Northumberland

The beach. Note sensible clothing. A little later, we saw a Scottish Family swimming in the sea, without wetsuits. 

We have just had a short trip to Northumberland, specifically Beadnell, on the coast. This happened because number three son had taken a house there to celebrate his birthday with friends, and asked us to go up and finish off the week, as his friends had to get back to work. It was the school holidays, so we set off with the grandsons and their parents followed a couple of days later.

Bamburgh Castle

On the way up we stopped in Durham for lunch, and to show the boys the cathedral and introduce them to St Cuthbert, because we knew they were going to go out on a boat to Inner Farne, where St Cuthbert ended his life as a hermit. But the main reason they were taken to the Farnes was that it is exactly the right time of year to see the sea birds and seals. The whole family, adults as well as children enjoyed the trip; they got so close to the birds they could have touched them, only of course they were too sensible. There were loads of puffins, and they are terribly cute. They are called Tom Noddies in Northumberland, which is a name which pretty much sums up their character.
Dan had seen dolphins before we all arrived and, he was sure, a whale. 

Rockpools

Certainly the sea life is brilliant up there. Guddling in rockpools is the best fun you can imagine, and because there actually is good phone reception on the beach, you can google anything you find, when you are unsure what on earth it is. 

The beach, Bamburgh, Inner Farne in the distance.

The dog really enjoyed his trip and was very easy. He could run about on the beaches and play with other dogs, which he loves, and we didn't have to worry about him going off after squirrels, sheep and such like. We just had to watch him with footballs. He will burst them, and it's really embarrassing. We couldn't take him on a boat, but we've been to the Farnes before. We would have gone to Lindisfarne, but the tide times weren't very convenient.

We did take the boys to Alnwick Castle, as it is used in at least some of the Harry Potter films. It's a jolly good castle, too; but inside it's a bit disappointing from a boy point of view, and the garden, apart from the opportunity to get wet provided by the water staircase, isn't really a boy thing. Also, Dan and I were thoroughly shaken by all the stuffed pet dogs, including, believe it or not, a stuffed Dalmatian puppy, which was so Cruella De Vil, we couldn't believe it. We had to keep finding things for the boys to look at, in case they completely registered the dead pets and got upset. Oldest grandson is very soft hearted, and it was enough to upset anyone. 

Water staircase at Alnwick

I love Northumberland. It's got castles, superb beaches, lovely clean sea, islands - and not too many people. Of course the reason that there aren't so many visitors is that it does tend to be chilly. There's almost always a cold wind, sometimes straight from Siberia. But as the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing. And you mustn't be sissy - we even saw a family in bathing suits in the sea. They were Scottish, which may explain it. I think I'm pretty good on cold water swimming but I can tell you, I wouldn't even have had a paddle. And it's all relative; I do remember arriving in Norway in June, when the weather was so awful that I thought that it was no wonder the Vikings went to Northumberland, because it must have felt like the Costa Del Sol to them.  

But it's definitely spring. There really are hosts of golden daffodils, not to mention primroses, aconites and even violets, the birds are deafening, and there are lots of little lambs. We found a ewe flat on her back, legs waving vaguely, and did our day's good deed by turning her onto her side so she could get up. In Yorkshire they call a sheep which has got stranded on its back a riggwelter - which is also, not coincidentally, the name of a strong Yorkshire beer.