloured skies, but more sunset than Aurora Borealis.

Just north of the Bridge of Aln, near Thrunton Wood, is the small caravan park where Glenda’s parents used to have a static van.  This has a tiny café attached.  Just right for morning coffee on the way to Ingram to meet John and Maralyn (first met near Cheddar while following Eloise and her sailing.)

In addition to caravans, the site hosts a couple of horse statues.  A reminder that Glenda and her father used to keep their horses in a nearby field each summer.

We found J and M on a lovely little site at the entrance to Ingram Valley on the banks of the River Breamish.

Breamish Valley is, allegedly, one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the country, with Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements that are believed to be over 2500 years old.  Ancient history enthusiasts can hike to the hill forts and burial mounds that attract archaeologists from across the globe.  We drove to Ingram café.  Hiking in the hills will be left for a later date – or, possibly for ever!  Nowadays we find hills, generally, are a bit too slopey for an enjoyable walk!

A new Running Fox has opened at Kirkharle.  There are now five of these places.  All serving excellent coffees and cakes.  We had to visit.  And afterwards we took a stroll round the gardens which were, allegedly, designed by Capability Brown.  Again, allegedly, he had drawn up the plans including one of his trademark serpentine lakes, as a thankyou for the owners of Kirkharle.  He had lodged with them while he was working on a much grander garden at a country pile up the road.

We are rapidly approaching our wedding anniversary and a celebratory lunch in Hexham.  The story of why the lunch, indeed the whole trip to Hexham, got cancelled will follow… some time fairly soon…