Good morning from a grey overcast Dover, Kent, England, UK ðŽð§ ð ð
Geez, I do wish this weather pattern would move on over now and we can finally get going with summer. It’s still very chilly with a sharp wind blowing, and feels more like autumn than spring/summer!
Last night, after my client had gone to bed, I watched a TV programme – for the first time in months!! ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’ on Channel 5. Its narrated by Bill Nighy who has such a beautiful voice.
I was so excited to see the route; the train left from Yorkshire and travelled through Durham and into Northumberland!!! It called in at some of the places where I stopped on my jaunt along the Northumberland Coast Path in 2021, albeit going from south to north, via Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and into Scotland and ending in Edinburgh.
It stopped in Craster and near Lindisfarne, and into Berwick-upon-Tweed.
I love the little snippets of history that they talk about and learned something last night….the expression ‘on tenterhooks’ comes from the fish industry and making kippers. The fish, crasters, are filleted and hung up on hooks before being hung up in a shed for smoking, and producing smoked kippers. Pretty neat eh! Never too old to learn something new ð
It was thrilling to see all the places I had visited during my walk. Happy memories
Day 1 done and dusted ðð I had a completely uneventful journey, ever so quick from King’s Cross to Berwick…and boy are those trains fast!!
Arrived in Berwick to the most glorious weather and scooted quickly over to the castle ruins. I didn’t go right into the keep coz it closes at 4pm and I got there at just on 3.54…but I had a good look around and then headed back up the million steps I’d just walked down ðĪŠðĪŠ Google maps doesn’t show how steep some places are!!
The River Tweed Tweed Castle The Royal Bridge
The Airbnb is lovely and the host is amazing…there’s a gorgeous ginger cat and a beautiful golden labrador, so I have had lots of kisses and cuddles.
My bed for the next 3 nights
As soon as I had dropped off my backpack, I grabbed my day pack and headed north yo the Scottish border. OMG what a path!! The views were spectacular but the path was hell!! For the most part it ran right along the very edge of the cliffs with just a tuft of grass between the walker and the vertiginous cliffs that fall 100s of feet down to the sea. The North Sea in case you wondered.
Spectacular. The weather turned soon after and the clouds came inPart of #notthecoastpath ðĪĢðĪĢ
A local suggested I walk along the above ‘path’ because the real path “is a bit rough, and this is a lovely wee walk” – well he wasn’t wrong about the path, but this was no better and I crossed the edge of a potato field to the path as soon as I could. I’m thinking he’s never walked to the border before…
Now this was more like it…leading away from the Scottish border, it was a joy to see this…if only the whole route had been the same
However, despite the awful path and the daunting propect of a twisted ankle on a very narrow and uneven path, and the fading light, I’m so glad I made the effort to walk up to the border and back
Welcome to Scotland ððEnglish borderIt was so cool to cross through the gate into Scotland
The views are absolutely spectacular.
I’m standing on the path!!! A twisted ankle or a trip and you’d be in for a swimLiterally right on the edge
Once I got back to town I had a quick whizz around and walked a small section of the town ramparts, which are just amazing with awesome views of the river and estuary.
Town wallsWalking the ramparts Fantastic viewsGuarding the town
I got back to the b&b at just on 9pm and having missed the fish and chip shop, I had 2 cup a soup and a cup of tea.
In all a terrific start to my Northumberland Coast adventure. Just on 17kms covered.
My walk
I’ve added some of the history of Berwick in case you’re interested ð
Berwick is just four miles south of the Scottish Border, but during the last 300 years, control of the town swapped 13 times between England and Scotland. Berwickâs Elizabethan town walls are the most intact in England, and were Elizabeth Iâs biggest and most expensive project during her reign to keep firm control of this key town.
Situated at the mouth of the River Tweed near the border of two kingdoms, the town of Berwick suffered centuries of conflict, as control of the town passed back and forward between England and Scotland until the late 17th century. Each crisis brought repairs and improvements to the fortifications, culminating in the great artillery ramparts begun in 1558. These survive largely intact and make Berwick one of the most important fortified towns of Europe.
Berwick’s town walls are its most famous piece of architecture and still stand strong today, hundreds of years after they were built. Berwick actually has two sets of walls, the first set (of which only fragments now remain), commenced by Edward I, was two miles long. The later Elizabethan Walls (which are still complete) are a mile and a-quarter in length. The ramparts completely surround the town, with four gates through which entry to the town is enabled.
Berwick’s Elizabethan Walls are the only example of bastioned town walls in Britain and one of the best preserved examples in Europe. When built in 1558 – designed to keep out the marauding Scots who regularly laid claim to the town – it was the most expensive undertaking of England’s Golden Age.
And so the time has come ððð With just 37!!! days (ðą) till I set off on my big adventure, Pepe needs a repack. I’ll be away working for 24 of those 37 days, so now is the time!! It’s both thrilling and terrifying…this will be my longest walk/s by far. The most I’ve walked continuously in the past has been 11 days on the Camino.
Pepe looking pretty in yellow ð and the colour matched poncho I bought yesterday ðĪðĪðĪ
This walk will be 23 days. Naturally of course, 6 of those 23 days will be devoted to exploring the areas I’m in; Berwick Upon Tweed, Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, Newcastle, Carlisle and Glasgow, but that all involves walking ðķââïļðķââïļðķââïļ
So whewww, I’m ready, but I’m almost certain that my feet are not at all as excited – they’ll be doing most of the work, poor old ðĢðĢðĨūðĨū #notjustagranny #overthehillstilltravelling
I’m going to be packing as light as possible, even lighter than the Camino, and very definitely, I am planning on using baggage forwarding wherever possible and feasible. As I have said in the past, I’m not into self-flaggelation, and walking for me is an enjoyable pastime not a penance for past sins!! Camino or not!! ððð
Tomorrow after I’ve returned the tiddler to his parental unit, I’m going shopping for new walking shoes. The asics I purchased a few months ago are not quite doing it for me, and weirdly the Salomons I tried on last week felt more like mini coffins than comfy trainers, which is toats weird since I wore a brilliant pair on my Camino. Shoulda bought 2 pairs!! ððð
After a few weeks of intensive planning and calculating distances and studying the terrain via Google satellite maps, I am almost ready to rock and roll along the Northumbrian coast as I walk the Northumberland Coast Path from Berwick Upon Tweed to Cresswell – the official route.
Of course, because I’m just that way ð I’ve decided to tweak the route and add on a few kms!! After all, why not? It’s only 100 kms, I’ve done way more than that on other walks, so yeah….I’ve planned my route to include the stretch from the border of Scotland at Marshall Meadows to Berwick Upon Tweed and since I’m going that way anyway, I’ll keep walking from Cresswell to Newcastle….not all on one day mind!!!
So whew, I’m now VERY familiar with the Northumbrian coast…I know just about every town on the route and the distances between – slight exaggeration of course, but it sure feels like it.
What’s not an exaggeration is how much time I’ve invested in searching for suitable places to stay that are not too far apart and not going to cost me a month’s salary for 1 night!! Exaggeration of course but some of those places do charge more than I earn in a day…
Google maps, Booking.com, Airbnb and I have all worked overtime since I decided on impulse to leave St Oswald’s Way and St Cuthbert’s Way for 2022 when I do the Two Saints Way (different saints), and instead walk the NCP as part of my quest to walk the whole of the English Coast – since I’m up that way anyway for my other big walk.
My train ticket is booked, my accommodation is now finally booked, I’ve identified bus routes for getting to and from stop/start points, and I’ve identified some of the must see sights.
There are a lot of castles and rivers and a few islands. Plus the coastline is a UNESCO heritage site (I think???) I’m sure I read somewhere that it was, but for the life of me I haven’t been able to find where I read it, so may just have to let that go, but it looks like I’ll be adding quite a few places to Project 101.
In the interim I got my official guidebook and passport ððððð and that was well exciting.
It’s been really tedious working this plan. You’d think that with the sea to my left and heading from north to south it would be a breeze to plan my days, but no!!
Accommodation has been a huge stumbling block. I figured I would aim for approximately 20kms a day or as close as possible, but because I couldn’t find affordable accommodation in some places, a few of my days are a bit of a yo-yo.
But yesterday I finally nailed it. Hoorah!!!
So 3 nights in Berwick Upon Tweed with 2 day trips: 1 to Lindisfarne and 1 to Bamburgh Castle and some walking to cover that part of the coast inbetween, then on day 4 I hit the road, so to speak.
I’ll be adding my kms to the Kruger Park Virtual Challenge since I need to complete that by the end of September.
I’ll pop up another post in a few days with more details, but for now…
…..all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed that we don’t go into another lockdown…
Just had to share this with you quickly…I’ve started planning my September walks (thanks to lockdown 2020, they had to be postponed) and of course the first guide under the spotlight is St Cuthbert’s Way.
This was my initial planned walk with a couple of others, but now that I’m rereading the guide I’ve decided to include walking St Oswald’s Way as well, and while I’m there, I may as well walk the whole of the Northumberland Coast Path as well before heading into Newcastle.
I recently started reading Neil Oliver’s BBC A History of Scotland and to my delight, I recognise a lot of the place names he mentions in the book. The area is redolent with history. How will I tear myself away. ðð I will however be visiting quite a few of those places enroute along the two routes.
An absolutely amazing book
Of course I’m still planning on walking The Thames Path for my birthday, and the South Downs Way if I’m kicking my heels and need another long walk before the year is out…
Meanwhile, I’ve discovered that I will need a compass ð§ to find my way at some points ð§ðĩïļââïļððķðŧââïļðķðŧââïļ This is going to be reallyyyyyy interesting. I have no idea how a compass works really. I know the principles, but I usually rely on mapmywalk and Google to get me out of a pickle, so I guess a compass tutorial and some map reading is in my future ðŪ
Meanwhile I’m finding it really difficult to put the guide book down and focus on something else…its so interesting and I love the snippets of information that the writer has included in the book. Its giving me itchy feet….
Not Just a Granny 
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