Finally, we had some lovely summer weather, and we decided that we would explore a bit more of the Northumberland coast.
Today we parked on the lane by Dunstanburgh Castle Golf Course and despite arriving early, there were already several dogs and their humans milling around – as well as a few of the keenest golfers – the golf club doesn’t open until 8 o’clock!
There was a large A-frame, belonging to the Space for Shorebirds Project, at the beginning of our walk reminding us to be mindful of all of the birds that live on the beach. This project, which has been running for the last four years has been really successful in helping dogs – and especially their humans – understand how to enjoy the vast sandy Northumberland beaches whilst making sure that we don’t disturb the local wildlife – This is so important considering the huge numbers of summer holidaymakers who come here.
We trotted across the golf course and through the sand dunes down to the beach. – The tall rangy grass around us was interwoven with delicate blue harebells and magenta coloured crane’s bill. In fact, Bloody Crane’s Bill is actually the county flower of Northumberland.
As usual there was plenty of space on the beach – the tide was retreating, and channels of water were draining out into the sea. Some of the channels were really deep and I couldn’t resist a quick wallow. Meanwhile Bruno paddled at the water’s edge.
Much further along the beach, a few rather noisy oyster catchers were similarly engaged. These black and white birds love to eat all types of shellfish, and they have the perfect shaped, bright orange bill to catch them and to prize them open.
The sharp peeping call of the oyster catcher is unmistakeable, and we seem to hear them wherever we walk – be it by the coast or by the river. However, this omnipresence is misleading, and their numbers have dropped significantly over the last twenty-five years. This is largely due to predation and changes in habitat.
It wasn’t long before our walk along the beach was halted by a large expanse of black coal boulders, so we clambered up onto the path running above the beach. The remains of Dunstanburgh Castle seemed to tower above us.
Soon, the beach below us changed from a coal boulder field to a rocky pavement which was daubed in white and orange lichen and draped in bright green seaweed. At the water’s edge, the tide sent tongues of seawater to replenish the many rock pools whilst out
on the water a large group of eider ducks patrolled the rock line.
As we rounded the corner, we were almost deafened by the shrill cries of hundreds of kittiwakes which were nesting in the cliffs below the castle. Although we could barely see their nests, the sky was full of aerial acrobatics as the birds, wheeled, ducked and dived between their cliffside roosts.
The cliffs below Dunstanburgh Castle are home to Northumberland’s largest mainland population of sea birds, and this is one of the reasons why it is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.(SSSI)
The remains of Dunstanburgh Castle which is owned and managed by both English Heritage and the National Trust, are magnificent. The construction of this amazing castle began in 1313. At that time, there were very tense relations between the crown (King Edward II) and Earl Thomas of Lancaster, and the castle was built in outright defiance of the King.
Of course, these hostilities were never resolved, and, over the years, the castle and its occupants played an important part in both the ‘Hundred Years War ‘and the ‘War of the Roses’.
Earl Thomas, himself, was executed - and his ghost is said to be, one of many, haunting the castle.
There are many legends associated with the Castle and its surroundings.
When Margaret of Anjou was exposed for her part in the War of the Roses, it is said she escaped by being lowered in a basket down to the fittingly named Queen Margaret’s cove where a boat was waiting to take her to France.
We followed the coastal path around the landward side of the castle and headed on towards Craster.
We could see the buildings of Craster in the distance, but we had to run the gauntlet of both a flock of scarily interested sheep and a herd of young cattle to reach them.
The grass looked deliciously green, and the silvery sea was crashing on to the rocks below. What an amazing place to graze!
When we reached Craster, the village was absolutely buzzing with all sorts of humans - many accompanied by their canine friends. The sun was out, and it was getting hot. Luckily for us, a very kind human had left a large bowl of icy cold water and we both lapped our full – it was delicious!
As we headed up the road towards the car park – we could smell the tantalising smell of hot kippers – cooking at the Pipers Pitch. Craster is famous for its kippers. There is a smokery close to the quay where freshly caught fat herrings are gutted and cold smoked for nearly a full 24 hours.
At the Pipers Pitch these kippers are cooked to perfection and our mouths were watering, and our tummies were rumbling at the prospect of having hot kipper skins to eat - but Julie didn’t stop.
We turned back on the path towards Dunstanburgh. Julie had been tempted to let us off our leads but luckily, she didn’t as there were sheep lurking in the bracken. Above their heads, the brambles were laden with the promise of a rich harvest of blackberries in the autumn. I wonder if sheep like blackberries!
We followed the path back to the coastal path where a couple of young cattle were on sentry duty at the gate – We didn’t like walking past them very much – but they were just being friendly!
We retraced our steps past the castle. When we reached the other side, we were amazed to see a very strange rock formation. It looked just as if a huge hand had punched the rocks from below, thus creating an enormous sea serpent-like shape.
I suppose that this is quite close to the truth! Over 295 million years ago, the continental plates below us collided with each other, jettisoning vertical shafts of hot rock towards the surface and, this hot magma itself, spilled horizontally between the layers of rock. This geological activity produced the Great Whin Sill upon which much of Northeastern England sits.
The strange looking rock feature at Dunstanburgh is called the Greymare Rock and it was produced as a result of the sheer heat and pressure exerted when the Great Whin Sill was created. Dunstanburgh Castle actually sits right on top of it!
This special geology is another reason why this place is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.(SSSI)
We decided to follow the coastal path beside the golf course in order to return to the car. Despite the heat of the day, the short turf was soft and damp to our feet, but we were still so glad when the car finally came into sight.
As we arrived back at the car more and more humans were heading for the beach all laden with deckchairs, body boards, picnic hampers and windbreaks, whilst at the Golf Club, a queue of golfers were awaiting their turn to tee-off.
But, we were off home.
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