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enjoys a bit of coastline walking in the
far reaches of Northumberland
F
ollowing an earlier
Out and About
article on the pleasures of walking
in the countryside, this is a follow-up
piece about a recent visit to
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.
Northumberland is a great place for bracing
walks and Scremerston beach, three miles
south of Berwick, is one of my favourite areas
to experience the many wonderful sights and
sounds of coastline walking.
The shoreline is quite flat and extends for
miles southwards towards Holy Island,
Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands
beyond.
There’s usually a healthy sea breeze, which
helps blow away any cobwebs, and the dogs
enjoy running over the rippled sands and
investigating the numerous rock pools for
signs of life, particularly crabs.
It’s also a great place for wildlife with many
species of sea birds including cormorants,
guillemots and kittiwakes.
You might even be lucky enough to see the
occasional grey seal bobbing about in the surf.
A visit to Northumberland would be
incomplete without a visit to the Farne Islands,
the most famous sea bird sanctuary in the
British Isles and home to a large colony of
grey seals.
There are daily boat trips to the islands from
Seahouses and there is a profusion of bird
life, including three species of tern and literally
thousands of puffins.
During our trip to Northumberland we also
visited Paxton House, a few miles west
of Berwick and watched a small group of
fishermen use a coble – a traditional open
small fishing boat – in attempting to net
salmon. They were unsuccessful on this
occasion, only managing to catch a single sea
trout, which apparently was destined for the
Paxton House restaurant.
In summary, a short, but nonetheless busy,
trip to Northumberland and one with many
happy memories.
PS Sadly, the 25th instalment of the Hopson
Hotshots vs. Hewens Heroes annual cricket match,
(mentioned in last month’s Out & About), which was
due to be played on July 29 at Wilcot, near Pewsey,
had to be cancelled due to wet weather – hopefully
the weather in 2018 will be kinder.
Jonathan Hopson
Approaching sunset over Scremerston
beach, Northumberland
Arctic terns flying around Farne
lighthouse off the Northumberland coast
Netting salmon for scientific and conservation purposes on the River Tweed
Nesting seabirds on the Farne Islands