Details of our coastal meanderings* in the year along with a few digressions (both in route and thoughts) along the way...
Having travelled to Yorkshire for the brilliant marriage celebration of our daughter, Georgina, to Luke - we take the 'van and our trusty Touareg onwards and northwards to continue our investigation of north east coast, this time...
From Whitby to Berwick-on-Tweed
May 30 - June 21
The first stop is close to Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors - a Caravan & Motorhome Club Site
We meet friends for a few days and, together, we explore...
Staithes, where Captain James Cook was an apprentice; there was a large fleet of flat bottomed 'coble' fishing boats operating here in the 1740's.
It's clear that a number of the houses now serve as Airbnbs which becomes a recurring theme along this part of the coast.
Nearby Skinningrove was once the site of major iron ore mining - we walk the now grassed waste heaps around the village.
We spend time chatting to a local spending time restoring a coble which serves as a momento of the fishing industry in those times.
The once grand Saltburn by the Sea claims Britain's oldest hydraulic cliff lift - of course we ride it! There is some well kept Victorian architecture here - and some nice little cafés.
Taking a day out of the coastal itinerary, we spend a day walking on the moors around Horcum Hole - around 6 miles. In a similar way that walking in the Spanish sierras has an emotional impact on me - so do moorland treks. Why is that?
We also visit the village of Goathland which was used as the fictional village Aidensfield in the TV series Heartbeat.
A visit to Marske-by-the-sea reveals a nice stretch of family friendly sand, while we take the woodland walk above inland Marske.
Saying goodbye to our caravanning friends, (but not before an evening of fish and chips in Whitby) we continue.... Visiting Redcar - which turns out to be a well kept traditional seaside town with a restored lifeboat & museum - one of the earliest - the Zetland. The volunteer at the museum is really knowledgeable: another gem
View of the sculpture on Redcar seafront with the distant nuclear power station in the background.
As we're so close to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, we head to the main depot at Grosmont. We see the wonderful restoration work going on on the workshops to keep these amazing engines in working order.
The moors are so dry that the trains beyond Grosmont have to be headed by diesel locomotives - which makes a brilliant opportunity to see the steam locomotive decouple from one train and couple to the one heading back to Whitby. Looks like a Stanier Class 5 to me - but I'm no expert, unlike my long departed engineer Dad.
For the enthusiast:
We head to Runswick Bay to see the houses perched in the unstable cliff face - the village was rebuilt after the 1680's version collapsed into the sea. It's also significant for us because this is where we left off in our 2021 coastal trip: we've made the connection!
After a walk from the site to see a local waterfall we get ready to move further north tomorrow. Goodbye North Yorkshire Moors....
......and Hello to Whitley Bay. We're at Old Hartley CAMC site on a cliff . 13ºC without wind-chill in June. Mustn't grumble - more adventures await... and we're meeting friends for a day, too.
On the trip here we comment on the high quality of the road surfaces where resurfacing work has been undertaken - which is not our experience back home. Maybe some of these Northern road engineers could teach the south a thing or two. Come to think of it, a good friend of ours was responsible for the design of roads around here...
Anyway - on our first day here we walk to St Mary's Lighthouse which is accessible at low tide and, fortunately, it is, er, low tide. Some incredibly helpful volunteers show us where to see basking seals and, amazingly, lend us their (expensive) binoculars.
We climb to the top to catch the views and learn a little more about the disused lighthouse. It used to be the brightest class when first commissioned; the paraffin vapour lamp and optics floated on a bowl of mercury, slowly rotating. Of course warm mercury giving off vapour might not have been too healthy to put it mildly...
We walk on around the bay to the smart town Whitley Bay where we lunch at a really nice pub/restaurant with an extensive menu. Nice here.
We were Dire Straits fans back in the day so here's a nostalgic link to their song, Tunnel of Love, about Whitley Bay...
'Spanish City' in the song refers to the pleasure dome, now nicely refurbished with some nice restaurants and a champagne bar.
Next day we meet up with travelling friends who live in nearby Washington; we've shared trips to Morocco and Russia so it was great to see them after so long. We see the (very) nearby Angel of the North which is as breathtaking as you might imagine.
We spend time at the restored Washington Old Hall which was originally the seat of George Washington's ancestors, now safe in the hands of the National Trust.
We climb up to the massive Penshaw Monument - it's certainly impressive and also provides a great view of the surrounding countryside and industrial areas, including the Nissan factory.
After hugs and a trip back through the Tyne Tunnel we're back in the cosy 'van, protected from the windy 11ºC outside; another good day indeed.
It's Friday! We're off to Hartlepool back through the Tyne Tunnel again...
There are some places to see here:
The Royal Navy Museum is brilliant. With presentations (including the discharge of a flintlock pistol), a recreation of a period dockside and the star of the show: HMS Trincomalee, the last remaining Royal Navy ship to be built in India, as well as being the oldest floating British warship and the last of Admiral Lord Nelson’s Frigates. (RN Museum information).
The History of Hartlepool museum is, sadly, closed for preparations for the forthcoming tall ships race.
We head to the headland, see the old period housing and the large Church of of Hilda's.
Seaton Carew is just south of Hartlepool with its large windswept beach bordering Teesmouth National Nature Reserve. There's a good view of the nearby nuclear power station from the dunes of the reserve.
Heading back towards base we stop in what appears to be an authority housing estate at the former mining area of Castle Eden Dene, walk down a path between houses and find ourselves in the amazing nature reserve formed around three miles of the ravine of the fast flowing stream heading to the sea. Fortified, we head towards base, stopping at Seaham which was once, in the early 19th Century, an outlet for coal from the local mines, the harbour originally being constructed for this purpose. Now, it's a smart little place with a marina, shops and cafés which appear to be thriving.
Artworks commemorating the second world war and the coal industry adorn the front.
We take time to see (from the outside) its Saxon Church before the trip back through the tunnel.
Time's running quickly... There's so much to see and, because we're in awe of some of this coast, we're taking things slowly... so, lets be brief. The places we explore:
Sunderland - The National Glass Centre which is attached to Sunderland University is a real gem; we spend too much time on this uplifting building, looking at exhibitions and seeing high quality glass blowing in action. Talking to staff, we understand that the building, only 20 years or so old, has major structural issues and is likely to close. Word has it that some cost cutting decisions were taken during construction - but we can't verify this. The Uni is proposing to drop the related courses. From my working life, I'm only too aware that each m² of build has to generate a given income and that probably doesn't include a provision for major repairs after 20 years ... But this is a national centre...
We move on to the suburb of Roker seeing the memorial to Venerable Bede and St Andrew's church, built 1907.
We drift on to Whitburn, with its sandy bay, stone houses and preserved windmill.
Tynemouth is, for us a real gem. Its street cafés remind us of home and that's before we explore the ruins of the Castle and Priory. The WW2 gun battery is accessible from the site.
Close by, the massive statue of Newcastle man Admiral Collingwood (Nelson's second in command) gazes over the mouth of the Tyne.
Moving on:
Stephenson's Railway Museum in North Shields is well worth the stop. It houses perhaps the oldest preserved steam locomotive, engineered by the maestro George Stevenson.
Heading to Jarrow, we see the ruins of a Saxon monastery where Venerable Bede lived & worked. The original Saxon dedication stone of 685 sits above the chancel and, perhaps the earliest example of stained glass in captivity is placed in one of the high windows; it is believed that the glass was made here in the monastery workshops.
Remember also, this is where the hunger marchers started from in 1936.
In South Shields, we see the remains of the Arbeia Roman fort - which is a wonderful surprise behind the unpromising entrance building.
We walk the mile long pier here - one of the two concrete guardians of the mouth of the Tyne. We also have a peek at the large sandy Sandhaven beach.
Heading back we stop off at Cullercoates with its small harbour and beach. Coal was loaded onto sailing ships here for the journey to London. It's difficult to imagine that now, seeing this little seaside enclave buzzing with summer visitors.
Our last day based here - which is a bit sad - we've been really busy and the weather has been cooler than almost anywhere else in the UK but it's been really fascinating and uplifting.
So we finish by visiting:
Nearby Seaton Sluice with its tiny harbour and 'cut' that was formed to get sailing barges in. The pubs once serving the workers now have a distinct up market air that's reflected in the prices on the tempting menus.
We attempt to visit the colliery museum at Woodhorn but poor research means that we arrive to locked gates: sad, that.
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea's small houses circle a sheltered bay. The back story of the village is evident from the sand on the beach which contains grains of coal - a line of coal being visible at the waterline in some parts. Two statues sit on a frame in the bay. Here's the story.
The Saxon church is possibly the oldest (of many) on this coast.
We find the almost deserted large expanse of sand steamingly warming in the sun at Druridge Bay. Its desolation is strangely moving.
The nearby Ladyburn Lake and recreation centre was an opencast mine in 1989. Hard to believe when we stand there.
We say goodbye to the excellent stand-in warden at the site before we hitch up the 'van and head further north to the Camping and Caravan Club's site at Beadnell Bay where we receive the usual friendly welcome.
Coincidentally with our arrival, the sun emerges from behind the cloud and it's shorts and T shirt weather. Walking into the village of Beadnell reveals some substantial, well-tended housing and not inconsiderable wealth.... plus some nice places to eat. Heading on to the small harbour area and its surprisingly nice sandy bay we study the substantial old lime kilns, a reminder that this small place was once a centre of thriving lime production.
We walk on to a rather cool beach bar - well, car-park-near-the-beach bar. Nice glass of cool Estrella, looking cool....
Low Newton by the Sea is accessed down a narrow road; fisherman's cottages and an old corrugated iron, well kept church feature.
We head to Craster with yet another little harbour. The village is famous for its smoked fish, kippers especially, and so we take some grilled kippers for lunch at the local pub.... It's evening now and I'm beginning to regret that decision...
But, from here, there's a rewarding walk along the coast to the excellent Dunstanburgh Castle, looked after by English Heritage; we're certainly getting some pay-back for our membership on this trip...
We keep finding fascinating places within the places we visit if you see what I mean; little gems hold us there. What a great trip this is - but we're getting worn out and have to spend time on an almost deserted beach to recover: such hardship.
Seahouses is close to the site and a lovely little town where we can top up with supplies. Two hour trips around the Farne Islands are possible from here but we'll not be doing that, looking at the boats with no backrests to the seats - and Sue's not a good sailor despite the travelling we do. Anyway, we've done similar trips in far flung places so we won't feel too guilty.
Lindisfarne
We get up early(ish) for our trip to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne as the tide will cover the causeway by 11.30 am. It's a great visit and we could have spent the day here on reflection but we do walk to the 'castle', restored in 1902 by the architect Edwin Lutyens as a wonderful residence.
We're fortunate to see and hear the unique Lindisfarne sound installation project by Paul Rooney in the castle; it has to be heard in the castle to appreciate it, I think.
We see the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory and see images of the Lindisfarne Gospels, held in the British Library as a masterpiece of Celtic art before heading back - time and tide waits for no man (or woman). There's a great cafe and restaurant shortly after exiting the causeway at Beal which is ideal for coffee and a cake.
Inside the Church next to the Priory
It's quite a trek through the dunes to reach Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve at Ross Back Sands but the secluded beach provides a space for relaxation and reflection; it's important to keep to the tracks here as many parts of of the dunes are breeding grounds for various species of birds. Having been attacked by arctic terns in Iceland we certainly respect their privacy...
Driving alongside and stopping at Budle Bay, we fail to see the suggested wildlife but the disused mill described in our faithful guide has now turned into tastefully refurbished and stylish residences.
Stylish little Bamburgh is dominated by the massively imposing Bamburgh Castle which is still owned by the Armstrong Family (think arms, aircraft and cars); it's brilliantly presented for visitors with a clever audio visual presentation to start. Worth the entrance fee.
We retrace our steps slightly to see Warkworth and its very impressive 15th Century Castle, again well cared for by English Heritage. It's possible to see the Hermitage via a ferry crossing if you turn up when it's open (which we fail to do...).
Nearby Amble was a busy coal shipping port until the 1960's but now has a marina and fishing port. Driving through the streets bordered by small terraced houses we're surprised to find the small beach, harbour, marina and a really nice fish restaurant. Poached Sea Bream provides a great pre Father's Day treat.
U
Heading north towards 'home' we pop into smart Alnmouth to find that it's Art Festival weekend. We listen to music and pop into the venues used by local artists to display (and sell) their work. We're very tempted by one particular artist but decide that we need a cooling off period. It's very similar to our own Leigh on Sea Art Trail.
A final visit on the way back to see the old unspoiled fishing village of Boulmer and the Tornado fighter at the entrance to the nearby RAF station completes another day.
It's Father's Day... and it's great to get calls and messages from our wonderful daughters in their (very) busy and successful lives - 'been there so I won't feel guilty about making the most of the declining amount of active time that we have left but I can empathise with their balancing act between social life and the ever increasing pressures of work in one's mid to late thirties. It's the price for being good at what they do.
This trip is nearing its end so we book a site for a stopover at Rutland on the way back to Essex and then the day is all about our final destination, Berwick-upon-Tweed and its environs.
We make a brief stop at Cheswick on the way - because it's in the book - to see the line of old stone cottages, walk to the top of the dunes and view another sweep of windswept sand. The tides are dangerous here and it would be a brave (and foolish) person that attempted the 4 mile walk to Holy Island.
South of the mouth of the Tweed is the small resort of Spittal with its longish promenade. The artist T S Lowry was fond of Berwick-on-Tweed and there's a 'Lowry Trail' around the area.
We have a coffee at the café on the promenade, while a walk closer to the harbour of neighbouring Tweed mouth provides a good view of Berwick's three bridges: the pink stone Jacobean (1611), the four arched Royal Tweed (1925) and Stephenson's Rail Border Bridge (1847).
We drive over the Royal Tweed Bridge to enter Berwick itself, motoring to the south of the town, through the narrow archway to park. We explore the town and beautifully preserved Elizabethan town wall but are a little surprised to find that most of the restaurants are closed, meaning that the few that are open are full. It's Sunday, but it's Father's Day with quite a few hungry looking Dads with their families; we take a rather nice lunch at the bistro near the car park so hunger was satisfied. It's clear that some of the shop fronts need a little TLC though.
We head back to grab a short relax in the remaining sun before the forecasted heavy rain arrives around dusk. There's something eminently comforting about sitting in the 'van listening to the patter of rain on the roof. Must stay awake for the Canadian Grand Prix though....
But before we finish, we must, er, finish - we have one more visit to do - and that's to Howick Hall, the seat of the Earls Grey. They're no longer in residence as they've downsized so the ground floor is open to the proletariat and the wonderful gardens and arboretum are free to roam - well after paying the entrance fee, that is.
We take sustenance in the tea rooms and I take a pot of Earl Grey - what else? This is, of course, where it originated. Unfortunately, there seems to be, like many other places, a policy of wilding going on - which I understand, I really do, but for chronic hay-fever sufferers like me, it's a nightmare. We beat a retreat after a couple of hours which is how long it takes me to recover from being covered in various wilded grass pollens.
Off to our overnight stop, Rutland, on the homeward bound journey tomorrow morning, all being well....
...The Rutland site is great and so is the village. We walk to one of the local pubs to stretch our legs and sample some local refreshments... but this pub is weird. Locals ( mainly male, it has to be said) keep popping in with their dogs, the dogs being individually greeted by the landlady and given a biscuit or two. 'I'm just popping out to walk the dog darling' comes to mind.
Anyway, we're home now with the 'van safely back in storage.
Great trip indeed! (Comments in main blog) We need a rest; why are we always so busy!?
Around Anglesey
August 2nd - 24th
We're heading for Anglesey to explore it's coast - which links to our North Wales coastal exploration seven years ago. We've heard great things about this place but the weather's threatening to dampen our enthusiasm a little...
First stop, though, is at a 5 van site, Wrekin View, near Shrewsbury. We're saying hello to a couple of friends we met on our tour of Peru soon after we retired; it's was really great to see them again. As I originate from the Midlands, it's interesting to be passing through familiar territory, too.
Very impressed with Shrewsbury - historic, thriving & with cool cafés and shops.
Second stop, for a couple of nights, is at a 5 van site near the town of Menai Bridge on Anglesey - which is close to the Menai Bridge... surprisingly. Although a deluge is forecast we have a great afternoon under the clearing skies, seeing the railway station with the longest name going and getting close up to the actual Menai Suspension Bridge which, when it was completed in 1826, was the longest suspension bridge by some margin. That brilliant engineer Thomas Telford was responsible of course.
.........
Just imagine the calculations and materials testing that went into building such a structure - that was the first of its kind, with little previous data to refer to. Oh, and logarithmic tables and a slide rule for calculations. The original wrought iron supporting links were later replaced with steel.
..........
Many years ago, I used to have a very long ticket from this station...
On the remains of the Toll House:
Nelson looking over the dodgy waters of the Menai Straits
Engineered by a genius:
Moving on to the Caravan & Motorhome Club's Penrhos site which we use as our base in Anglesey, we work our way anticlockwise around the coastal sights, starting in the south east.
How about a few highlights?......
Beaumaris - a historic town with the courthouse of 1614, the Grammar School of 1603 and the 19th Century jail. We spend time absorbing these and, of course, the famous Beaumaris Castle, which is beautifully preserved.
An ancient dovecote, 1000 year old crosses and font in the ruins of a priority at Penmon:
Puffin Island is visible from the nearby point at Trwyn Du (accessed by a toll road £3.50!!) ... We see shags and cormorants but have to content ourselves with memories of Icelandic puffins...
Two visits to Red Wharf Bay reveal the two different faces at high and low tide; low tide reveals around 10 square miles of sand which completely disappears at high tide. Cue warnings about wandering on the sand unprepared. Why two visits - because the Old Boathouse Restaurant is really really worth it...
The small coastal village of Moelfre hosts a RNLI Seawatch Centre - with a decommissioned lifeboat, displays and very helpful volunteers happy to answer our many questions, including discussion about Welsh language..
A commemorative statue to the many RNLI heroes looks out to sea from here:
The wide, flat sands of Traeth Lligwy, popular with holidaymakers provide an opportunity to relax for a few hours - and visit the nearby Bronze age tomb of Lligwy Chambered Barrow:
A trip to Dulas to see the sheltered creek (it's in the magic book!) involves a road 'unsuitable for motors' so identified (as we discover) because there's no way to turn at the end...
At Parys Mountain, the Parys Mountain Copper Company employed around 1500 locals of all ages and gender to extract copper from this rich source of ore in the late 1700's. The remains of this activity present a fascinating,eerie red/brown stained landscape as we spend time walking the site.
*Also see last post for this trip below.
Bull Bay village was a busy shipbuilding centre in the 19th Century - now its trade is in Airbnb. We take a two mile walk along the clifftop coastal path to Porth Wen with its sandy beach and fascinating remains of a large brickworks - which looks ready to collapse in places.
Cemaes Bay was also once a shipbuilding centre ( and smuggling apparently..) and, again, it has adapted well to the tourism trade: it's rather nice. We walk for a couple of miles along the coastal path in the opposite direction, heading towards Bull Bay this time. It's a energetic walk though, dipping into the many coves and back up onto the cliffs. The increasingly present wind turbines populate the coast around here replacing to some extent the decommissioned Magnox Wylfa nuclear power station.
We see the 14th Centaury St Padrig's Church, continuing on to the cove of Porth Llanelana with the remains of a china clay factory.
Heading further on we look down on Hell's Mouth - just past the remains of Dinas Gynfor, the remains of a Celtic hill fort.
The next day brings pelting rain which eases somewhat in the afternoon as we head out to the decommissioning site at the Wylfa Nuclear Power Station for a quick look, although the visitor's centre no longer operates and there's not a lot to see from the car park other than the hulk of the massive buildings ominously towering above us, no longer thrumming with the power released from the nuclear fission reactions within.
It's possible to walk to Wylfa Head from here but stormy rain threatens so we motor on to Cemlyn Bay in the hope that we'll manage a walk in the nature reserve created here by a large saltwater lagoon; the increasing wind drives the fine rain across the bay however and we decide that a quick look is all that we're prepared to undertake...
With motorhoming friends joining us for a couple of days, we head out to explore Holyhead and the nearby Penrhos Coastal Park on the Holy Island peninsula.
But on the way we find an unplanned treasure, the restored (almost) working windmill of Llynon. It's the only such preserved mill in Wales and powers three millstones - which is something I've never seen before. We spend fascinating time talking to a young guy involved in the restoration work.
There are ancient dwellings reconstructed on the site, too....
Holyhead is a working port is a main route to Ireland, with frequent docking by cruise ships.
We walk Penrhos Coastal Park before heading south again; great views of the Straits and its wildlife.
After a nice farewell meal at The Ship in Red Wharf Bay, we say goodbye to friends and meander on with our coastal journey....
Carmel Head is a remote area with a view of the Skerries and their lighthouse. We have an uplifting walk here. Part of the head is fenced off and used for pheasant breeding so they can be shot for fun.
Rhosneir has a really nice beach beneath its whitewashed cottages.
St. Cwyfan's Curch was originally built in the 7th century but a newer building was constructed 500 years later. It's accessed by a causeway at low tide and we find it well preserved and still used for the odd (!) service...
At Porth Trecastell, where the transatlantic data cable lands, we discover the burial chamber of Barclodiad y Gawres (~ 2500 BC). Abstract patters on the stones are similar to Irish chambers of the same age.
The village of Aberffraw, once the capital of Gwynedd, has a fading grand building, perhaps inspired by the village's illustrious past; the church is said to contain some stonework from the original royal palace of around 1000AD.
The 18th century stone bridge spans the flowing Afon Ffraw to access dunes and riverside sand.
For our last couple of days here we move back to the small 5 van site near the Menai Bridge and explore Bangor on the mainland. We visit the cathedral and walk the long pier - not as long as Southend, of course - but it does sit above the swirling energy of the Menai Straits.
We also visit Penrhyn Castle - which isn't really a castle but an unbelievably opulent home that was created to look like a castle. It's all about power; money from slate mining and slavery. Wonderfully refurbished by the National Trust, we spend a few hours here musing on the societal changes since that time.
Well, our Anglesey visit is over - but there's one more thing to do...
.....we stay for two nights at a 5 van site at Ruthin in North Wales, to see good friends. We're fed great food and wine - and have a wonderful 12km walk, part of it on the Offa's Dyke Path.
*It so happens that said friend is a collector of rare coins ..... and he has some rare copper tokens (used to pay workers) from the Parys Copper Company who mined Anglesey's Parys Mountain which we visited earlier. Fascinating stuff.
Great trip. Sad it's over.
Five or six hours to home, all being well.
Well, that's the end of our coastal touring for 2023. We thoroughly clean and polish the 'van and wrap it up for the winter at its storage home from home. After more sorting of our garden after the building work we decide to head for Nerja for a while. Before we do so the dreaded engine management light comes on in the Touareg. Will sort that when we get back - lucky we weren't planning more coastal touring.....
'Bye for now.
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