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The weather is fine and forecasted to be okay for a boat ride on Thursday out to the Farne Islands.

Today we head down to Low Newton . . . we were there last night too for a lovely meal at the dog-friendly Joiners Arms

First a few extra pictures from Beadnell itself.

Our home for the week - wonderful Beadnell Court B&B on the harbour front . . . they do a great breakfast too !

Our bedroom suite includes all the usual facilities

but also a spiral staircase behind the folding screen.

That takes you up to the upper floor of the tower

where, if you have a head for heights, you can look for

"Boats carrying long lost loved ones returning to harbour".

alternatively you can people-watch, or simply sit and read.

The head-for-heights bit comes into play on the way back down !

From bedroom windows you get a view over the harbour but unfortunately the lime kilns obscure Dunstanburgh Castle.

The clear view can be seen from the upper tower windows at the top of the stairs but neither of us took a photo this time !

- - - o o o - - -

A short, local walk after breakfast is the one out to Ebb's Nook.

This is the headland that faces east and has the remains of a 700 year old religious settlement at its highest point.

It is thought to be associated with St Ebba, who was a 7th century Anglo-Saxon princess.

When the Northumberland kingdom converted to Christianity, Ebba became a nun and the first Abbess of Coldingham in Berwickshire.

The path from the harbour joins the old tramway to the kilns but then continues onto the headland, passing the newer housing development.



On the seaward side of the embankment . . .	. . . the sea air seems to benefit the flowers.



Birds foot trefoil	Close up of the colourful michaelmas daisies

Chilling out amongst the buttercups.



Dylan spots a fast offshore boat in the distance.	The final part of Ebb's Nook is sloping rocks dipping into the sea.

Back at base and getting ready to go out.

I would say it was 'lunchtime' . . . but our breakfast was so good that we didn't need any lunch.

Our beyond the moorings two local gentlemen are working their lunch hour . . . trying to catch their supper.

Ready to go !

St Mary's Church, Low Newton . . . we've often passed by but never explored inside this unusual building.

What a surprise . . . the late 19th century corrugated iron building is beautifully lined in knotty pine.

Despite its age it has a modern feel in the form of altar clothes and backdrops.

Interestingly it has benches that can be reversed by swinging the backrests. The hall is used for village meetings as well as church services.

The last time I saw reversible chairs was on the Mumbles Railway where the benches could be reversed to suit the train's direction.

On the walls were many pictures of the church in times past.

. . . of Low Newton village in times past.

. . . and of the village congregation of times past.



An old tree stump has an ecumenical wood carving.	The 'kissing' gate at the entrance to the church.

Unusually it has an extra vertical hinged bar on the end of the swinging gate.

By lifting and rotating the final vertical section the gate reduced in width and could be opened wide to give unrestricted access.

No kissing there then !

	- - - o o o - - - The old photo you've just seen above shows a coastguard building at the top of the hill behind the church. Now with an larger radio mast and no doubt a new coat of paint the build still stands equally imposingly on the hill today. Our walk started at the church and walked through the fields out to the local headland. - - - o o o - - -

With the full expanse of Beadnell Bay opening out ahead of us

we walk out onto the headland through prime Northumberland agricultural fields of grass and cereals.

On the stone wall and fence this meadow pipit has found a tasty morsel for lunch.

The sandy bay at the end of the Low Newton headland . . . known as Football Hole.

Click here or on the photo above for a wider Loweswatercam panorama.

" I've been in for a swim ! "

Close by a raft of eider ducks paddle across the bay.

Six ducks and three ducklings keeping a sensible distance from the breaking waves.

Harry and Dylan relaxing after a bit of a run around.

After the recent easterly gales there's plenty of seaweed washed up on this part of the bay.

" A study in form " . . . a smooth but discarded crab shell amongst the coarse sand and seaweed of the water's edge.

On the distant rocks what at first sight looked like penguins.

[ Screw your eyes up and imagine you're looking from 50 yards away ]

In reality someone had managed to balance large but very thin boulders on their sharper ends in the shallow indentations of the rock

then perched a tiny pebble on the top . . . the stuff of art galleries. [ Beadnell village is in the far distance by the way.]

Ann sits on a small cliff edge where the rock type changes.

Like Ebb's Nook, the headland has harder rock strata that dip away into the sea.

Classic sea pinks (thrift) growing in the salty environment.

Out on the end of the head is an old wartime radio station.

Now superceded by the main coastguard mast, it has taken on new life as some sort of commercial accommodation.

There were several cars in the yard and some clothes hanging up to dry on a domestic washing line on the other side of the building.

In the background, the distant outline of Dunstanburgh Castle . . . built on yet another rocky headland of volcanic rock.

Back to the more natural features of this headland . . . more thrift and yellow trefoil on the edge of the hay meadows.

A photo dilemma . . . do I prefer to focus in on the flowers or the distant castle.

Hold your cursor over the picture to make your mind up.

Ann and Harry enjoying the coast path.



The Coastguard house seen over the flower meadow.	Further round, Dunstanburgh across Low Newton Bay.

Down on Low Newton bay itself . . . distant oyster catcher and closer damp retriever.

Bigger than a mallard but smaller than a goose . . . the shelduck

Male and female have similar bold markings (but the male has a darker head) which makes identification easier.

A black headed gull

The RSPB site notes six different types of plumage for this breed of bird . . . this one is probably sporting "late teenage summer colours".

At the head of the beach in Low Newton is a three-sided quadrangle of fishing cottages.

They were built by the estate owner in order to give his farm workers accommodation and access to an alternative income from fishing.

Nowadays the fishing fleet has gone . . . but the cottages remain and are all in use in one form or another.

Several have lovely flower displays and No 7 is the local National Trust warden's office with lots of tourist information.

Importantly the larger one in the corner is The Ship Inn

For a change we chose something hot rather than alcoholic.

Back 'home' at Beadnell harbour at the end of the day. The Football Hole walk, though a shorter walk today,

was the final missing link, as we've now walked all of the coastline from Craster to Beadnell over our various Northumberland holidays.

- - - o o o - - -

Thursday we had a day planned on a boat trip out to the Farne Islands . . .

	Sadly the easterly winds had increased and the bad weather arrived sooner than forecast. Like the BBC Springwatch team found recently the sea and general weather conditions were such that the boats out to the islands had to be cancelled. This arctic turn on the Beadnell Bay nature reserve signified a 'turn' in the weather for the next few days and our visit to the puffins was not to be.

We concluded our day with a rather windy and sometimes damp walk across Beadnell Bay to the river,

on the opposite side of which a colony of turns had set up home on the beach.

Protected by the notices and the RSPB reserve staff who camp out in the dunes, this is one of the more unusual tern colonies of northern England.

- - - o o o - - -

Tomorrow we brave the weather and head north to St Abb's Point, to the rocky headland of the English/Scottish border country.

- - - o o o - - -


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