Warkworth to Alnmouth Station

On our adventure on St Oswald's Way we had travelled from Mill House Guyzance today, a wonderful B&B nestling close to the River Coquet. St Oswald's Way joins with the Northumberland Coastal Path in Warkworth, a delightful village complete with a 13th Century castle, built on a meander in the River Coquet. We have happy memories of visiting Warkmouth when the children were younger, in particular when we unexpectedly found ourselves at a 'Living history' event; great fun was had by all!

The Northumberland Coastal Path joins with St Oswald's Way on the bridge over the river, with swans on the river and a good view back to the Castle. We eventually managed to cross the busy A1068 and climbed up to a car park; the road then became a track down towards Warkworth Beach.

Our route was signposted left before the dunes and thus before we could see the sea, so I couldn't resist the temptation to take the sandy track into the dunes for an additional 100 metres or so to enable me to see the sea. There is a long expanse of beach here, and the tide was low.

We returned to the route of the coastal path and followed this to the north, around the edge of a golf course and up and down on the inland edge of the dunes. It was pleasant enough walking (and not too sandy, so we made good progress) though slightly frustrating that we couldn't see the sea. Eventually the coastline came into view and we had some nice views south to Amble, southeast to Coquet Island and north to Alnmouth. We walked though a small caravan site; I can't say that I ever find caravans attractive, but at least you can see why these ones are here - they have a super view.

We had decided to stop for lunch just before heading inland, and I also wanted to change my trousers (having put on a rather uncomfortable pair this morning on the basis that the others were all muddy), So it was rather disappointing to discover a number of cars parked at the point where we had hoped to stop! We walked a short distance along the path that continues to the north (as if to Alnmoth, though the River Aln eventually gets in the way) and here we managed to find a place to stop and, yes, I managed to change my trousers.

After lunch we took a stony track inland to a cycle route running parallel with the A1068. There were a few other walkers about including a woman walking slightly in front of us and a family with a know-all of a father - though to be fair he did alert us to the only cyclists we saw on the path, a couple on a tandem. The views to Alnmouth were lovely; unsurprisingly given that we were close to the railway line, it was like the view that you get from the East Coast Main Line, but we had rather longer to admire it!

Eventually, still on the cycle route, we veered away from the main road and towards Alnmouth. We emerged onto the road down to Alnmouth and turned left (I.e. away from Alnmouth) and climbed up to the station. I've been here once before and remembered that there are precious few facilities; I wasn't wrong. However whilst waiting the 45 mins for our train, we sat on a bench next to the ticket office, being much amused by the naivety of the travelling public; the best was an elderly couple who paid more than £80 instead of £17 for three single tickets from Edinburgh to Alnmouth, just to travel first class...

Our train arrived on time at 3pm and we had a good journey home.

Following leg