Two go to Alnwick, part three–Lindisfarne and Bamburgh

Finally, the last part of my holiday report! On the Wednesday we went across the Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island, but I prefer the older name). It’s joined to the mainland by a tidal causeway, and the tides weren’t brilliant the week we were there, so we had to be up and off fairly early. The wind was still howling round, and even an hour after the causeway was advertised as passable, there were a few inches of water over the road, but we made it.

We parked up at the main car park in the village, and walked up to the castle. It’s a lovely little castle, old but converted into a country home by Edwin Lutyens at the beginning of the 20th century. It’s furnished in the Arts and Crafts style, which I love.

The route round starts in the kitchen, with this lovely fireside settle with a cupboard in the back – functional and cosy.

The dining room is part of the old fort – the vaulted ceiling supports the gun battery above. The oval table was designed for the room.

One of the bedrooms, with this lovely crewel work cover on the bed.

And one of a pair of wall cupboards.

A sofa covered with William Morris fabric.

The light from the windows does odd things when you can’t use the flash, but you can just about see on this photo the curtain poles, which swing out at right angles to the window, so the maximum of light comes into the room through the small windows. This is a feature throughout the castle.

Another bedroom has this lovely little washstand, with a tank for water at the back and a bucket for waste water underneath. If anyone’s ever read Lorna Hill’s The Five Shilling Holiday (1955), there’s a detailed description of it in there, I was thrilled to find it still there and exactly as described!

The doors have beautiful Arts and Crafts latches.

Some of the bedrooms are somewhat cosy – as castles go, it’s on the small side!

Outside the castle are three sheds made from upturned boats.

Coming out of the castle, we could look down the coast to Bamburgh.

And back towards the village and Priory, which was our next stop.

The pillars are similar to those in Durham Cathedral, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.

And lastly for Wednesday, the view from the Priory back towards the castle.

On Thursday, our last full day, we went up the coast again, but to Bamburgh this time.

Which has a castle on a much grander scale!

One of the first things we spotted inside was this spinning wheel, with the flyer in a very strange place! I did try to tell the room guide, but he was deep in conversation with other visitors, and I couldn’t get a word in. So presumably it’s still confusing non-spinners even more than they already are!

The castle was restored in the 18th and 19th centuries, being completed by Lord Armstrong of Cragside fame, but it had previously been owned by the Forster family, which was a little odd as we were staying in a house in Alnwick previously owned by Dorothy Forster.

The hall has this amazing roof.

There’s a slightly more intimate area at one end of the hall, which used to have huge doors to shut it off. It’s still huge by any normal standards though!

Some of the passages show the ancient origins of the castle.

As do the walls!

The sand dunes and beach from the castle walls.

And this is the reverse of the earlier photo – Lindisfarne from Bamburgh this time!

Bamburgh’s other claim to fame is as the birthplace and home of Grace Darling – this is her tomb in the village churchyard.

We stopped off in Seahouses for an hour on our way back.

Which has a working harbour.

And a shop selling everything you could possibly need for a day on the beach.

On the Friday we headed home, stopping off en route for an hour with the lovely Stephanie, and more fish and chips in Tynemouth (yum). So that’s in for the photos – I hope you enjoyed them, normal crafty service will now be resumed. Well, as soon as I make something – I’ve finally finished with the baby knits for the time being, both lots being handed over this weekend, so I’m hoping to get my teeth into something more interesting very soon. Oh, and I’m off to Wingham Wool Work for the day on Tuesday, so I’ll report back when I get home after that…