River Breamish Caravan Club Site, Powburn, Northumberland

As I have already made clear, we have misjudged our days, not only those planned in Edinburgh, but also those here in Northumberland. We will not have time to return to Rothbury to visit the National Trust property of Cragside which I had looked forward to, having seen it on television whilst in New Zealand. Nor will we have time to visit Brinkburn Abbey a little further to the south, or Alnwick Castle, the latter a little influenced by balancing potential appreciation with price paid. However I did manage to put together a day which was still most enjoyable and will leave us with very positive memories of the area. We might even come back this way if time, health and life’s circumstances allow.  

This morning we headed south toward Newcastle, but turned east at Pauperhaugh on the B6345, a yellow road on our map which turned out to be very narrow and winding, picturesque and more like those roads and lanes marked as white map lines. We emerged near the coast at Amble sitated at the mouth of the River Coquet, the earlier reaches which we had seen on our trip across the Cheviot Hills a couple of days ago. We did not bother to stop here, but did see that it might be quite a pleasant spot to stop and wander about if one had days and days to fill.

We continued a little up the coast soon arriving at Warkworth Castle, situated above the hamlet of the same name set in a loop upriver. This is another English Heritage property and was just opening as we pulled in at 10 am. The castle has a remarkably well-preserved keep, mostly built in the 14^th century. It was here that most of the Percy family, the earls of Northumberland, chose to live throughout the 14^th and 15^th centuries, although the castle at Alnwick was considered to be their principle residence. Ground floor wine cellars and stores, first floor kitchens, great hall, chapel, great chamber and second floor bedchambers are interconnected by separate systems of  passages and stairways for servants and masters. The walls are all incredibly thick but then this was a super-fortified structure and was required to be so given the wild warring times.

We spent an hour wandering about, armed with our audio guides, then headed down to the river to access the Warkworth Hermitage. Half a mile upstream is a landing stage where one is rowed across the River Coquet to climb up to this amazing sacred site. It is here too one is again reminded how fanatically religious the people of those times were and looking from this great age of enlightenment, how ignorant, although I appreciate that some may find these comments of mine objectionable.

Back in the day, the Percy family employed a resident hermit to spend his days in isolation and time in prayer for the health, wellbeing and safety of the family. The first of these odd ball hermits was probably established by the first Earl of Northumberland in about 1400. Claustrophobic  chambers were hewn out of the cliff above the river and include a still consecrated chapel and an inner chapel which have identifiable elements linked to the Earl’s devotion to the Trinity and the Virgin Mary. The last resident hermit , George Lancaster, was charged by the 6^th Earl of Northumberland to pray for his noble family for which wholesome duty he received around £15 a year and a barrel of fish every Sunday. The Hermitage was abandoned by 1597.

As we were transported back across the river, the young rower confided that this was his first day on the job and on arrival had been glad that there was no wind to hamper his efforts. No sooner had he confided this, that the wind came up and made hard work of our crossing. I imagined us drifting downstream with views up to the castle and finally emerging at the Amber marina.

Back on terra firma, we walked all the way downstream to the old 14^th century bridge, which in 1965 was superseded by the present modern road bridge. I was glad the old one was still in place and there for the tourists to enjoy. From here we walked up through the charming township, pausing to chat with a stone mason replacing exterior stones on the frontage of a heritage listed residence. Back at the castle, we ate our lunch sitting in the car out of the wind before heading north again along the coastal road.

Our next destination was Almouth, a small town situated right in the mouth of the River Aln. We had no intention of stopping here, which was just as well because the only car park for tourists is some distance from the centre and would have delayed us for too long.

We crossed the river again and headed inland to Alnwick, an absolutely delightful market town. Here is to be found the grand castle residence of the current Duke of Northumberland, although he and his family occupy only a small corner of it. It was built following the Norman Conquest and has been renovated and remodelled a number of times. Today it is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor Castle, and apparently the 10^th most visited stately home in England.

It has also played host to a variety of other causes and groups, parts of the castle used for various educational purposes and much more recently used as a stand in for the exterior and interior of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, the latter fact giving sense to the broom flying exercises that are part of the visitors experience today.

We chose not to visit for a number of reasons, not least the fact that the blurb celebrated activities more suited to children and families, and with some school holidays underway, better suited to smaller and noisier little people.   

We had parked at Morrison’s so it was only appropriate that we shopped there. After filling our trolley we headed home, crossing through the expansive sheep grazing country and ripening wheat crop fields on yet another untraveled road.