Northumberland :: part II

Ahhhh you know what?? I Very Ever-so-much Hugely Enormously DO Like to Be Beside the Seaside!!!!!! And today's post is all about just that....welcome to my Northumberland Tales part II :: in which we Explore All Things Beachy and Seasidey.

This is a tale of three Northumberland beaches and three essential holiday activities :: rock pooling, beach combing and sand/sea fun.

 

Just a short stroll from Driftwood, through the wooden gate, the grassy field gently slopes down to the right and gives way to a rocky, pebbly beach. It was a lot of fun for the likes of us, with our eager, inquisitive Little People. Most days you would find us here at low tide, stepping and jumping from rock to rock exploring the rock pools. 

The usual suspects were to be found there of course :: limpets and barnacles, sea slaters and shrimps, fish and anemones. But these little sea creatures, as fascinating as they are, did not quite cut the mustard this year with the Little People. No, it seemed they wanted more exciting specimens to wow over and they searched high and low to find them. It became a Daily Quest. And I am happy (relieved) to tell you, they were not disappointed.

 

First up for discovery were a couple of rather large crabs, they were as big as your hand and quite something in the eyes of the Little People.

Much excitement.

 

A few days later and this amazing starfish was discovered sitting beautifully in a clear pool, waving it's thirteen amazing legs gently in the water....and oh! The Excitement Factor was pretty damn large here, let me tell you. A real, live, genuine star fish, just imagine that!!! Can you really believe it?? I certainly have never seen anything like it before and was just as excited, it really was awesome. And beautiful, very beautiful.

We all LOVED that particular rock pool event.

 

And then the following day, what next but a Jellyfish...oh oh oh, a Jellyfish, yes a real, live, genuine jellyfish!!!! The Excitement Factor was pretty much off the scale for this one. It made the small crabs and one solitary shrimp of last years' rock pooling escapades seem so insignificant in comparison. There followed much debate as to what to do with the jellyfish, which looked very out of place in it's little rock pool. Another family came to see, and it was jointly decided by the Little People of both families that Mr Jelly should be scooped up into a red bucket and released out into the sea.

We all rejoiced as the jellyfish was saved, such thrills and spills to be found down on the rocks don't you know.

 

I do really enjoy a good pootle around the rock pools, but I am also a very accomplished Sitter. I like very much to select me a warm, flat rock and sit myself down with legs outstretched to relax and just Be-by-the-sea.

Sitting. Breathing. Taking it all in.

The Little People however will not, under any circumstances, be persuaded to Sit down on the beach. Not ever. They are perfect examples of Perpetual Motion. Here on the rocky pebbly beach, they choose to Throw. Pebbles get slung and hurled towards the sea, bouncing and ricocheting and splitting off the rocks. An elaborate scoring system is set in place, with points being awarded for the number of times a pebble bounces, and an overall score given for distnace achieved. J is the Judge.

I continue to Sit. And breathe. And take it all in.

 

Another day and another beach :: this large, open, fabulous beach is at Boulmer, and you may remember me mentioning it to you when we discovered it last year. It always seems so empty and windswept and fabulousy wild when we choose to visit. Plus, its the bestest beach for beach combing that I think I've ever come across.

And  Beach Combing is my number one favourite seaside activity, I love it even more than Rock Pooling and Sitting.

Little Man is a huge asset on any beachcombing expedition, he is fabulously enthusiastic, and very very keen to out do me on the treasure-finding front. He gets right down on his knees to be as close to the beach as possible (can you spot him in the above photo?) and he does indeed find some wonderful treasures.

Shells and seaglass and sea-washed pottery :: I never, ever tire of finding and collecting these treasures.

We found a good selection of seaglass this year, including some very prized unusually coloured bits. I found the deep blue piece and the amazing reddy-orange piece too. Little Man discovered the patterned yellow piece there, and oh bless him, such an excited ta-dah moment when he proudly presented it to me. Heart-melty stuff.

Northumberland is the only place I've ever discovered sea-washed pottery, and I absolutely love, love, love it. Possibly more than seaglass, although crikey, that's a hard decision to make. These pieces were found on three different beaches and I find them so captivating, so sort of heart-warming and comforting somehow. I love to think of the journey these little fragements have been on :: that they were once a treasured part of someones home before being discarded and abandoned to the elements, smoothed and washed and tumbled by the sea for goodness knows how long, and now finally back into a home to be loved again. Sounds quite romantic, doesn't it?

I'm not sure quite what to do with them yet, but I'd like to make something mosaicy out of them I think....ooooo another project in the piepline to give me the Excitable Heebie-jeebies!

That's Dunstanburgh Castle you can see on the horizon, it's about a mile and a half walk from where we stayed in Craster. On this day last week (cor, was it only last week????) we were not sure quite what the weather was going to do as it was warm but windy, with a lot of very fast scudding clouds. But we decided to set off to walk the familiar walk to the ruins in the mid morning, carrying a packed lunch, a flask of tea, a blanket, swimming costumes and a towel, and hoping it would stay dry for us.

The ruined castle is in a magnificent position and the views up and down the coast in each direction are stunning. In previous years when the Little People have still had quite Little Legs, we have walked to this castle to rest and recuperate before turning around and heading back to Craster again. But this year, with Little Legs seeming a little Longer and Stronger, we decided to carry on walking past the castle to follow the footpath to the sweep of Embleton Bay :: you can see it in the above picture, curling round in the distance.

And as we got nearer to the bay, the sky began to look very good indeed. Clouds were still scudding and the wind was still blowing, but more and more blue was appearing and the sun felt warm and inviting.

This is a most glorious, unspoilt beach :: vast and sandy and backed by sand dunes and grasses.

The view back across the sands to the ruins of the castle was beautiful....

....as was the beach itself. So summery looking! The sky so blue! The clouds so perfectly white and fluffy! It had really turned into the most perfect summers day for whiling away a few hours doing sea and sandy things.

We set out our blanket at the foot of the grassy dunes and ate a simple packed lunch in the midday sun. Then while us Oldies drank our tea and nibbled chocolate biscuits, the Littlies busied themselves racing up and down to the waters edge for some excited screeching and paddling.

There was also lots of sand activity to be carried out :: in the absence of buckets and spades, they improvised and used their hands.

Tunnels were dug, hands and feet were buried.

And all the while I was able to Sit. And Breathe. And take it all in.

It was, quite simply, a perfect seasidey day. Lodged in my memory to be savoured and treasured.

So............................there you have it.....lovely as ever to have you with me today as I strolled about the beautiful beaches and riveting rockpools of the north eastern coast, you've been great company.

See you tomorrow for Part III, in which we Visit Historical Buildings and Magnificent Gardens.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Comments

[Linda Kristin]

Love, love, love your "beech treasores"!

[lucy]

You were right, your Northumberland beaches are amazing.
I didn't get enough of our Norfolk ones, and am going back at the end of the month for some more!
That starfish looks like a little crochet inspiration to me x

[Patti Smith]

I do not know what to say.....The pictures are heart-wrenchingly beautiful. It is so gorgeous there! I love the sea glass and the bits of pottery. I could imagine myself combing the beaches for these pieces. I live near Lake Michigan in the US, but I have never found any treasures as neat as yours. Looks like a picture perfect vacation. Thank you so much for sharing. I am really touched by the beautiful photos.
Patti S.

[Anne Bebbington]

That's the glory of Northumberland beaches, solitude - none of the crowds that head down to Cornwall and the rest of the south

[Sarah A]

BEAUTIFUL!!! THe sea glass and pottery simply amazes me- I had never heard of any of it until I started reading your blog. I dont know that you would EVER find that here in the US!! Looking forward to tomorrow!