On Thursday the 30th August 2018 after a day out in Berwick and Edinburgh, we decided a quick visit to Seahouses was on the cards before we returned to the campsite in Budle bay.
View to Farne Islands
The Rescue Statue
We parked up and had a couple of shops to visit to buy gifts and George wanted a bodyboard.
Found that 1966 mini ice-cream van again.
We had a look about the fishing harbour and where you can have day trips to the Farne Islands. Wanted to visit the Farne Islands but apparently all the puffins would have disappeared this late in the season. I'll have to visit again one day!
Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north east area. However national and international tourists often come to Seahouses whilst visiting the Northumberland National Park, Northumberland Coast and the Farne Islands. Seahouses also has a working fishing port, which also serves the tourist trade, being the embarkation point for visits to the Farne Islands. From shops in the town and booths along the harbour, several boat companies operate, offering various packages which may include inter alia landing on at least one Farne, seeing seals and seabirds, and hearing a commentary on the islands and the Grace Darling story or scuba diving on the many Farnes Islands wrecks. Grace Darling's brother is buried in the cemetery at North Sunderland. He died in 1903, aged 84. The current Seahouses lifeboat bears the name Grace Darling.
The Seahouses Festival is an annual cultural event which began in 1999 as a small sea shanty festival. After a significant European funding grant from the Leader+ programme, in 2005, it has grown into a more broadly based cultural celebration.
Bamburgh Castle in the distance
So after buying some gifts, found George a body-board and had some chips we head down to St Aidan's Dunes just up the road.
Water was a little chilly for George, but I found it just right. Gorgeous beaches here!
So after some time having fun in the water we head back to camp... going home the next day. A short stay but Northumberland is just amazing. I need to return soon!
On Friday the 30th August 2018, My son and I decided to visit Hadrians Wall on our way home from a couple of days in Northumberland. So we diverted off the A1(M) some 30ish miles in and arrived at the Steel Rigg car park at The Sill (also a YHA here).
The car park has a ANPR and 1st 15 mins free then a £1 a hour or £5 for the day.
We leave the car park and cross the road for the 1/2 mile trek up the hill.
We cross the road and we are now following Hadrians Wall.
For around three centuries, Hadrian’s Wall was a vibrant, multi-cultured frontier sprawling almost 80 miles coast-to-coast. Built by a force of 15,000 men in under six years, it’s as astounding today for its sheer vision as it is for its engineering. Milecastles, barracks, ramparts and forts punctuate a diverse landscape that provides a dramatic backdrop.
A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian's Wall Path. The largest Roman artifact anywhere, it runs a total of 73 miles.
Milecastle 39 is located northeast of Once Brewed. The excavated stonework has been consolidated, and the walls are up to 1.75 metres high. It measures 19 metres by 15.5 metres.
The site was cleared in 1854, and was excavated in 1908-11. It was re-excavated between 1982 and 1987. It was found to have a long axis, with a Type II gateway. In the south-east corner was a stone oven and the south-west corner a rectangular building with a sunken floor associated with Roman finds. The milecastle appears to have been occupied until the late 4th century. In the 18th century a possible milking house was built in the west corner.
View to Crag Lough
Crag Lough is an inland lake at the southern edge of Northumberland National Park, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Bardon Mill, and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of the B6318 Military Road in Northumberland, northern England. At this point Hadrian's Wall is at the top of a line of crags with Crag Lough at the foot of the crags.
Now we descend down to the Sycamore Gap, made famous by the film Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves that was filmed on location here.
The Sycamore Gap Tree or Robin Hood Tree is a sycamore tree standing next to Hadrian's Wall near Crag Lough in Northumberland, England. It is located in a dramatic dip in the landscape and is a popular photographic subject, described as one of the most photographed trees in the country. It derives its alternative name from featuring in a prominent scene in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The tree won the 2016 England Tree of the Year award.
This section of the wall follows the edge of a cliff – an outcrop of the Whin Sill – and several sharp dips in it caused by melting glacial waters. The tree stands within one of these dips with the cliff and wall rising dramatically either side of it .The wall and adjacent land, including the site of the tree, are owned by the National Trust. A popular tourist attraction, the tree is described as one of the most photographed in the country and the location may be the most photographed point in all of Northumberland National Park. It is visible from the nearby B6318 Military Road. The name "Sycamore Gap" was coined by a National Trust employee when the Ordnance Survey were remapping the area and asked if the previously unnamed spot had a designation.
The tree is a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and is a few hundred years old. It once stood alongside others but they have been removed over time for unknown reasons, possibly to improve sightlines or for gamekeeping purposes. The tree featured in a key scene of the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and has subsequently become known as the "Robin Hood Tree". It appeared in the music video for Bryan Adams' (Everything I Do) I Do It for You which featured on the film's soundtrack; the video was shown often on the British TV series Top of the Pops. It has also appeared in the TV crime drama Vera and in the documentary series More Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green. It narrowly escaped damage in 2003 when a helicopter carrying TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh crashed metres away.
In 2016, the tree was nominated for England's Tree of the Year Competition. It was selected from 200 competitors for the final shortlist of 10 and won the competition with 2,542 votes out of 11,913. The prize was a £1000 grant which was used to survey the health of the tree and to carry out work to protect its roots, which were becoming exposed due to the high volume of foot traffic passing over them. The Sycamore Gap Tree was entered in the 2017 European Tree of the Year awards in which it came 5th out of 16, polling 7,123 votes.
Now after many photos, I know you're probably bored of them , we walk up onto a mound to take more from a different perspective.
Now we take the low path back, George isn't a fan of walking and didn't want to go any further or have any more hills.
We are back at the car in just under 2.5 miles and a hour and 15 minute walking.
