Longhoughton, Craster and Howick. (Northumberland) May 28 th

 On the first dry and warm day of May, or so it seems, five of us are repeating a John Clarke walk that has not been done for a couple of years. It follows a route by the coast and in the country, starting at the village of Longhoughton in Northumberland. To get to the start either follow the Northumberland Coast route on the A189, the scenic route, or take the A1 to Alnwick and head east.

The five are; Harry, Dave, Brian, Margaret and me.

The walk is covered by OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble.

Two views of the car park at Longhoughton. Not the prettiest but free. It is behind the village hall which used to be the local store and NAAFI for the nearby Boulmer RAF base.

We left the car park and turned left but then just as quickly turned left again and walked towards the farm at Low Steads. Beyond the farm is a small parking area but we turned through a gate on the left at the farm and walked across fields of crops to join the coastal path.

Heading north we were soon at Sugar Sands, noted for the fresh water spring that enters the North Sea here. Considering the amount of rain that has fallen recently it was a surprise to find the spring a mere trickle.

             Top the beach at Howdiemont Sands and bottom the mysterious spring is somewhere here at Sugar Sands.

Walking north we past Iron Scars, Howick Haven, Rumbling Kern and other delightfully named places. At Cullernose Point we paused to watch the Kittiwakes nesting on the cliff, no chicks visible yet though.

                           Kittiwakes kingdom

Continuing north we soon reached Craster village and called a Herbie, making comfortable use of a couple of benches overlooking the harbour. Today's sharing was apple pies, almond slices, savoury cake and sweet cake from Mrs A.

                           Craster Harbour and a memorial plaque

Herbie time over we continued north towards Dunstanburgh Castle but before we reached it turned left across a field to walk behind the Heughs back to Craster.

                     Dunstanburgh and the Heughs.

The path behind the heughs arrives in Craster at the visitor centre, closed at the moment because of you know what. From there we took the footpath through woodland before crossing fields to Craster South Farm. More fields and a footpath to the car park at Howick Hall. From here we followed the road south for a short distance before entering Greenseat Wood and taking the footpath across fields and in front of Howick Hall. Part of the footpath is a concrete strip, laid across a meadow.

                                 Sheep safely grazing in the shade

                 Howick Hall, home of the Grey family of tea and reform.

The footpath reaches Howick Grange and after a short walk on the drive we were on a road, turned right and soon turned left through a gate. The footpath is not marked but follows the edges of a couple of fields, a short strip of woodland and back to Longhoughton.

                            Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2021.

The walk is about 9,5 miles, easy going and considering recent rain, mud free.