I always take the 21st September as the equinox. Some say it’s a day or two later but I’m a creature of habit. However, I branched out a bit for breakfast, ordering kippers smoked at Craster, a village just up the coast from Warkworth, and our goal for the next day’s walk. And it was an exceptionally tasty break from habit!
A taxi, arranged by Shepherds Walks Holidays, took us south to Cresswell and we would be spending the day walking north back to Warkworth. And it was a beautiful day. The start of the official Northumberland Coastal Path (NCP) starts at an ice cream parlour in Cresswell. It was closed at 10.00a.m. towards the end of September, but even so, it’s a good idea for a start/finish venue!
Immediately we had a choice to make – take the footpath through the dunes or improvise on the beach. We chose the latter, and the majority of the day’s walk would be along the sweep of Druridge Bay – about 7 miles. The sand was firm, so the going was good. And tide was on the ebb. We headed a little inland to cross a creek which was spilling into the sea with too much gusto for us to risk a leap across. This was just south of the hamlet of Druridge. From here, we followed the path on the dunes for a while, but the path was very narrow, undulating, and exposed to the westerly wind. We soon descended back onto the sand.
At the north end Druridge Bay we skirted Hauxley Nature Reserve to the hamlet of Low Hauxley. From here we followed the dunes to Amble and its breakwater and jetty. This little detour out into the Coquet estuary brought us to Amble’s smart, renovated Harbour Village with eateries and many small businesses. The restaurants looked as if they would require serious time (and money!) and we were keen to return to Warkworth to visit its castle before it closed.
It’s only a couple of miles from Amble to Warkworth, mainly on a path squeezed between the busy A1068 and the Coquet. On reaching the castle, we proffered our English Heritage cards to discover that they were from September 2020! We hadn’t been issued with a new membership card for three years despite regular annual payments! We were admitted when I showed the lady in the booking office details of the direct payment from my online banking. We enjoyed exploring the castle and its grounds – impressive not only as a defensive construction but as a place of habitation for a family of status and wealth.
In the evening, we had intended going out to the Masons Arms for a bite to eat, but laziness or tiredness got the better of us. We just tumbled downstairs to the Castle Brew House which seemed to be an integral part of the Sun Hotel. The food was very good (we both had fish) and the service was faultless. The music was a bit intrusive; we’ve reached an age at which background noise makes it difficult to hear one another. And we’re too self-conscious to resort to shouting.
