Exploring :: Northumberland #3 ... Alnwick Tree House & The Garden Winter Light Trail

Hi there everyone 😀

We are back to our big day out in Northumberland for today's post. 

Continuing with our Monday road trip ... having already taken in Beadnell, Craster and Alnmouth ... we were finally at our last stop in Alnwick.

We were booked in to eat at The Tree House and then we had tickets for the Alnwick Garden Winter Light Trail and we were all really excited. Martin and I had been to The Tree House before, but that didn't make it any less special and for Lesley and Tom it was all new ...

It just looked totally magical ...

The fairy lights were just starting to twinkle as we made our way along the wooden walkway to the restaurant ...

Once inside it was even prettier ... with lots of wood, plenty of twinkling lights and a roaring log fire ... it was also lovely and quiet ...

We had a lovely meal and by the time we were ready to leave to head to the garden it was properly dark and even more twinkly ...

It was only a short walk to the entrance of the garden and we were soon in and ready for our last adventure of what had been a lovely day ...

The light trail was really well laid out, with no real clue as to what would be coming next so there was a real sense of anticipation as to what we might find around the next corner ...

... and there were certainly plenty of oohs and ahhhs going on ...

Through our meanderings through the bamboo and tree lined paths we ended up in the walled garden ...

... before heading down to the sycamore tree ... which really reminded me of the tree of life in Avatar ...

We headed back up to the top of the garden ...

... before making our way down through the cherry trees ...

...which was hard going on the creaky knees, but at least we got to have a sit down at the bottom ...

We were on the home straight now ...

There was the just grand finale to go ... which did not disappoint ...

Oh ... I beg your pardon ... there was just one more thing 😂😂😂

We were so lucky to get to see the gardens ... when we'd tried to book on line there were no tickets available, but when we called about something else, the kind lady managed to squeeze us in. If we'd left it until the following day we would have been out of luck as the gardens had to close as a result of Storm Barra heading in.

What a day we'd had ... we were all shattered and just about ready to head back to Cuthbert's cottage for the rest of the evening, but we did make just one more stop on the way.

It was a lovely clear night so we pulled in alongside the road in Seahouses, by the coast, for a spot of stargazing and whilst there was plenty to see it wasn't really that photographable ... but those dark clear skies really do show how many stars there are actually up there.

We finally headed back to the comfort of Cuthbert's Cottage to see what Storm Barra would have in store for us on Tuesday 😀

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Exploring :: Northumberland #2 ... Beadnell, Craster & Alnmouth

Hi there everyone 😃

It’s time for the second instalment of our break in Northumberland ... back at the beginning of December. We’d had a lovely steady day staying local on the Saturday, with a nice walk into Seahouses. 

On Sunday the weather was shocking and we spent a day just chilling out in Cuthbert’s Cottage, before enjoying a lamb roast dinner. We’d done the lamb in the slow cooker using this Good Food recipe and it was absolutely delicious. This photo is pre Yorkshire puddings (of the Aunt Bessie variety) and gravy (of the slow cooked home made variety) …

We spent the evening, in our comfies, sat at the kitchen table, working our way through this 'Puzmat' game, and we were thrilled to say we managed to solve all of the puzzles and find the final solution ...

The forecast was better for Monday and we had a big day out on the cards … but not before a big breakfast to see us through …

We started off with a drive along the coast heading south. There were plenty more signs of the devastation caused by Arwen, with lots of damaged roofs, fallen trees and fence panels. We even came across a touring caravan than was pretty much just a pile of torn up metal.

Our first stop was Beadnell Harbour where we had a walk along the beach … dodging the seaweed, which we weren't sure whether was normal or was a result of the storm ...

To say it was a bit wild and bleak was an understatement ...

... but we were more than ready for the cold ...

We were heading for the old lime kilns and the small harbour ...

Once up off the beach we had a wander along the harbour wall ...

... and right out to the end ...

... for some great views of Dunstanburgh Castle in the distance ...

The wind was biting out on the end of the harbour and we didn't hang around long before making our way back to have a closer look at the old lime kilns ...

From Beadnell we headed to Craster where we started with a walk along the cliff path towards Dunstonburgh castle …

… before retracing our steps and having a wander round the village …

... taking in the sights ... and smells ...

From Craster we were off a bit further down the coat to Alnmouth, where I wanted to stop and capture the view of the pretty coloured houses across the river estuary …

We had a bit of a pitstop in Alnmouth ...

... and a drive down over the golf course to have another look at the sea ...

From Alnmouth we were heading off to Alnwick for our last stop of the day. We were booked it to eat at The Tree House, followed by a visit to the Alnwick Garden Winter Light Trail, but I think I'll tell you about that in my next post 😀

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Exploring :: Northumberland #1 … Cuthbert's Cottage & Seahouses

Hi there everyone 😀

I'm still playing catch up with my blog posts but at least I'm moving in the right direction.

At the beginning of December we had a week away with Lesley and Tom planned. We were off to Northumberland and due to stay in a very nice looking cottage. We were all really excited and looking forward to getting away.

It so very nearly didn’t happen. The week before we were due to go ... the area was hit badly by Storm Arwen, which left 1000s of homes with no power … including the holiday cottage that we were supposed to be staying in.

We hung on ... really hoping that the power would be back on in time for our break but the day before we were due to go there was still no confirmed time that it was expected to be sorted. We decided to cut our losses and were lucky enough to be able to switch our booking to Cuthbert's Cottage in North Sunderland, a little village just outside of Seahouses ...

After a long and tiring journey on a wintry Friday afternoon we arrived to be greeted by a warm and welcoming cottage … every room having the ‘wow’ factor … and it wasn’t long before we were unpacked and settling down for the first night of our week away.

We decided to stay local on the Saturday and actually had a walk into Seahouses for a look at a very calm sea in the sunshine ...

There were some fabulous views to be had ... of the Farne Islands ...

... and Bamburgh Castle ... now I pretty much fell in love with Lesley's iPhone on this holiday, as you will know ... but when it comes to a long distance shot ... the phone camera really is no match for my old Lumix. These are the views across the bay to Bamburgh Castle ... taken with the Lumix ...

... and the iPhone ...

It looks like it's definitely not quite time to retire my old camera just yet.

We had a good wander round the harbour …

... spotted plenty of bird life … we were reliably informed by a group of old fellas having a chat that these were eider ducks …

... and took our first stack of selfies, which did become a bit of a thing whilst we were away ... and for selfies ... you definitely can't beat the phone ...

We did have a quick call in the pub for a sit with the crossword before heading back to Cuthbert's Cottage for our chilli, which I’d made ahead and brought with us. This is the view of the cottage from the road as we walked back ...

It had been a nice steady, bright and breezy day ... just what we all needed after our week of uncertainty as to whether we would get away and our long and tiring journey.

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