Helen Rose's Outdoor Diary, Alnmouth, Northumberland

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Helen Rose’s Outdoor Diary, Alnmouth, Northumberland

August, 2025

Northumberland

Northumberland is a ceremonial county in North East England, on the border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumbria to the west, and the Scottish Borders council area to the north. The Bearsden and Milngavie Ramblers arranged the trip. They work very hard at these trips as there were 36 members there and we had our own bus to take us from Milngavie to Alnmouth.

Most of the area was the Kingdom run by the Percy’s and you can read all about it in my nephews, Alexander Rose, book, Kings in the North, The House of Percy in British History.

The Alnwick Garden

On our way to Alnmouth there was a stop at The Alnwick Garden pronounced Annick, a garden famous for the fountains. Built to be unconventional, The Alnwick Garden is a unique, contemporary garden in the heart of Northumberland with a mysterious Bamboo Labyrinth, The Poison Garden and the Grand Cascade.

Transformed across seasons, no two days in The Garden are ever the same. The Garden’s history is still honoured through the traditional Ornamental Garden and mesmerising Rose Garden. Created by The Duchess of Northumberland in 2001, The Alnwick Garden is a garden with a purpose and is a registered charity.

I walked in to the town of Alnwick from the Garden passing Alnwick Castle. The iconic Alnwick Castle has been used as a filming location for Harry Potter, Downton Abbey and more. Time did not permit a visit to the Castle as there was much to see in the Garden. I particularly enjoyed the walled garden but did regret I had missed the tour of the Poisoned Garden.

The Grand Cascade was great to watch from the café but there were other very unusual water features, too numerous to mention

Craster

In Alnmouth, we stayed at the very comfortable HF Holidays, Nether Grange House . We were greeted on arrival with tea and scones. The house overlooks a nine hole golf course famous as being the oldest golf club in England. Beyond it is the North Sea.

Our first day walk was to Craster north of Alnmouth on the coast which is an unspoilt fishing village. The kippers here are a delicacy which is exported to food lovers across the country, and it is reputedly popular with the British Royal Family. We could smell the charcoal scent of the traditional Craster smokehouse.

Craster is also famous for whinstone. Whinstone is a term used in the quarrying industry to describe any hard dark-coloured rock. Examples include the igneous, basalt and dolerite, as well as the sedimentary rock chert. Most of the buildings in the village are built with whinstone but as it is so hard the area around windows needs a different finish. At one time, there was a pulley to transport the rock from the quarry inland down to the harbour for transportation.

Rumbling Kern

We headed south to Alnmouth in a brisk northerly wind to our lunch stop to discover the hidden cove of Rumbling Kern, once the haunt of whisky smugglers bootlegging their contraband up and down the coastline. This award-winning, secretive beach wasis definitely worth a visit and we had lunch sheltering in the rocks from the wind. There were many kittiwakes nesting on the rocks

The walk finished at Alnmouth where there was time to look around the village and the cute little ferry museum

Bronze Age

The second day walk was from the village of Ingram in the Beamish Valley inland from Alnmouth. Ingram is a small village and civil parish located in the Cheviots on the River Breamish, and on the edge of Northumberland. The walk began with a long but gradual climb on an old drovers road to look around the Wether Hill hillfort. There are magnificent views from there of the Cheviot and Simonside hills but weather did not permit them as it was fairly cold and overcast. There are over 3300 known hillforts in Britain and Ireland, and they represent one of the dominant forms of later prehistoric settlement both here and on the Continent, appearing in the Late Bronze Age and becoming ubiquitous in the Iron Age. A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. The route was partly the ‘Hillfort Trail’ up to Wether Hill. There is little to be seen other that a few stone circles.

Returning to Ingram we passed a cultivation on the hillside. typical of the late European Bronze Age. Cultivated terraces, also known as terrace farming are a method of agriculture where level platforms or terraces are built on slopes to create usable farmland. This technique is especially useful on hilly or mountainous regions where flatland is scarce as it maximises arable landand helps with water conservation and erosion control.

On the way back to the Visitors Centre at Ingram, Isabel, our guide, explained about holly not having natural jagged leaves. Scientists recently discovered that holly trees adjust their spiky armour in response to hungry animals and changing environments. We saw the smooth leaves alongside the jagged ones.

Bamburgh Castle

On the way home the following day we stopped off at Bamburgh Castle in inclement weather and had a quick walk round the castle perimeter before going to the village pub for coffee and cake! I also bought the local delicacy of a sausage roll with black pudding and mustard to have later. An unusual combination but delicious. Bamburgh Castle is buiIt on an escarpment 150 feet above the North Sea natural harbour. With continual occupation on the castle’s site for thousands of years, Bamburgh enjoys more than its fair share of ghost stories, legends and myths. It is also believed to be the site of Sir Lancelot’s fictitious castle, Joyous Garde. Home to a succession of kings from Heny VI to James I and the first castle in the world to fall to gunpowder in the War of the Roses.

What a four days of history and interest with great walks. Many thanks to Fiona and Moira for all the arranging and our HF Holiday walk leaders Neil and Isabel on the C walks.

Coming attractions; The Edinburgh Tattoo and Completing the Ayrshire Coastal Trail.