It was a bright sunny, bitingly cold day in early January when we decided to walk along the coast between Bamburgh and Beadnell.
We parked in one of the coastal car parks. As we jumped out of the car and headed for the sand dunes the magnificent Bamburgh Castle stared down on us from the hill above.
The sand beneath our paws was white and crunchy with snow and ice and it seemed to take forever to snake our way up, down, over and through parallel ridges of sand as we headed for the beach. In places water had collected in hollows between the tall dune grasses and I was very tempted to take a plunge, but it was a very cold day. These ponds, which are called dune slacks, will actually disappear in the summer, but throughout the year they support a rich assemblage of plants and animals, and some of these are very rare.
Over 500 species of insects and invertebrates have been found here on the Bamburgh Dunes and at least 15 of these are nationally scarce. I suppose that this is one of the reasons why the Dunes are protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
From a distance the dunes look very uniform with their distinctive untidy tussocks of marram grass, but down at our level, there are so many smaller and less robust plants growing. Sadly, our humans are often completely oblivious to the rich tapestry of life right under their feet, while all of this wildlife is desperately trying to survive in a very human centric world! –
And of course, without this rich tapestry, there would be no home, shelter, or sustenance for the larger animals and birds which are so much more visible and engender so much more excitement.
When we finally reached the beach, the tide was a long way out and the wind was so strong that it blew the crests off the waves and sent plumes of rainbow tinted spray erupting into the air. It was so beautiful.
There were only a few dogs and their humans on the beach and as usual we chased each other across the lovely soft sand as we headed south towards Seahouses.
Today, there was a distinct absence of birds at the water’s edge.
It wasn’t long before we had to negotiate our first rocky platform – the rocky slabs were very slippery, and fresh water had collected in the cracks and crevices which made walking difficult unless you had four paw drive.
At first, we thought that we were alone on the rocks – but we were quite wrong. Sheltering in the nooks and crannies in-between the rocks, there were a multitude of birds – turnstones picking over the seaweed and pebbles, red shank sparring in the rock pools and a grain of sanderling playing ‘chicken’ with the tide.
We left the rocky platform behind us and were glad when we felt the flat safe sand under our paws again. Here, the beach was a tad busier – it was certainly a lovely day to be playing by the sea.
Seahouses lay ahead of us and, as we galloped towards it across the smooth soft sand, we stumbled across two deep rivulets crossing our path, and these snaked their way down to the sea. Sadly, Julie got very wet feet! Bruno and I were fine!
As we waded across, a stew of black and white oyster catchers piped over us, yet more sanderling played in the sea and a gaggle of geese glided down to land in the dune slacks behind.
Approaching Seahouses yet more rocky outcrops fingered their way out to sea, so we decided to take the much easier coastal path route along the road and past the harbour. And here, there were so many delicious mouth-watering, fishy smells wafting across from tall stacks of lobster pots and coils of thick rope and fishing tackle.
A small group of fluffy soft brown female eider huddled together on the slipway; their feathers all puffed up against the cold weather, whilst a couple of male eiders stoically patrolled the water.
A clutch of boats snuggled together in the harbour as if in winter hibernation.
The waves were crashing over the breakwater as we left Seahouses behind us.
At first, we couldn’t get down to the beach because of the rocky outcrops below. There were a number of very large grey birds standing very still between the rocks. At first, we thought that they were large herring gulls but, when they flew up into the air, it was obvious that they were herons. We were so amazed – we had never seen so many in one place before.
The coastal path took us along the road and then snaked its way through Annstead Dunes which is a Nature Reserve owned and managed by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. We could smell the salty sea air, and we headed down to the beach as soon as we could. However, our hopes to walk to Beadnell across the beach were dashed when we reached yet another fast-flowing water course and this time it was just too deep to wade across. This was Annstead Burn and we had no choice but to retrace our steps. Julie really should have checked the map much more carefully! We followed the path through the beautifully manicured greens of Seahouses golf course. It wasn’t very busy today so we could walk through without the fear of low-flying golf balls – the birds were making the most of the peace too. A coot sauntered across a small water course. On the opposite bank, a large shiny black shag stood, wings unfurled, basking in the early afternoon sunshine. A single curlew babbled over our heads.
The coastal path took us back to the road and eventually, we found our way down on to the sand. It was much busier here – there were many more dogs and their humans enjoying their afternoon – we were very tired though and so we decided to leave our dog friends and their humans to enjoy their time on the beach.
We walked back up through the dunes at Annstead. As it was a Nature Reserve, Julie kept us on our leads which is just as well, because as we reached the road, we were surprised to find a small group of soft brown Exmoor ponies chomping away on the dune grasses. These ponies were very friendly, but I have always found horses very scary – and I couldn’t wait to get away from them.
In the past, Annstead dunes boasted an amazing biodiversity of plants and animals.
But, over the years the dunes have been taken over by scrub and marram grass in particular which is a bit of a thug. The ponies have been employed to bring it under control and to allow the tender plants to re-establish. Now, plants such as bird’s foot trefoil, lady’s bedstraw and bloody cranesbill are making a welcome ‘come-back’ which is great news – especially as bloody cranes’ bill is the county flower of Northumberland!
Our route back was a combination of walking along the road and walking through the dunes. It seemed to take a very long time to get back to the car – but we had had another wonderful walk along the Northumberland Shore SSSI – There are always so many fascinating things to see and celebrate.
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