Northumberland... part two

Sunday was spent, rather appropriately, on Holy Island.  Following an enormous cooked breakfast featuring, amongst other things,  the local 'Bamburgh Banger', we set off to cross the causeway to the island.

Bright blue skies and freezing cold winds welcomed us.  The island itself was surprisingly quiet and, wrapped up against the wind, we walked along the beach in the direction of the castle...

Any excuse for a walk along the beach!

another castle in the distance..

Definitely NOT paddling weather!

It may [or may not] come as a surprise, but Gertrude Jekyll designed a really lovely walled garden in a field below the castle. Even though it seems rather out of place in such a windswept, open landscape, it represents a 'haven' in the wilderness...

Gorgeous pebble paving gateway

...where once the garden smiled

Every garden needs a little Lutyens!

Always an imposing sight!

Tidal patterns in the causeway sand...

Big skies and a lot of sand!

How middle class is this?!

Rock pooling - a lovely end to a lovely day!

Just the way a really great weekend should be... good food, good friends, good weather and good beaches!

A Weekend in Northumberland...

We have a group of friends that we have known for years and years and years [you get the idea!] and every so often we try to get together for a long weekend.  So, on a cold Friday in February, 7 adults [I use the term loosely] and 2 dogs set off, from various parts of the UK, in the direction of Northumberland, for three days of merriment, reminiscing and general all round raucous behavior! 

Our 5 Star accommodation at Beal turned out to be a little closer to the A1 and not quite as close to the sea as the company's website had implied but, this slight disappointment aside, the interior was, as they say in property circles, 'well appointed', comfortable and most importantly, given the time of year, warm!

The weather was very 'braw' but the skies remained bright for most of the weekend.  Given the early Spring setting [whose daft idea was that?!] we were pretty lucky really.

We spent Saturday at a very blustery Bamburgh.  Parking up close to the castle, we set off down the beach at the kind of brisk pace required to avoid hypothermia!

Teasel on her usual 'high speed' setting!

One of the very few times we saw Teasel stand still all weekend!

It is certainly the time of year for 'long shadows'

D in contemplative mood?

Majestic and magnificent - and that's just the castle!

OH suggested this was a bit 'Reservoir Dogs'?!

 

There's nothing quite like a pristine sand dune!

My OH and Tilly [his ever faithful shadow]!

Wouldn't fancy 'assailing' this from any angle!

Wind and sand hardy dune grasses!

Moving faster now... did somebody mention 'pub lunch'?!