England Coast path Northumberland Alnmouth to Embleton Part 51

Due to an unexpected job move by Joseph to Newcastle we thought we would make a proper holiday by doing a bit of the coast path on the east coast.

We planed the days & booked some accommodation.

Friday 19th to Sunday 21st July 2024

Alnmouth to Embleton

Distance 12:71 Miles

Time 4:34

Elevation Gain 756 Feet

Total days walking 63 (excluding the swcp)

Total mileage 1431.54 (including the swcp)

On the Friday we drove up to Newcastle with Joseph's possessions arriving about lunch time. Joseph had travelled up a few days previous & having just collected the flat keys he  was waiting for us outside. Emptying the car load into his flat didn't take long.

Joseph had had a couple of days exploring the City & we embarked on a tour of part of the city but mainly today on the Jesmond Dean area visiting the Jesmond Dean falls & mill. A beautiful park area. It was good to see the area & it's apparently the area where the footballers live. It is posh & expensive!

We followed this with a nice Italian meal & then we retired to our premier inn for the night.

Saturday we again met up with Joseph & visited the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts in the old Baltic mill where we were able to see Kittiwakes a small seagull that build their nests on the ledge on the side of the building using straw & sticks from the river banks held together with their guanos. 

  We were also able to see the tilt bridge open to allow a small yacht pass under it. 

We followed this with lunch, then an art gallery depicting the decline of the Swan Hunter ship building industry & a look at Newcastle Cathedral finishing our time with Joseph at a fringe comedy show. 

We departed to our next hotel with a visit to the Angel of the North incorporated in our Journey.

   

 So that's a brief explanation of how we ended up in Northumberland, We spent the night in the Bluebell inn in Belford.

Sunday our first day of walking the coast path to Berwick-upon-Tweed. A good breakfast followed by a quick stock up of snacks at the coop & we drive to Alnmouth where we are to start walking we are able to park on the road side next to the path.

Boots & packs on & we are off, straight onto the path & we meet a photographer who has just been watching a barn Owl in the woods but we are unable to see it.

Great weather & easy grassy walking. Being a Sunday the path is busy but made even more busy as there is a half marathon taking place, The runners are exited as they come towards us saying there is a pod of Dolphins in the bay. We keep a lookout but again we are out of luck but we were shown a photo of them! The scenery & weather are just perfect & the W,I are having a tea & cake sale at the RNLI lifeboat station, So tea & Cake it is!

No picture of tea & cake but here is a picture of the old smoke house. Refreshed we continue on towards Embleton.

On the route is Dunstanburgh Castle an English heritage property Well ruin we pop in for a look.

 

It was hard to find accommodation along this section of path not too far & not too near so the only place I could find was an off grid converted lorry with an outside shed toilet & separate shower & kitchen 

Bathroom

Toilet

Kitchen

                                         

But it has a lovely fire pit for a perfect evening

The shower was actually really a nice warm steam room & the toilet was a 6x4' shed with plumbed in proper ceramic toilet with a lovely odour of creosote.

The kitchen was a gas camping stove on a marble worksurface.