The last walk of 2019...…….  December 20th
  And we are going to Craster! All five of us, Brian, Ray, Harry, John Hampton and me.
Maps: OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble; OS Explorer 340 Holy Island.
Head north up the A1, turn towards the coast  just beyond Alnwick and follow signs.
The car park, on the right as you enter the village, is next to the information centre and costs £4 for a whole day. Utilising the old quarry it was empty, apart from our car.

Craster car park.  The young lady who gave the BBC North East weather forecast promised us that rain would sweep up from the south by lunchtime. This, plus the facts that it was a cold grey day probably accounts for the empty car park.


Breakfast at the Shoreline Café, almost as empty as the car park, we were the only customers at this friendly little café.

                           Well worth a visit, good coffee, tea and bacon
Having fed we headed down the road towards the harbour, walked round the edge  and into the fields which are about a mile from Dunstanburgh castle.

                    Craster Harbour, as empty as the car park. A few turnstones were doing exactly that on the edge of the water.

              Dunstanburgh Castle. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster started to build the castle in 1314. Little remains but the solid looking gatehouse. Run by The National Trust and English Heritage it now has a new information board just inside the gate in the fence. It gives a potted history of the construction and history of the fortress.
Beyond the castle we followed the coastal path on the edge of the golf course, watching out as requested for flying golf balls but there were few players out.

             We walked past the famous anticline which had a sentinel today.

                       WW2 pill box. During the war the castle was "refortified" Anti tank ditches were dug as were several gun pits. A minefield was also laid.
Leaving the path on the dunes we walked down to the beach and, almost alone, strolled round the edge of the sandy Embleton Bay to Low Newton by the Sea where we stopped for a Herbie.

              The square of fishermen's cottages at Low Newton. The pub in the corner has its own micro brewery and the restaurant frequently gets a mention in the heavy papers "where to eat" columns.

                Herbie time and bird watching at Low Newton. For lunch, apart from soup or sandwiches, we shared  Titans. Granola and cheese canapes from Mrs A. 
The birders saw oyster catchers, wagtails, long tailed ducks and eider ducks, plus others.
Usually in this area we visit the bird hide which overlooks the Newton Ponds but the path to it was deep in water so we gave that a trip a miss, walked a short distance on the dunes before joining the coastal path through the settlement of small wooden summer houses, around the edge of the golf course and taking the footpath to Dunstansteads.
At Dunstansteads we turned left and walked along the concrete track on the edge of the fields. Rumour says the track was laid for WW2 tanks but where were they going?
The track passes a Lime Kiln;

                             One of the many lime kilns in Northumberland.
On the other side of the track is a pill box which appears to be made of sand bags....

                           Pill box of concrete sandbags.
At Dunstan Square we decided that as the day was getting gloomier we would cut bthe walk short and headed across a field to the path through the Heughs which leads back to the Craster car park.
Changed we headed for the Ridley Arms in Stannington, not far north of Newcastle. Four hand pumps, one of which was Tyneside Blonde so good it went down well.
This walk is about  8 miles. And the young lady was wrong, it did not rain at all.

                   Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2019.