Amble Day 6 - Remorseless Rain

I was awake about 6:30 and could hear Brody walking about, so got dressed and took him out.  I had 'waterproof' walking trousers and my dog walking coat - used in the depths of winter.  The wind went straight through it, and so did much of the rain.  I was out for about 11 minutes and was soaked.

Again about 11:20, for about 12 minutes, in an already wet coat, I braved the elements with Brody - dogs have to go out, and he doesn't really like it any more than I do.  Again I came back soaked, even my coat lining was damp.

We drove to the Old Ash Dene pub in Ashington.  It was not old.  It was on a trading estate, with piped music, none of which either of us was familiar with, and served pub chain food.  OK, but not great.  Something to fill a hole and a break from the rain.  When we got back I took Brody to the grass, and around the pier, as the rain had just about stopped, but we still weren't out long, the wind was strong, and it was about 10 degrees.  I really should have bought gloves!

I have a recorded total of just 1.86 miles walking for the whole day, but there is another dog walk to do, so I will get wet again.  The forecast has this going on until about 4pm tomorrow.

Amble Day 5 - Warkworth and Alnmouth

The day started really early with Brody barking to be let out.  As there is no garden here, only a small concrete area, he has to be walked to the end of the street.  That is not a good thing at 5am.

Today we were supposed to go to Seahouses and do a Farne Island trip, but thought better of it when we saw the gale that was blowing.  We did think a short trip round Coquet Island might be manageable, but when I tried to phone them, the landline number on the leaflet took me to a private residence.  The man gave me a new number.  Neither that nor the mobile number on the leaflet were answered.  Instead, we decided to visit Warkworth Castle.

View from the first floor

 We used the audio guides provided by English Heritage to take a guided tour of the castle.  These always provide a good tour and a little extra information.

The Percy Tower

The Gate House

The Keep

Just to prove that Brody can hear OK, I called his name from the first floor of the gatehouse, he looked straight at me, as you can see below.

Brody, looking in the direction of my call

We then walked along the river to the Warkworth Hermitage, which is only accessible by boat.  On the way we came across a small landing stage and Brody had a very short swim.

A Heron on the river Coquet between Warkworth castle and the Hermitage

 

Returning from the walk, we drove into Warkworth and into the Masons Arms for lunch.  Brody was allowed in the bar, and distinguished himself by being the best behaved dog in our part of the pub.  Warkworth has free parking!  I had to check with the bar staff because I couldn't find anywhere to pay. The pub food was very good.

2.6 miles

After lunch, we drove to Alnmouth.  It has narrow streets, a one way system and free parking all the way round.  It also has an amazing beach.  We spent very little time in the beach because the wind was so strong I could barely kick the ball - it was blown along the beach.  In the town, we stopped in The Village Tearoom for tea and cake.  Brody was again allowed in, and behaved himself perfectly.

2.35 miles

Then it was back to the house, to catch up on some sleep.

Driven 14 miles

Amble Day 4 - Greater Northumbria

The forecast has improved, so we can move our Farne Islands boat trip to tomorrow and not have to head back to Seahouses today.  Instead, we travelled to Otterburn Mill.  Originally a mill, now a heritage museum and a sales outlet.  There is a walk around the village, so on arrival we asked for the sheet.  As a guide to the walk, it worked very well.  We've done lots of these types of walk and rarely had so few points at which we were unsure of the way ahead.

Around Otterburn

 2.54 miles

We returned to the mill after the walk and had lunch.  The servery allows you to choose what you have so I was able to be dietary conscious with my choices.  The food is good - what you would expect from that type of restaurant, and we both enjoyed it.  Brody was happy laying by the table, tired out, oblivious of the other yapping dog and also of us eating our meal.

This sheep was a casualty of the Winter of 1996-7

The Scottish Blackface sheep greets you as you enter the restaurant - good thing there's no lamb or mutton on the menu.


We moved on to Kilder Water, the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water.  There are many places to stop all around the lake shore.  The car parks are almost empty, but the charging structure is a bit odd £1.50 for 1 hour, or £5.00 all day.  Arriving after lunch, we had to pay £5.00 for about 1.5 hours - feels like a rip-off.  The scenery is compensation.

Kilder

Threatening skies over Kilder Water

2.65 miles

On the drive back to Amble, we were slowed by a flock of sheep, setting off the proximity alarms in the car.  There are times when sheep seem extremely stupid.

Driven today: 123.5 miles

Amble Day 3 - Life's a beach

One place we wanted to see was Seahouses.  So, this being one of the few dry days, we drove up the coast to see Seahouses.  The parking spaces are very narrow, neither of the cars on either side is badly parked:

We walked along the coast to a wide, almost flat, sandy beach.  Brody loved it.  I paddled a little to encourage him into the water properly.  The water was very cold, but the day was warming up.
2.19 miles

Lunch was in the "Olde Ship Inn" - Sunday roast for me and chicken casserole for Jo.  We sat in the garden and looked out over the harbour.  The food was good, but not great.

The Olde Ship Inn, Seahouses - flying the Northumbrian flag.

In the afternoon we walked along the coastal path, through the golf course and onto another lovely beach.  There was a stream flowing across this one, which ended our progress.
3.4 miles

From Seahouses we began the return journey via the Coastal Route.  There is not much coast to see, but there is access to all the small coastal villages, usually a mile or more from the main road. Caister is one example, and from there we walked to Dunstanburgh Castle.
1.42 miles out
1.72 miles back.

On the way to Dunstanburgh Castle

 Driven 49.9 miles

Amble Day 2 - Noah and History of Amble

The day started very early, possibly we were woken by the rain.  It was certainly going to be the main feature of today.  The forecast for the week can be summarised as wet and cold. So it was on with the 'full wet' kit and out to the grass, which is a couple of minutes away.  Brody did what he had to do, and we returned to the dry.
0.61 miles

The rain continued. Part way through the morning, we took a walk into town for some shopping.  There is a local co-op, but it is very small.  In the town centre there is a larger supermarket.  Jo spent ages in there, having retrieved more change from the check-out machine than she should have, and trying to sort it out.
1.61 miles

The rain continued.  This is how it must have been in Noah's day.  The rain seemed to lighten, so we went out again.  Still in 'full wet' kit, and walked around the harbour and looked at some of the historic sites.  It didn't stop raining. 

A front garden in Amble

We booked a table at the Fish Shack for dinner.
1.11 miles

The rain continued.   Around 4pm it genuinely did stop, so we took another walk, following another part of the history trail and ending on a beach to the south of Amble.
2.28 miles

Just before 6pm, we left to go to the restaurant for dinner.  The menu was very appealing, and the food very good.

The Fish Shack, on the harbour, Amble

Amble Day 1 - Cloudy with no chance of anything but rain.

Getting up later than expected the whole day would be shifted into the evening, but sometimes these things are unavoidable.  I walked Brody, just a quick round the top field as the gypsies are on the middle field and their horses are grazing.  Brody likes to bark at horses, so we have to keep well clear.  Then back to the house, to pack the car.  Brody was very concerned as he always is, he follows my every move and generally gets in the way, so he gets shut in the lounge.  When he came outside and saw his bed set up in the car for a long trip, his tail went mad for a minute.

We set off at 9:35, with an ETA of 15:05, so with 2 half hour stops that would be 16:05.  A12 - M25 - M11 - A14 - A1, all not too bad.  The traffic was slow, mainly because of the rain - which was almost constant, but at the first stop (for lunch) when we parked behind one of the many disused cafés alongside the A1, we were only a few minutes behind the ETA.  About 11am, we found out later, there was a six vehicle accident on the northbound A1 just our side of Doncaster, but by the time we found out we were already in the 30-mile tail back.  Progress was slow and after a second stop we arrived around 18:05 some 2 hours later than planned.  At one point we were diverted off the A1 and while still in the queue on the slip road were diverted back on to the A1.  As a result, we lost about 6 car 'slots', but at least it kept me clear of the crazy coach driver who seemed intent on not letting me pass.

We are in a terraced house in Amble, about 4 minutes walk from the sea, although at this point on the coast there is no beach, only rocks and a big sea wall. It was not to the sea we went after the owners had come to visit and collect their fee, but to the fish and chip shop.  Our usual approach is to take the fish and chips to the coast and taunt the gulls, but it is too cold for that, so we headed back to the house

Last walk of the day at 22:00, it's down to the coast to see the sea, and let Brody add his contribution.  It is cold enough for a winter coat, and wet enough too.  However, even with heavy cloud, there is still enough light to easily see the paths.  Soon we return to the house to continue building the list of things we forgot to bring.

The house is very nice, this is the lounge, with some of our junk already installed!