Our Northumberland Holiday

We moved on from Arran on Saturday 6th October, and had to be on the harbour at Brodick for 07.50 to check in for the 08.20 departure to Ardrossan.

The MV Caledonian Isles at Brodick

We landed at Ardrossan at 09.15 and after refuelling at Morrison's at Kilwinning we then set off across country, heading eastwards through Border Country to Peebles, which is approximately half way along our journey. We usually arrive here about dinner time, and call for a meal at the Ramblers Restaurant, which is situated in a long established family department store.

Afterwards Dot will head for the shops she likes and I will head for the Charity Shops! We usually meet up about a couple of hours later and then continue our journey eastwards.

The Bridge Inn and church steps (Peebles)

Peebles High Street

Peebles High Street (opposite direction to the previous photo)

Leaving Peebles we travel through some beautiful countryside and pick up the Tweed Valley Tourist Route. The valley is extremely fertile and there are many Garden Centres in it. Some of the well known Seed and Bulb Catalogue firms are to be found here.

We usually arrive at Waren Mill (Cove Cottage) at about 4.30 - 5.00 pm

Cove Cottage

The Kitchen and Lounge are upstairs and occupy the whole length of the building.

Cove Cottage - Kitchen

Cove Cottage - Lounge

After unpacking and settling in we usually drive the three miles down to Bamburgh, and are greeted with this amazing view as we crest the hill and head into Bamburgh.......

Bamburgh Castle

We then head for a meal at either the Castle Inn or The Victoria Hotel. Both are situated on Front Street which runs parallel to the Grove - a triangular village green with trees and the village well at the southern end of it.

The Victoria Hotel

The Castle Inn

The village well (or pant)

On Sunday we drove down the coast to Seahouses - the point of departure for boat trips to the Farne Islands. Seahouses has a busy harbour, with boats always coming and going. Then a little further south to the picturesque village of Low Newton by the Sea. In the square at Newton is the Ship Inn, and we always make a point of calling here for a meal at sometime during our stay in Northumberland. All the properties in the square are owned by the National Trust. The square itself is open on one side, and this side gives access to the beach.

Low Newton by the Sea - The Village Square

The Ship Inn

The Ship Inn has its own micro brewery and produces three different ales. They are all mouthwatering. It also produces its own beer mats, so beer mat collectors rate their beer mats as "highly collectable!"

Ship Inn Beer Mat

Low Newton by the Sea - The Beach

Being a Sunday there is not much open, so we drove up to Beal, which is on the approach road to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and called into the "Barn at Beal" for a late Sunday Lunch. The "Barn at Beal" is an example of a farm diversifying. The barn has been converted into a superb restaurant, and we have called here for meals many times.

The Barn at Beal

After enjoying a very tasty and filling Sunday Lunch we went back to the car and I remember saying to Dot as I got in it "Goodness me its hot in here!" On turning on the ignition this is what met my eyes.......

Yes! you are reading that correctly - 23.5 degrees and on Sunday 7 th October 2012!

Monday we spent on Holy Island, Tuesday we visited Low Newton by the Sea, and then drove on to Alnwick, and having visited Alnwick Garden and Alnwick Castle many times, we gave them a miss this year, but I called in at "Barter Books" which advertises itself as "probably the biggest second hand book shop in the British Isles." It is housed in what used to be Alnwick Station. A large scale model railway runs around the tops of some of the bookcases

On Wednesday we visited Belford, which is a small village which has an inn called The Bluebell, which used to be a staging post where the horses were changed many years ago. Then we drove on to Wooler, which is the gateway to the Cheviots - the range of mountains which you see on the skyline as you look inland from Lindisfarne. We finished up at Kelso, which has some lovely ruins of one of the Border Abbeys. From the Millennium Viewpoint you can get a good idea of the layout of Kelso.

The large square tower is part of the ruins of Kelso Abbey

The bridge over the River Tweed and the spire of the North Kirk (to the left)

Millennium Park alongside the River Tweed

On Thursday we travelled to Melrose, which has a lovely ruined abbey where the heart of Robert the Bruce is reputed to have been buried. There are also the Priorwood Gardens which are run by the National Trust for Scotland. They specialise in dried flower arrangements made from the flower and herbs they grow. They also have an orchard of "Apples Through the Ages" which grows many ancient varieties of apples.

Melrose Abbey

Melrose Main Street

The Eildon Hills

Nearby are the Eildon Hills, where Sir Walter Scott's horse which was pulling his funeral cart is reputed to have stopped, because every time Sir Walter rode this way he stopped his horse to admire the view.

One of our favourite eating places in Melrose is Russell's which is at the top of the High Street. They serve traditional Scottish food beautifully prepared and cooked. The minute you have drained your coffee cup, Colin, the owner will appear and refill it, as many times as you want!