Holy Island from St Cuthbert’s ridge

Although it was raining when we woke, it turned into a beautiful sunny day for meeting Linda, Colin, Katy, Colin and Ailie at the St Cuthbert’s Cave car park. We waited for 20 minutes for Ailie who phoned to say she’d got lost so to go without her. I sent her the map link but she couldn’t get it to work. Linda led us via St Cuthbert’s cave along a ridge with stunning views, the Cheviots to the west and the North Sea on the east. It is the narrow strip in the distance - you can maybe see the pimple on the right which is the castle. We could see 2 more castles further south, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh. We took it gently and Ailie eventually caught up - was a pretty but very short walk of 3.5 miles with a 50 minute drive each way. While the others took a detour on the way home to Ingram to buy lunch and sit outside a cafe, we headed straight back as Mr C had his tax returns to do. I felt I needed a further walk so Mr C dropped me at Debdon road end and I had a further 4 miles over the more home.

On the moor I had a chat with an old man admiring the the view with binoculars. He proceeded to tell me the names of various tops he could see. I had different suggestions for some but he wasn’t having it. Why do I start to doubt myself when an insistent male maintains he knows best? As soon as I was round the corner I had to consult the OS map on my phone to confirm what I knew.

Last night we watched “Anne”, the Maxine Peake serial about the Hillsborough tragedy. It was so moving. Andy Burnham and Gordon Brown came out of it well.