A whistlestop trip to London for Damian leaves me two days in Newcastle on my own – the city is swarming with visitors, but the wonderful Geordie accent is alive and well. I venture out for walks around the city a couple of times, just to stretch my legs. This is easy to do if you’re staying by the river, and need to get to the city centre – VERY steep climbs. My only photos are of two of the seven bridges that cross the Tyne…

The Tyne Bridge………………..

……….and the Millenium Bridge.

Damian returns and we sneak in a concert with the fabulous Unthanks at Mowden Hall School – a thirty minute drive west of Newcastle. Seating capacity of the school’s theatre space is 150 and it was sold out. A small venue definitely makes for a more intimate, memorable experience.

Anyway – back to walking. The next day we return to Northumberland for two nights in the coastal village of Seahouses, Coming out of the local co-op after foraging for sandwiches, we stop to investigate what looks like an improvised installation in aid of a volunteer fund raising group for the RNLI – it’s a bit tatty.

We walk down to the harbour – Seahouses has a long history of fishing and the industry is still thriving. It’s great to see so many working boats, moored next to the quay.

The village also offers boat trips to the Farne Islands, another nesting spot for puffins and a string of other protected seabirds. The islands are uninhabited but have had their fair share of hermits over the ages, including the famous St.Cuthbert of Lindisfarne but that’s another story. A long line of people are queueing up on the harbour wall opposite us, waiting to board the boat.

Moving south, we join a minor road and then into what are marked on the map as Annstead Dunes, part of yet another nature reserve between Seahouses and Beadnell.

There is access to the beach if needed but we swerve the soft sand. One young man has put up a small tent on the beach – I don’t think camping on these beaches is allowed, unlike in Scotland where wild camping is not a problem, so maybe he’s just a day tripper.

Back to the road again we walk though the village of Beadnell, around its harbour with its splendid (now disused) lime kilns and out into Beadnell Bay. Past a holiday camp and on to Newton Links, where another beach worthy of a prayer awaits.

Nobody here!

Still on St.Oswald’s Way we round Newton Point and soon we are looking down on the beach at Low Newton. Here the beach is busy – why? There is an access road, a carpark , a shop and a pub with the most delicious lager.

Distance: 9 miles