Northumberland Coastal Path – September – 2023

It had been five years since our last walk of any length. This hiatus had primarily been due to the Covid-19 catastrophe and the subsequent lockdowns. We were now both in our seventieth year, but we were still keen to do some longer walks. And The Northumberland Coastal Path was a good fit for us. It’s just over 62 miles and hence a reasonable gauge as to whether we could still do it. In addition we used a firm, Shepherds Walking Holidays to fix up the accommodation and the baggage transfer.

The train journey from Stoke-on-Trent was straightforward – one change at Derby, and embarking at Alnmouth, a small station between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed. A cab was waiting for us to whisk us to our accommodation in Warkworth.

The Northumberland Coastal Path doesn’t correspond with the coast of Northumberland. The Path’s southern terminus is Cresswell, some eighteen miles north of the border between Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. And indeed, Scotland doesn’t start for a couple of miles north of Berwick. We were tempted to start at Whitley Bay, just inside Tyne & Wear to satisfy our obsessive instincts. But we haven’t done a long distance path for over four years, and the package provided by Shepherds Walks made the Cresswell to Berwick option so straightforward.

We were staying at The Sun Hotel In Warkworth, and our first impressions were that it seemed a bit musty and drab. But our second floor window looked over the magnificent castle. Indeed we crossed the road and walked around Warkworth Castle, but it was too late to explore inside. We found a path down from the castle grounds to the River Coquet, and the path followed the river around the skirts of the village to St. Lawrence’s Church. From here we climbed back towards the castle and The Sun Hotel, stopping for a pint in the Masons Arms.

In the evening we ate at The Jackdaw, a quirky mix of gift shop and restaurant. We were the only ones eating there; it had the feel of being invited to eat in someone’s home. We both had lemon sole with seasonal vegetables which was very good. We chose a French rosé – Pays d’Herault – a sub-region of Languedoc-Roussillon around Montpeliers and Béziers. It was awful – far too sweet! Ah well. We polished off our meal with meringue and ice cream and ended up chatting with the owners – a local lad and his lady from the Scottish Borders. They wished us well with our planned coastal walk and remarked that the weather seemed to be set fare – for the next couple of days at least.