Holiday in North Berwick: The Journey Up

We set off from home, leaving my brother, Philip, in charge of the house, Minnow Cat and Connie Chicken. The rain was pouring down, not boding well for the week ahead!

Our first stop was at Alnmouth in Northumberland. It is an attractive village with a long area of sandy beach, with a few small shops, cafes, hotels and pubs. We parked at the beach car park and walked along to the dog-friendly cafe, The Village Tea Rooms. Brock decided to jump into several very deep pools of stagnant sea water for some reason. He doesn't like water normally, so it was quite a surprise to all of us. Although it was misty, the rain had passed over and it was dry for our walk.

Brock running on the beach at Alnmouth

Alnmouth main street

Our next stop was the wonderful Barter Books at Alnwick Station. It has a cafe, and thousands of books: new, second-hand and antiquarian. There is lots of comfy seating scattered about; a train runs around the top of the book shelves in the first room, where there is often an open fire burning; and dogs are allowed in (apart from the buffet area). Parking on site is limited and very busy.

Barter Books - main room

Display of antique childrens' books

Berwick-upon-Tweed was our next stop of the day. We walked all around the city walls, enjoying the views of the sea and town.

 The allotments at Berwick-upon-Tweed

The house that L S Lowry stayed in on his visits to the town

 Views over the Tweed to the railway viaduct

We drove on to the flat we were staying at in North Berwick and were glad to have a rest after our busy first day.

View from the holiday flat's sitting room window: a minute's walk from the sea!

A Short Break to Northumbria

Rob, Brock and I enjoyed an overnight stay in Northumbria during the week.

We stayed at the beautiful Chillingham Manor House, where we had the best breakfast ever at a hotel: Rob had muesli, orange juice, vegetarian sausages, eggy bread, toast and homemade preserves, and coffee. I had excellent fresh fruit salad, apple juice, bubble & squeak with poached egg (laid by one of the chickens I could see out of the window!), gluten free toast with Seville orange marmalade and lemon curd, with coffee. Absolutely superb! We bought a jar of the wonderful marmalade to take home with us. Ros and David who run this small hotel are so friendly and welcoming, I would definitely recommend a stay with them if you are in the area.

[Image from The Manor House's website]

Our day had started with a walk around Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick, followed by lunch at the Damascus Drum cafe.

Next stop was at Melrose. The weather was beautiful for this time of year. Here is a view of Melrose Abbey.

Then Kelso (above), before we drove to Chillingham.

The following day, on the recommendation of our host, we went to Bamburgh beach to walk Brock.

A slightly cooler day, we took a bracing walk along the beach, taking in the views out to sea and of Bamburgh Castle.

Then it was on to Alnmouth for another beach walk, followed by coffee and cake.

Our final stop before driving home, was at the fantastic second hand book store at Alnwick Station, Barter Books. It is a really wonderful book shop, with model railway running around the tops of the shelves in one room, an open fire with sofas and free coffee in another room. There is a nice cafe, the Station Buffet, there, but it was full even at this time of year. They operate a number system for getting a table. We were lucky enough to get the table in the centre of the bookshop, where we had a jacket potato with cheese, and the day's special, Kitchari (a curried lentil and rice dish). Tasty food, but we were still a little full from breakfast so didn't do it justice.

A very nice change of scene for us all!

A Trip To Alnmouth

Rob, Brock and I had a few hours at Alnmouth, Northumberland on Wednesday.

It is a very attractive seaside village, with a marina, golf course, lots of restaurants, pubs, hotels and cafés (for its size). There are also a few gift shops and delis to browse in.

We enjoyed lunch at The Red Lion Inn: a 'starter' of crisps, followed by Stilton and red onion sandwich for Rob; omelet and salad garnish for me. (The latter was a special request that they kindly cooked for me, since they didn't have any vegetarian, gluten free dishes listed on the menu.) The food was tasty, and it was a nice place to sit and relax. I see from their website that they do Bed and Breakfast, and also have a beer garden overlooking the sea, which we didn't spot. The Inn allows dogs into the bar area and beer garden, which is useful if you happen to have one with you.

[Click on any photo to see a larger version.]

Next we had a walk on the beach, which is beautiful: wide sandy expanses and very few people, even on a sunny day in August.

Brock found a new friend to play with: Becky.

We enjoyed an ice cream and Brock showed quite a bit of interest in getting some. And succeeded.

The nearby market town of Alnwick is also worth a visit for the shops, Alnwick Garden and Alnwick Castle.

Alnmouth Trip November 2012

Rob, Brock and I had a night staying in Alnmouth on Tuesday 6 November. We stayed at The Saddle B&B, which was dog friendly and catered for vegetarians and gluten free diets, and also has a free wi-fi connection.

Brock had his first walk of the day at Birdoswald, taking in part of Hadrian's Wall. Then it was on to Heaton, Newcastle for lunch at the Sky Apple Cafe. Interior seen below.

 It was hard to choose from the many vegetarian and vegan choices on offer, but I went for halloumi and aubergine in gluten free batter served with chips and peas. I also had a cappuccino, which was excellent. The chips and tartare sauce were very good, but I was less keen on the batter. I would happily return and try out some of the mix and match starters, such as aubergine parmigiana, mezzes and koftas. Plus there are many sandwiches, wraps, burgers and other 'mains' to try. It had a nice atmosphere and the waitress was friendly.

 We drove on to Lindisfarne (Holy Isle) and crossed the causeway. The main car park is outside the main village on the island. From there, you can walk to the castle (below) and visit the various shops, restaurants etc. Many are shut at the end of October, though. We did enjoy a green tea and tasty cake in the Post Office, which had a couple of tables to sit at, and also sold maps and guides to the area.

Up-turned boats are used as sheds next to the castle and in the port area.

At Alnmouth, that evening, we enjoyed a walk on the beach, and a meal at the Hope & Anchor hotel/pub.
There are at least three pubs/hotels that welcome dogs in the village and there were five dogs in there the night we went. The menu includes three vegetarian choices:- mushroom and red onion stroganoff with rice (I had this and it was quite tasty); vegetable and coconut curry with rice and nan bread (Rob had the curry and enjoyed it - plenty of spice!); and Quorn and vegetable cottage pie with veg. We had puddings: apple tart tatin with custard for Rob and I had pear poached in red wine with cream - lovely.

The next morning we had our breakfast at the B&B (a good choice of fruit, yoghurts, cereals and fruit juice, followed by your choice of cooked breakfasts, including porridge).

Brock had two runs on the beach - first thing in the morning and again after breakfast.

We drove on to Berwick and walked round the city walls, before having coffee in a Cafe Nero.

The artist Lowry used to stay in Berwick for his holidays and painted lots of scenes from the area. This is the house he used to stay in, which has views out over the sea and it is next to the allotment patch.

Melrose in the Scottish Borders was our next stop, for lunch. It is a pretty town with lots of independently owned shops, and a ruined abbey and the Harmony Garden (closed end of October!).

Hawick was our last stop, for a final walk, around the park before heading for home.