Northumberland's castle coast

We woke to a grey sky with intermittent rain so late breakfast and no rush for a walk.

We chose to visit Bamburgh today where there is a very good deli which has locally baked bread plus lots of other exciting foody delicacies. We came away with quiche and cake and a local delicacy called `Border Tart' (very nice indeed).

The castle is largely a Victorian reconstruction which cost its owner, Lord Armstrong, a million pounds to reconstruct and build. Lord Armstrong was a shipping magnate and aircraft manufacturer who also built Cragside (now a National Trust property) on the outskirts of Rothbury. There was, however, a defended fortification on the site in the sixth century, at a time when the Angles and Saxons from Germany and Denmark were raiding coastal settlements.

I needed a new brake light, which was changed for me by a very pleasant young man at the garage in Seahouses. He asked for one pound for the bulb, a service which was definitely worth a pint of beer, if not two. In this day and age, where everyone seems to be on the make it was a very refreshing encounter.

Heavy, heavy rain accompanied us on the stretch between Seahouses and Bamburgh though fortunately it had almost stopped by the time we reached the village. Following lunch in the Lord Crewe the sun was out again, but now it was the wind that was the problem. We tried a short walk on the beach but only got about 20 metres before turning back. Even in Seahouses, where we stopped for more shopping from the Co-op and some wool and a `Killer Sudoku' book for my mum, the wind was much too strong to visit the harbour front.

We're now back in the cottage, watching the white-tops out on the sea, but from inside and through the window rather than out.