Northumberland has the finest stretch of dog friendly coastline in England if you ask me. Miles and miles of sandy beaches and barely any dog restrictions – what more could you want? Every time we visit we try and explore at least one new beach. On our last trip we picked a random spot on Google maps which we’d never heard of before: Cheswick Sands.
Cheswick Sands: Plan B
I must confess that Cheswick Sands wasn’t the random spot on the map we originally picked. That was Goswick Sands, which had great reviews and promises of parking at the nearby golf club. Cue our arrival and a nice ‘golf club patrons only’ sign at the entrance to the car park. Plan B required! Some people might have braved it but I am extremely British in my disinclination to break the rules. I’m sure my guilty conscience would’ve given me away immediately and I’d have been told off by an angry golfer.
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Five minutes and some frantic Googling later, Sam unearthed a promising alternative 5 minutes away. Cheswick Sands is a lovely sandy beach which has a small parking area at the end of the road. Arriving on Sunday lunchtime I was worried it might be busy, but our decision to avoid popular hotspots paid off. That’s the one of the best things about the Northumberland coast – although there are some undeniably popular spots, there are still plenty of quieter beaches too. And, seeking out those quiet places doesn’t mean compromising on the quality of the beach.
A quiet beach for a crazy spaniel
It’s a short walk over the dunes to get to the beach itself. It’s not too taxing, although I did ski down the final dune somewhat. I don’t know why I always forget how deep dry sand can be! Merry assisted me in my descent by furiously throwing himself down the dunes with as much gusto as he could muster while still attached to his lead. That’s a lot, in case you were wondering.
The tide was well on its way in, but there were only three other dog walkers on the beach when we arrived, so there was still plenty of space for everyone. We turned left and walked down to the end of the beach, and when we turned around to walk back, everyone had disappeared: even better. Looking at the map it seems like you could make a circular and walk back behind the dunes, but the dogs were having such a great time we decided walk back down the beach so they could stay off lead. Although, I partly regretted that when Merry ditched his ball in the sea and promptly left it there. As I’m keen not to litter and it was a reasonably pricey ball, I ended up staging a daring rescue. Who needs dry feet anyway?
Saved by the drying robes
We spent about forty minutes on the beach just walking up and down. Being somewhat overcast we didn’t get many views, although we could see Berwick along the coast. While it doesn’t have the vast sands of our favourite, Budle Bay, it’s a lovely beach for a dog walk. There was a lot of gleeful zooming around from both dogs after spending the day on the lead at Cragside the day before. So much so that they were both sopping wet and covered in even more sand than normal – I was extremely glad to have their dressing gowns in the car! We always get our drying robes from Ruff & Tumble – you can save 10% on your order with code PAWS10. Not only are the dogs usually 90% dry by the time we get home, they’re great for getting the worst of the sand off too.
Dog friendly rating: Cheswick Sands
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This beach is dog friendly all year round and quieter than many of the other beaches on the Northumberland coast. It’s an easy walk there with no stiles to worry about, and there’s a bin in the car park. There was no livestock, but dogs should be on leads in the dunes to protect wildlife. There’s not much in the way of facilities, but who needs fancy cafes when all you want is to let your dog run off some steam?
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