Life in the slow lane

Alnwick is a bit inland, and perhaps because of this it was oppressively hot last night and I didn't sleep well.  I was wide awake at 5 am so I got up and waited for breakfast, which didn't start till 8 am.  I got chatting to an old Geordie lad who had been all over the world and as a retired chap was making full use of his bus pass to travel all over Britain.  He told me of strange cross-breed rabbits he'd seen on Holy Island which have rat's tails.

Leaving the youth hostel eventually and passing over the same large hill, I had the pleasure of swooping down to the coast and having to apply the brakes on entering a 30 mph zone, for the little village of Alnmouth.   An exciting coast track soon followed, very varied with a few short pushes through deep sand and some quite steep ups and downs on questionable surfaces, but the changing views justified the effort and the slow progress.

Then it was the fishing village of Craster with a café that seemed to attract cyclists.   A Dutch couple were finishing a circuit from Newcastle across the Pennines, North via Arran and Skye to Inverness, and back down the East coast to Newcastle.  He had a well-laden bike trailer but they seemed to be enjoying the rough stuff.

The next town, Seahouses, must have been the tourist centre of Northumberland.   It was crammed with gift shops, chip shops, adverts for boat trips to the Farne Islands (which I guess were the real draw), and even a Northumbrian piper.  I wasn't able to tell the difference from Scots pipes but I took a picture and moved on.

The impressive Bamburgh castle was next, with a small, classy set of shops and eateries.  I met a group of young cyclists, one of whom had broken his chain a few miles back.  They had taken turns to push him up the hills to Bamburgh, hoping there would be a bike shop, but no such luck.  With my multitool, the chain was shortened and fixed, to their eternal gratitude.

My next stop was Holy Island, maybe 5 miles by crow but a rather boring 17 by bike.  Holy island is reached by a tidal causeway, perhaps to stop the rabbit/ rats escaping.  Dire warnings told you not to cross until the appointed time, which was 16.25 today. I planned to pass the two hour wait sitting in the cafe that was bound to be there, writing a few postcards and having a lazy lunch/ tea.  Huh.  Anyway by about 15:30 the causeway was visible, if wet, and all the waiting cars decided to cross.  After a while I followed.

The island is a giant nature reserve with a small village at the far end.  There's the ruined Lindisfarne priory (English Heritage) and Lindisfarne castle (National Trust - closes 15:30).  Plus an exhibition about the Lindisfarne Gospels.  Also a pub, so I went there.  Well I was short of time and as Mark commented earlier, hydration is very important when cycling.

After Holy Island it was only a short hop to Berwick, but the coastal character changed from sand dunes to rocky cliffs.   Who knew Berwick is a walled city? I didn't.  In the youth hostel, I got a Scottish £5 note in my change.   Scotland tomorrow ...