Head North. A bit further… a bit further… bit further… there you go. I’m spending a week in North Northumberland, about as far north as you can go in England before you hit Scotland. The weather has been absolutely delightful; wall-to-wall sunshine, but not too hot, making it perfect for wandering about.
First things first we’re staying right on the harbour in the village of Seahouses for a week, checking in on a Friday through to the following Friday. This is a working harbour, and sitting on the balcony watching the boats go in and out, and the fishermen sort their pots, nets, and catches is certainly a way to while away a moment with a cup of tea in the mornings.
Following that, there are plenty of options for breakfast both here in Seahouses, and also just up the road in Bamburgh, where the imposing Bamburgh Castle overlooks the village and the beach from it’s clifftop situation. We headed to the newly opened Bamburgh Walled Garden Café for a coffee and a scone on Saturday morning because, not knowing how popular it is, we hadn’t booked for the first morning we were there, and couldn’t get a table inside where they serve hot food (no hot food is served outside, only cakes/pastries etc.). Learning this we booked a table for the following day, in order to have breakfast the following day. After breakfast I went to Carter’s a family run butcher’s shop in Bamburgh, which does the most amazing meats and pies. I’m planning to stock up on lots of pies for the freezer at home before we head home because they are seriously that delicious.
After breakfast we decided to head down the coastal route and see what we could find. Initially, mum thought we might head for Alnmouth, but we got side-tracked on the way by signs for Howick Hall & Gardens. I’d seen signs before when we’d been up here, but we’d never investigated before. This time we did, and discovered a delightful privately owned hall and gardens that had once belong to the 2nd Earl Grey (he of the tea fame). He’d done a few things quite a bit more politically impressive in his time, such as being the Prime Minister that saw through the Reform Act (that paved the way for democracy as we know it today in the UK) and the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Empire, but it is probably for the blend of tea with bergamot that takes his name for which he is most famous. Ironically, the Grey family did not file a patent for the name of the tea, and made absolutely no royalties for it once Twinings (and others) took the blend worldwide and sold however many millions of lbs of it have been sold since.
The Hall was beautiful with lots of information about the gardens inside. The gardens themselves have been under development by the various owners of the Hall for well over two centuries, including an extensive arboretum that is divided into different areas depending on the geographical location that the trees originate from. There’s also a Sensory Garden, the Bog Garden (which is so called because it had always been a boggy area of the garden until it was dug out into a pond in the early 90s and planted with lots of shrubs and flowers), as well as a Rockery, Lady Howick’s Private Garden (which is only open on select days), and a lovely river running through the lower garden by the church with a path meandering alongside.
It was lovely to wander around and listen to the birdsong of blackbirds, blue tits, starlings etc. I also saw a woodpecker, which is a bit of a rare spot. One of the things I love about places like this is that even though it was fairly busy (judging by the car park), but wandering around the gardens you wouldn’t know it because it was so peaceful.
After Howick, we headed back up the coast to Beadnell to enjoy an ice cream on the beach. I also dipped my toes in the water because it was such a beautiful day, and I can’t head to the beach on a day like that and not have a paddle! It was pretty cold, but still lovely to wade whilst enjoying my ice cream.
A perfect start to a great week!
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