Northumberland (Waren Mill) Holiday 2009 - Part One

On Saturday 26th September we crossed Scotland from Ardrossan and headed to Bamburgh in Northumberland. Or to be more precise, Waren Mill, [Yes! That is the correct spelling!] This is two miles North of Bamburgh. We unloaded the car and settled in to Cove Cottage – the same self catering accommodation which we had stayed in last year.




Then it was down into Bamburgh for a meal at the Victoria Hotel, at the top of the village green. Dogs are welcome here, so Ruby accompanied us.

On Sunday we did the coastal run from Bamburgh down the coast to Seahouses, Low Newton by the Sea and Warkworth.

Driving south from Waren Mill, you eventually come over a crest on the road and round a long sweeping left hand bend, and then suddenly before you Bamburgh Castle is revealed in all its glory. It’s a view I say that has the “Wow!” factor.

Warkworth is a picturesque village situated in a loop in the River Coquet. It has a pretty main street with flower lined cottages,

the remains of a magnificent castle at the top of the high street,

and an old church in Dial Place.

On the way back we called in to Alnwick and visited Barter Books, which is probably the largest second hand bookshop in the British Isles. I have visited the bookshop many times, but have failed to get Dot to go in, however this year she went in and was most impressed. She spent as much time looking at the selection of books as I do! Barter Books is housed in what used to be Alnwick Railway Station

We also spent some time hunting a small hamlet where the author and blogger Judith O’Reilly lives. It is as a direct result of reading Judith’s blog that I started doing this blog. She is the author of a book called “Wife in the North” which was taken from her blog. The book was a best seller last year, and I bought a copy of it when we were up in Bamburgh. This year it has been translated into German, and has reached number ten in the German Bestseller Lists. There will be more about Judith (who kindly invited us to join her for a coffee and cakes whilst we were up in Northumberland) and her family, later on in the blog.

She wasn't the only literary person we met. We attended a performance of "A Winter's Tale" at the Maltings Theatre in Berwick and met up with one the the actors after the performance. Our second week really was a culture with a capital K week! I will explain all in a later blog!!!