I love my camping, I love my camping a lot, no great surprises given that this is my website about camping and all things related, and I get to go on quite a few camping trips because my wife (from here on out referred to as Boudica because she’s definitely Celtic in nature, and because she is my queen), and she allows me the time to go away on these various mini adventures.
Having planned a few dates for this year I thought it was only reasonable
to include Boudica in a few trips as well, the only problem being that she doesn’t like sleeping in the middle of nowhere after walking hard terrain and then eating camp food as much as I do. In fact I’d go as far to say that she really has no interest in it in any way whatsoever. And that’s putting it mildly. So how to include her?
Easy, find somewhere she want’s to go and then book a cottage nearby for a couple of nights. Done!
For the first of what I hope will be many such trips, the Holy island of Lindisfarne was chosen for the reason that it’s a place she has wanted to visit for a very long time, and given that it was her birthday the choice was hers.
We set off on the long drive Friday morning heading north towards Lindisfarne, and just like magic, six and a half hours later we arrived at the cottage we had booked in Belford, a village not far away from our ultimate destination.
There are two pubs in Belford, and by complete accident we happened to choose the one that not only had the best food, but possibly the best beer as well, so having driven for such a long time we filled ourselves with good food and a rather tasty local beer, and once sated we set off back to the cottage for an early night of well deserved rest to get ready for the following days activity.
The Holy Island of Lindisfarne:
The island has a long and fascinating history of occupation and use, but I’m not going to go into much detail about it here, there’s far too much of it to write about in this post. I would recommend a little bit of research about the island though, if you like history, because in terms of British history it is actually quite significant.
Anyway, the day began with travelling across the causeway over to the island, which was an interesting drive as we passed the incredible dune network of The Snook. It’s a huge area of well established large sand dunes covered in Marram grass extending out to the other side of that part of the island.
The road continued on to the village of Lindisfarne itself where we parked up and immediately made our way to a cafe (it was early morning) for a breakfast. Boudica had a vegetarian sausage bap, and I had a kipper roll complete with dripping butter, utterly awesome! After washing them down with a good coffee we headed off to the ruins of the world famous priory.
Being a trained archaeologist I was in hog heaven, loving every moment and examining every aspect of what was left of this magnificent priory. However, this was a place that Boudica had wanted to visit for many years and was probably more exited than I was. As I say, I’m not going to recount it’s history here, there is far too much to do it any kind of justice, and it’s a story that deserves to be read in full, or at least as full as we can given the lack of direct evidence.
Well, after a good look around, and having taken a huge number of pictures we headed out to the Heugh. An outcrop of whitstone upon which the remains of a small fortification and chapel of different periods stand. An interesting spot for sure, but in the distance we could see the intriguing sight of Lindisfarne castle in the distance, sitting atop a rocky prominence and beckoning us onward.
The walk around the bay to the castle was filled with exitement, because as you approach this small but perfectly formed castle you start to appreciate just how beautiful this structure is, and how perfectly positioned it is. It’s definitely not the largest castle in the world, nor is it the oldest, but it has everything you want a castle to have.
In the early twentieth century it was sold to a private owner who had a lot of renovation work carried out, in order to turn it into a private residence. However, all of the work was sympathetically carried out, and despite it being a home (of sorts) it is still very definitely a castle in every sense of the word. For the past seventy years it has been in the hands of the National Trust, so as members of the public we can visit this fantastic place time and time again.
The accompanying garden designed by Gertrude Jeckyll is well worth a look too.
A walk back to the village, and another coffee on arrival, meant that of course we had to visit the Lindisfarne Winery, home of the world famous Lindisfarne mead.
Carrying two bottles of mead and an assortment of other goods we made our way back to the car, unloaded our goodies, and headed back across the causeway to the little cottage we were staying in.
A good meal at a local eatery later and we were ready for bed and a good nights sleep.
Sunday was another day, and another trip to another castle was called for, but this time it was the turn of the mighty Bambugh Castle.
Just a few short miles from both the cottage and Lindisfarne, it was a no brainer to make a day of it at one of the finest castles in the country.
Bambugh Castle:
Once again there is quite simply too much history to satisfactorily go into here, but suffice it to say that the site has been occupied in some form for three thousand years. However, what stands there today is largely a reconstruction of what may have stood there before most of the medieval castle was destroyed during the wars of the roses, and the Keep is the only major structure that remains intact from that period. But there was definitetely a Saxon fortification of major significance on the site that predates the medieval castle, and current archaeological excavations are revealing some of those details. It is also known to be the site of Bebbenburgh, an early saxon kingdom that was the inspiration for the tv series The Last Kingdom.
However, despite the extensive remodelling and reconstruction it remains a stunning place to visit with a lot to see and take in.
Well, after a full day of expoloring Bamburgh castle it was time to head back to the cottage for a well earned pizza, a cuppa, three rounds of Chinese patience with Boudica (who thrashed me soundly 3-0) and a chilled evening relaxing with a glass of wine and a good film.
All in all it was a great weekend visiting a wonderful part of the country and exploring some of the more significant history of the area, and I got to do it all in the company of queen Boudica, who could possibly ask for more?
Not every trip has to be in a tent.
‘Till next time.