Seahouses, not Sea Horses

Our time at the River Breamish site had come to an end, we had enjoyed our stay and the area. We were looking forward to the next part of our ‘Up The East Side Tour.’

Our next site was not far away in Seahouses, so our journey there was straightforward. Provisions were getting low again, so we needed to go somewhere with food outlets. I’d read and heard much about Alnwick, so it was felt this would be a good place to stop for shopping, sightseeing, and the necessary coffee.

The drive to Alnwick was easy and uneventful. We looked for a parking place and by coincidence found Morrison’s. It had a car park, but not the usual size. I drove the motorhome into the car park and soon found out that there was no chance of parking. The car park was too small and as it was a Saturday morning, far too busy. I managed to negotiate my way out and set about looking for another option. Thankfully, I saw a sign for a ‘long stay’ car park, which I followed. It took us to a large area of what looked like a wasteland, which was hidden away with ample room to park Sheldon. We parked up and were delighted to see that there was also no parking charge.

Our bits and pieces (shopping bags etc) were gathered together and we set off to do some sightseeing and have the needed coffee. The town was a delight, with its walls, numerous historic buildings, and shops. Coffee was taken and we set off for Morrison’s to get the much-needed shopping. This was done, bags packed and the walk commenced back to Sheldon. On arrival back at the motorhome, I left Margaret to unpack the bags and make us some lunch, while I took Jerry for a walk.

After lunch, we set off to find our campsite which was near Seahouses. The journey took us past the magnificent ‘Alnwick Castle’, known for its role in the Harry Potter films. It looks amazing as it dominates the northeastern side of the town. I wanted to get a photograph, but stopping places were limited and none were sadly suitable for Sheldon. So, we passed by continuing on our journey, guided by our trusty sat-nav. Again, the journey was straightforward, until we got too within just a few miles of the site. When the aforementioned ‘trusty sat nav’ in its wisdom decided to take us down some single-track roads, which proved most ‘interesting’.

We arrived at the site (Westfield Paddock Touring Caravan Site) www.westfieldpaddock.co.uk and found our pitch. The site was small but ideal for our needs. It had no facilities, other than the essentials - electric supply, water tap, waste disposal, chemical disposal point, and refuge bins. Soon we had settled in and took the opportunity to sit out in the sunshine. We were, as the saying goes, ‘happy campers!’ We were looking forward to our stay at Westfield Paddock, which was to be longer than any of the other sites we stayed on (7 nights), giving us a plentiful opportunity to explore the local area and relax.

The following day, was a lazy day interspersed with eating, relaxing, catching up on our YouTube viewing, and dog walking. It was a pleasant and enjoyable day. On our second full day at the site (Monday), we decided to walk into Seahouses. As you leave the site, you have a beautiful panorama of the coast, from Seahouses around to Bamburgh, its castle and in the distance, the Farne Islands. Seahouses is just over a mile from the site, but the walk takes you down the road which goes past the site. Whilst, this road was far from busy, we did feel vulnerable walking down it as it was quite narrow in places. After, about half a mile, you were able to walk on pavements which were a lot more enjoyable and safer. It’s strange how even the simplest of things, which I suspect most of us take for granted, (like pavements), can make you feel safer. I guess these strange COVID times have made me more aware of safety in so many ways.

Eventually, we arrived at Seahouses, which is a small bustling seaside town offering boat trips to the Farne Islands. Most of the town is Victorian having been established in the late 19th century as the result of the creation of a harbour and railway branch line. Seahouses or North Sunderland, as it was also known, was at the end of the line. The harbour and railway link helped it grow and fishing became its principal industry. As more housing was needed and built, they became known as ‘Sea houses’ and so the town's name became established.

Seahouses Harbour

On our visit, it was very busy and I must admit, we didn’t feel particularly comfortable. We looked around, visited some of the shops, and looked for somewhere to have lunch. Lunch was taken and we set off for the return walk to the site. Google maps, offered us a slightly longer alternative way home, which we decided to follow. We walked along the delightful coast path next to the dunes onto a sign which took us up a narrow road to the hamlet of Shoreston and then onto the site. The road was narrower than the road we had taken to Seahouses but was thankfully much less busy. It was a pleasant stroll uphill and we were able to enjoy the surrounding scenery. We arrived back at Sheldon and relaxed outside once more.

Sadly, we had to write the next few days off, due to inclement weather - strong winds and heavy rain. We caught up on some more TV viewing, read, ate, and repeat. It’s strange when you’re away that just with a change of scenery/location you can be happy just to sit and watch the world go by enjoying nature in your new surroundings. That's one of the things we most like about getting away in the motorhome and retirement, you don’t have to be on the go all the time. You have the time to savour what’s around you, because you are no longer time-limited, by your annual leave entitlement.

Eventually, the weather improved and we decided to take a trip out. It proved to be a very enjoyable day. We left the site, drove through Bamburgh, along the magnificent coastline and onto the A1 (the Great North Road). At this point, the road is never far from the Northumberland coast and you see tempting vistas of the coastline, including Holy Island. Holy Island is beautiful. You access it via a causeway that floods at high tide. The Island is steeped in history, with a Castle and Abbey. It has the usual cafes and tourist shops. It’s a fine destination, but not our destination on this particular visit. Instead, we continued further up the coast to Berwick Upon Tweed.

Berwick Upon Tweed is itself a very historic town with its own walls (which are still largely intact). From a previous visit, I remembered that there is good parking near the centre of town and next to the walls. I eventually found the car park and was a little alarmed when I saw that it now doubles up as ‘The COVID Testing Station’. However, on the day of our visit, this wasn’t open so we were able to park Sheldon with comparative ease and safety (he’s a big beast to park). We set off to look around the town and do the mandatory sightseeing, but this was interrupted by a coffee and tea cake stop - very enjoyable. The town visit was enjoyable, but sadly like so many places, Berwick seems to be suffering from the effects of COVID. A number of shops were empty, and those which were open clearly had a reduced footfall (although numbers were building up when we left around lunchtime).

We walked through the town and eventually came to the River Tweed, from which the town shares its name. At this point the evidence of Berwick Upon Tweed’s fishing past and present were evident. The Tweed here is very near the sea, and it not only has access to the fishing grounds off Northumberland coast but upstream it is also a well-known salmon fishing river. We were entertained for half an hour at the quayside with evidence of this happening in front of us. Across the river, a number of folk were gathered around a rowing boat, with what was a large net. Two of the men rowed the boat with the net across the river and then returned in a large circle back to the other side. Once this was done, the other fishermen started to haul the net back in. It was too far across the river to see what the catch was, but I believe it was a small haul of salmon. Evidently, this was once a very popular way of fishing in Berwick Upon Tweed, but now there is just one family who is licensed to do this. We, therefore, felt very privileged to see this happening and it was most interesting to observe.

It was getting near lunchtime so we returned to Sheldon. The car park had filled up, so we decided to move on to somewhere quieter and a bit more ‘scenic’. We traveled around and eventually found ‘The Spittal’ which is an area that overlooks the sea. It has a beach, cafes, a promenade, and a car park which was large enough to accommodate Sheldon. The kettle was put on and Margaret prepared lunch. We sat in the van relaxing, taking in the scenery, and enjoying our sandwiches. After lunch, we decided to take Jerry out for a walk along the promenade and explore this part of Berwick. The sun was now out and people were enjoying the beach and sea. The walk was delightful and was capped off with ice cream. Eventually, we returned to Sheldon and relaxed a bit more before setting off back to the site at Seahouses. We’d had a great day out and once more felt like ‘holidaymakers’. The return journey was uneventful and we were soon settled back at the site.

Our time at the Seahouses site was now almost over. On the Friday, we walked once again into the town. We did a brief bit of exploring, had an outdoor cup of coffee. But soon returned to Sheldon as Seahouses was once again very busy. Our time in the area had been very enjoyable. The mix between relaxing and doing things had been good - we were liking the idea of ‘slow travel’. There was no rush for us, time was on our side and it felt good. Even the ‘mixed’ weather wasn’t bothering us. But now it was time to move on. The next morning we got Sheldon ready and set off on the next phase of the journey, crossing the border into Scotland.

But that my friends must wait until the next blog.

Thank you for spending some stephentime9.

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PS In case you're wondering, about the title of this blog.

The title 'Seahouses, not Sea Horses' comes from two sources.

The first of these being that the spell checker I use, doesn't recognise the name 'Seahouses'. Instead, it offers the alternative 'Sea Horses.'

Now in some ways, this is not an inappropriate alternative as the blog has 'Sea Horse' associations. If you've read the blog of 5 June 'Let Me Introduce Sheldon', you'll realise that our shower has embossed 'Sea Horses' on the shower walls. This is the second reason I chose the title. Sea Horses are now a theme in Sheldon our motorhome. To find out more about this just click on the link below. Thank you.

www.stephentime9.com/post/let-me-introduce-sheldon