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Mid-June is Puffin time on the Farne Islands.

We've been out on Billy Shields boats to the Farnes on several occasions but always in September rather than the summer.

We've booked five June nights with Russ and Carole at Beadnell so that perhaps this year we can see a little more of the colourful bird life

and also enjoy the beaches and social life that a stay at Beadnell Court can bring.

Beadnell Court . . . complete with 'Rapunzel's Tower' which was ours for the duration of our stay.

The courtyard . . . full of flowers and 20 white doves (16 out of picture)	The lime kilns are now home to lobster pots and fishing gear.

Beadnell and its famous lime kilns.

There are still several working boats in the harbour . . .	. . . including this traditional Northumberland Cobble.

On the back of the harbour is a fine set of lime kilns which the notice says you shouldn't climb for fear of death.

I feel lucky today . . . the sun is out, the sky is blue and I'll watch where I'm placing my feet !

Looking down on Beadnell Court . . . Carole is there, waving as she starts to hang out the washing.

Russ has forgotten to set up the washing line . . . so he sets to and solves the problem.

Ann has the dogs in the car for some reason . . . and our fellow guest is fixing her electric bike onto the carrier before she sets off for the day.

- - - o o o - - -

The reason of course is that we are on our way out for a walk once I get back down to earth . . .

Welcome to Bamburgh.

The sunshine of Beadnell has disappeared, to be replaced by sea fret, the mist that floats in from the cold North Sea.

The cold conditions cannot dampen the colour of these poppies in the dunes at the side of the road.

With the poppies are lupines . . . which are a 'colonising' crop.

They have a very basic metabolism that can survive on poor and sandy soils and are a first crop in many an oceanic environment.

Our walk started on the northern outskirts of Bamburgh . . . the ancient capital of Northumbria !

	- - - o o o - - - For our trip today we picked a walk from John Tait's book, but we would walk it in reverse which deferred our gratification of seeing the landmark castle to start, opting instead for a short country walk and then an approach from the north. - - - o o o - - -

At the end of the half mile road walk we branch out onto the Northumberland Coast Path.

This takes us toward the splendidly named Spindlestone Heughs and Brada Hill.

The footpath cuts through some rather nice flower meadows.

Passing alongside Shada Plantation, a rock outcrop in the trees to the right.

Flower meadows turn to a cereal crops as the path crosses between two delightful hawthorn trees.

On the top of the rise the path meets the minor road that serves the now abandoned Brada Quarry.

The roadside verges are full of flowers such as this red campion.

A fine conversion of old buildings in Budle village now provides holiday accommodation for visitors.

The track heads on down to the shore at Kiln Point, the kiln being in the earth mound at the shoreline.

On a pile of abandoned slate sat a small rabbit . . . hoping that if he stayed still he wouldn't be noticed.

He stayed long enough for me to get the camera out but dived through a hole in the wall once he saw the dogs approach.

Down on the beach at Budle Bay . . . this is part of the Lindisfarne Nature Reserve.

This estuary is an important feeding ground for coastal birds, especially on the mud flats and sandbanks that are exposed at low tide.

At the head of the bay is Waren Mill . . . there has been a corn mill here since the 12th Century but the mill has closed.

The present buildings, dating from the 1780's, have been converted into luxury holiday accommodation.

We head out along the sandy coast . . . heading back towards Bamburgh.

Round the first corner, at a place called Heather Cottages, is an unexpected large permanent caravan and chalet park.

There was also a substantial pier jutting out into the bay.

In the dunes there were the remains of some heavy industry . . . presumably a throw-back to some old stone quarrying.

Along the way we had passed many delightful flowers . . . here's a selection . . . a yellow flag iris.

A wild rock rose of some description, growing on the sand dunes.

A colourful broom plant . . . with an unusual orange and red colouration.

Other small but beautiful violet coloured Bird´s eye speedwell

. . . and in places, quite a number of early marsh orchids

[ My thanks to Helmut for his assistance in identifying these last two ]

Above the pier stands a wartime gun emplacement . . .

. . . minus the gun.

However if you waited a few moments

you could see the Master appear on wide-screen television . . . right before your doggy eyes.

The footpath followed a well-graded track around the headland.

Looking down on Budle Bay as the sea fret swirled in and then cleared.

Lindisfarne Castle is out there to the right, occasionally we caught a brief glimpse of it though the mist.

A male Stonechat sings his heart out from the top of a gorse bush . . .

His raucous chattering attracting a female on a nearby thorn bush.

The footpath takes on a more formal track appearance as it crosses the local golf club.

Away to the side in the mists of the golf course, three lesser-chequed male putters parade on their home turf.

The colour is returning and the atmosphere becomes lighter as the sea fret starts to clear.

The path crosses the golf course . . . follow the markers.

They missed the bit about 'good golfers always' . . . offer free tea and coffee to passing visitors    ;o)

From Budle Point on round to Blackrocks Point . . . taking a lower path once the golf course was behind us.

Looking down on the squat lighthouse at Blackrock Point.

Close up of the lighthouse that we've only seen previously from Bamburgh Bay.

In the forecourt another old wartime gun emplacement.

The literature hinted at more shapes in the wall but I either needed more time or more imagination to find them.

A wider panorama looking down on Stag Bay and the curved Harkness Rocks

as Ann and the dogs walk down onto the sand below.

The origins of the painted stag are "lost in the mists of time" . . . though many stories exist as to how it got there.

It has been freshly restored . . . with the "brilliant white" paint of the lighthouse would be my guess.

It is real enough to confuse the dogs who went over and started barking at it !

We've met these wartime concrete anti-invasion blocks before.

These two have been painted to look like dice.

This year two more have been painted, this time like Rubik's Cubes.

Four more to go . . . any more ideas to stimulate the local artists ?

Walking along the main Bamburgh beach . . .	. . . there should be a castle here somewhere.

We cut through the dunes, doubling back once to collect Harry who had taken a wrong path . . .

. . . and ended up at the old parade ground, now a sports ground at the foot of the castle.

The centre square was set out for cricket but there was a serious game of croquet in progress on this side of the green.

Bamburgh Village . . . now with several tourist shops and refreshment places.

There was a chill in the air as the afternoon drew to a close and the sea mist hinted at returning.

Top of the village . . . the Victoria Hotel . . . flying the Northumbrian red and yellow flag.

A famous daughter of the area . . . she lived on the Longstone Lighthouse with her family where her father was the light house keeper.

Grace Darling became famous after the rescue of the passengers of the Forfarshire one stormy night in 1838.

Sadly she died of tuberculosis in October 1842, aged just 26.

Her heroism that day, and that of many other boatmen around the coast of Britain at the time

eventually led to the formation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . . . the RNLI

Bamburgh is home to their Grace Darling Museum

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