Castles on the coast

Lindisfarne Castle

It was gonna rain where we live, so we decided to scoot off somewhere drier.  We picked Holy Island, which could be considered very undry if you're in the wrong place when the tide comes in, but the sun was due to shine over that little piece of coastline, so we set off for a look at a different life.

A little bit of planning is required before making a visit.  It's important to check the tide times to see when it's safe to cross the causeway : Holy Island timetable 2103,  but I reckon it's even more important to stick to it, rather than get stuck.  Islanders are a tad fed up of having to rescue folks from the causeway cos they can't read the huge signs telling you it's not safe to cross.

So after checking the tide times, I printed off a map of the island aided by walkhighlands, so that we could plan a walk around.  And, because it's a two hour drive to get there, we also decided that we might look n see what else Northumberland has to offer whilst we were up that way.

Driving across the causeway is sort of fun n surreal, and guaranteed to get your car covered in mucky salty water.  Parking is cheap enough, but we didn't have a lot of change, so we only had three hours for our visit.  Holy Island isn't that big, but if you do want to visit The Priory (£5.20 per adult), Lindisfarne Castle (£6.50 per adult), take a wander around the village and have a walk around the island, you'll need a lot longer than three hours.

Upside down boats turned into sheds?   Cool.

We chose to walk round the island, enjoying the coastline, the sun and the wind.  The wind really was a major feature of the day.  Luckily it wasn't cold, but whoa, what a blast!  Literally.........  It was exhilarating, as we played at leaning in to it, coats out like parachutes, loving the feel and the power of it.  Buffeting us about, it made the walk much more interesting for certain.

Lindisfarne Carstle and the Lime Kiln

Our walk was about 5 miles in total, and I loved being on the coastline and amongst the sand dunes.  Awesome!

It was still early afternoon when we'd finished, and we took the coast road south to see what we could of a couple of castles.  The first was Bamburgh Castle - we had just a quick look at the outside.

And then we drove on to Dunstanburgh Castle which is a bit more our thing to be honest.  I love a good ruin.  We walked to it from the Dunstanburgh Golf course, lovely weather, lovely sunshine.  Brilliant.

A brilliant day out.  And we walked about seven miles as well.