As usual we were awake
early but unable to shower at 06:00 as there was no hot water. It was well
after 07:00 before I was able to have a hot shower!
A full Scottish Breakfast
at the Black Bull turned out to be very similar to a full English breakfast –
sausage, bacon, egg, potato scone and baked beans. I don’t think these
breakfasts are at all healthy and will be pleased when we have Mabel and the
temptation is removed.
We set off before 09:00
to explore Northumberland just over the border in England and not far to the
south of Lauder. Our first stop was Berwick Upon Tweed, a smallish market town,
where we had a brief look at the shops together and subsequently Jane had a
further poddle while I sat in Smarty and read the Daily Telegraph.
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| Berwick Bulldogs Scooter Rally |
From Berwick we headed
south along the coast to Lindisfarne which is also known as Holy Island. The small
island (~ 4 km2) lies about 3 km from the English
mainland and is accessible by road at low tide via a causeway crossing sand and
mud flats which are covered with water at high tides. The causeway follows an
ancient pilgrim’s path.
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| Lindisfarne Causeway |
Tide tables are displayed
at both ends of the causeway which is usually open from about 3
hours after high tide until 2 hours before the next high tide. In spite of
warning signs and the tide tables we learnt one vehicle is stranded on the
causeway each month. A sea rescue costs approximately £1,900, while an air
rescue costs more than £4,000.
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| Warnings Are Clear Enough |
By 634 a priory was present
on Lindisfarne but was abandoned in the late 9th century. The priory was
re-established in 1093 by Benedictine monks and continued until its suppression
in 1536 by Henry VII. What remains of the priory is open to visitors.
There is also a castle on
the island constructed in 1550 using stone from the abandoned priory. The
castle has a commanding position on the highest point of the island. It was
originally constructed as a fort to defend the island against attacks from
Scots and Norsemen. In later years the castle was used as a coastguard
look-out. In 1901 it became the property of Edward Hudson, a publishing magnate and the owner
of Country Life magazine. He had it refurbished by Sir Edward Lutyens. It is said that Hudson and the
architect came across the building while touring Northumberland and climbed
over the wall to explore inside. The castle remained as a private residence
until relatively recently.
For once Jane was pleased
to find the tide was going to be out when we arrived at the causeway to
Lindisfarne. (Hitherto, it had become a standing joke between us that whenever
we sight the sea in the UK the tide has always been out, much to Jane’s
disappointment). Today we were able to drive over the causeway and stay in
Lindisfarne as late as 16:30 if we wanted to.
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| Lindisfarne Harbour Seen From The Castle |
From the castle we walked
back through the village to the remains of the priory which is looked after by
the Historic Places Trust. A small visitors centre gave us the history of the
priory. In the ubiquitous gift shop attached to the visitor’s centre we had a
tasting of 4 or 5 different meads and selected a traditional, sweet variety.
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| Seals Basking On Sand Bar |
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| Upturned Boat Used As Storage Shed |
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| Priory Ruins |
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| Priory Ruins |
Lunch of local crab salad
rolls bought from a van parked in the car park was eaten in Smarty.
From Lindisfarne we
headed further south to Bamburgh with its imposing castle standing on a hill.
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| Bamburgh Castle |
The castle wasn’t our destination, instead we visited the Grace Darling Museum.
Grace Darling was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper. In the early hours of 7
September 1838, (Grace was 22 years old) looking from an upstairs window of the Longstone Lighhouse on the Farne Islands, she spotted the wreck and
survivors of the paddle steamer Forfarshire on Big Harcar, a nearby low
rocky island. The Forfarshire had been carrying 62 people, it foundered on the rocks and broke in
half almost immediately upon hitting the rocks. One of the halves had sunk during the night.
Grace and her father
William decided the weather was too rough for the lifeboat to put out from Seahouses (then North Sunderland) so they took a rowing boat (a 21 ft 4-man Northumberland coble across to the survivors, taking a long route that kept to
the lee side of islands, a distance of nearly a mile. Grace kept the coble
steady in the water while her father helped four men and the lone surviving
woman into the boat. Although she survived the sinking the woman had lost her
two young children during the night. William and three of the rescued men then
rowed the boat back to the lighthouse. Grace remained at the lighthouse
while William and three of the rescued crew members rowed back and recovered
four more survivors.
Meanwhile the lifeboat
had set out from Seahouses but arrived at Big Harcar rock after Grace and her
father had completed their rescue operation: all they found were the dead
bodies of the recued woman’s children and of a vicar. It was too dangerous to
return to North Sunderland so they rowed to the lighthouse to take shelter.
Grace’s brother, William Brooks Darling, was one of the seven fishermen in the
lifeboat. The weather deteriorated to the extent that everyone had to remain at
the lighthouse for three days before returning to shore.
Those rescued by Darling
and her father were from the bow section of the vessel which had been held by
the rocks for some time before sinking. Nine other passengers and crew had
managed to float off a lifeboat from the stern section before it too sank, and
were picked up in the night by a passing sloop.
As a result of the rescue
Grace Darling became famous, receiving lots of public attention which she did not welcome. She died of
tuberculosis n 1842, aged 26, and there is a suggestion that the pressure of
being in the public eye contributed to her death.
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| Coble Used By Grace And Her father |
The museum was small, it
told the story of the rescue and contained the coble used by Grace. A viewing
gallery upstairs looked out over the churchyard where Grace is buried. We
walked a little way up the road from the museum to look at the outside of the cottage
where Grace was born and then across the road to visit the churchyard and her tomb.
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Grace Darling Museum
|
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| Grace Darling Birthplace |
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| Grace Darling Tomb |
For a while we considered
visiting Bamburgh castle but decided one castle in the day was enough. Instead
we followed the coast road south to Seahouses, a small fishing port. It was
very busy and the temperature had dropped significantly. We decided we had
enough for one day and headed back to Lauder.
We ate dinner at the
Black Bull. Lasagne for me, a burger for Jane.
