48 Hours in Northumberland

We spent last weekend back up in Northumberland – Sam had signed up for a run on the Saturday, so we travelled up on the Friday afternoon and made a mini-holiday of it. Rather than staying in one place like we usually do, we spent Friday night near the coast and Saturday night near Haltwhistle, in Hadrian’s Wall country. This gave us a great opportunity to really experience the contrast between the different areas of Northumberland – coast, countryside and history: it’s got it all.

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Seahouses beach

A trip to the beach is always a great way to start a visit to Northumberland: the coast here is absolutely stunning and you really can’t go wrong, whichever beach you choose. It’s also a nice quick stop if you’re en route to your accommodation, and especially great for tiring the dogs out quickly so they go straight to sleep! We decided this time to stop at Seahouses beach: Seahouses is a bustling little town with lots going on, but once we hit the beach there weren’t many people knocking around at all. It was definitely starting to feel autumnal with a very chilly wind and I was glad I had my hat and coat on! I did see several people still wearing shorts and walking down the beach with bare feet though so maybe I’m just a cold person…

Dog friendly rating – 4/5. Seahouses beach is dog friendly year round and popular with both locals and visitors: for this reason I’ve just knocked off one point as it can get busy at peak times. The harbour at Seahouses is also the departure point for many of the wildlife cruises which visit the Farne Islands and Northumberland coast – Serenity tours allow you to take your dog on some of their trips too! Dogs aren’t allowed to disembark (no pun intended) on the Farne Islands, and must remain on board with the crew. We’ve never tried this as it would probably be a bit too much for our dogs, but it’s great that there are companies like this out there which mean that dog friendly days out are that much easier.

Paxton House

The next day we were up and out bright and early to head over to Lindisfarne, for Sam to set off on the Pilgrim’s Way. My original plan after waving him off was to walk around Holy Island, but the wind was absolutely bloody freezing, so I changed my mind and chose instead to have a nice sedate outing to Paxton House. I hadn’t actually realised that it was in Scotland until I drove past the ‘Scotland Welcomes You’ sign just outside of Berwick! Luckily it wasn’t too far and as I arrived the sun came out, and the wind died down long enough for me to enjoy a quiet mooch around the grounds with the dogs. Entry for an adult to the grounds is £6: make sure to take a photo of the map at the entrance as there’s not much else to go on in terms of finding your way around!

There’s a large estate with a network of paths to explore, but as I wanted to get back down to the coast to cheer Sam on later in the day, I stuck to those nearest the house. There were plenty of plants to admire, still clinging doggedly to life which gave the grounds a very non-autumnal air. From the house I eventually meandered down to the old waterwheel – one of the last working waterwheels in Scotland, you can watch demonstrations of the wheel in use on certain days of the week (check their website for details). There’s also a children’s play area (which I by-passed) and cafe, which were the only places I saw any other people.

Dog friendly rating – 3/5. Dogs are welcome to explore the grounds with you at Paxton House, and we had a pleasant walk around the outside areas. It was very quiet, with a rule for all dogs to be on leads, so this was perfect for Coal: I knew we weren’t going to be surprised by any ‘over friendly’ off lead dogs, and it was quiet enough that I could always get away if I saw a dog and owner coming towards me. The Paxton House website says that their stables tea room is dog friendly, however, there’s a big ‘no dogs except guide dogs’ sticker right next to the door to go in, so I am assuming they mean dogs are welcome in the outside seating area. As I was on my own and didn’t want to leave the dogs tied up outside I decided to give the cafe a miss, and instead headed back down to the coast to grab some lunch from Bait at Beadnell.

From here I popped to the Marks and Spencer in Alnwick to stock up on snacks and settled in for an evening of dot-watching in my pod for the night (this time staying at Henshaw Huts near Hadrian’s Wall – possibly the best breakfast welcome basket ever with milk, orange juice, scotch pancakes, bread and a choice of cereals and porridge waiting when I arrived).

Walltown Crags

After a somewhat lazy start (having got in not far off 1am), we decided to do a very short walk before heading home. Our recent trips to Northumberland have all been focussed on the northern half of the national park around Wooler, with the odd day here and there at the coast. Consequently, I felt a bit like we were neglecting the rich history around Hadrian’s Wall and the south of the national park. We settled on the short walk in our Pocket Mountains guide around Walltown Crags, a short drive from where we were staying (I can’t find this route online, so you’ll have to make your own route up or buy the guide – there are a few different way marked routes at Walltown County Park).

There’s a fairly large pay and display car park at Walltown Country Park, as well as a small shop/information centre and free to use toilets (always a wonderful sight). We set off at a brisk pace, expecting to get around fairly quickly, only for me to promptly take us in the totally wrong direction by following the yellow way markers for too long and ending up back where we’d started in the car park!

We set out again (Sam navigating this time) and in no time at all we were passing through a kissing gate onto the grassy hillside, where a short but steep climb brought us face-to-face with Hadrian’s Wall. No matter which part of the wall we are visiting I’m always awed by the history which it gives off in waves: you can really feel the age and endurance of the wall.

Like much of the ridge which the wall follows, the path here is undulating and in places uneven underfoot: you do get good views of the surrounding countryside to go along with this. We walked as far as Turret 45a which is one of the highest watchtowers on the wall, and where one of the stones uncovered by archaeologists even lists the names of the men who built the tower!

Dog friendly rating – 4/5. There were quite a few other dog walkers following the different routes around the park, with plenty of them letting their dogs have a run off lead (including one very exuberantly bouncy Labrador who very much wanted to be our friend, poor Coal). Once along the wall leads are needed as both sheep and cows graze along the Hadrian’s Wall Path and you may come across them on your walk. We didn’t pass any places for the dogs to have a swim, but we also didn’t have to clamber over any stiles – which is probably higher up my list of desirable factors for a walk!

After a stop at the tower to enjoy the views, it was back to the car and then home for us. But like every time we go to Northumberland, we know it won’t be long before we’re back.

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