Belford to Lindisfarne

The Old Vicarage in Belford is a superb bed and breakfast and I was so busy wallowing in the original roll-topped bath that I was almost late for breakfast! That would have been a pity, because the breakfasts are also pretty special. We had kedgeree whilst the other couple staying here had a 'breakfast pot' (a sort of omelette in a pot). The other guests are also walking the Northumberland Coastal Path, booked by Mickledore, who seem to have a good reputation. But we now prefer booking our own holidays, for the flexibility that it brings (splitting holidays in an unconventional way, to fit with what we want and to allow for days in which we travel for half of the day and then walk, or vice versa) as well as for the money that it saves. Carrying our own luggage no longer bothers us, though I probably couldn't manage without the fact that Richard carries most of our stuff.

We left at around 9.30am and went to the Co-Op for provisions for lunch. We then continued further inland, through delightful rolling countryside, climbing slowly but steadily. We passed through Swinhoe Farm, which seems to operate as a riding centre, then we entered woodland and passed Upper Swinhoe Lake. Just at the end of the woodland, we stopped for a break and the other walkers from the B&B came past us. They were therefore just in front of us as we emerged into open heather-clad countryside, and reached the junction with St Cuthbert's Way. They headed left, up towards St Cuthbert's Cave, whilst we stopped for photographs of St Cuthbert's Way and Coast Path signs, separately and together. This was a significant point for JordanWalks because it marked the point at which we had walked every step of the way between Land's End and Scotland, via home in Norfolk. We also photographed distant views to Lindisfarne.

Another couple of walkers came past us and we were leapfrogging them all the way to just above Fenwick - were they like us deliberately walking slowly to kill time until the safe crossing time to Lindisfarne? Now following predominantly St Cuthbert's Way signs and meeting Sandstone Way signs for the first time, we entered Shiellow Wood. This Sandstone Way is a cycling route between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Hexham, and not to be confused with the Sandstone Trail in Cheshire. The walkers I have just mentioned stopped at a nice looking place by a stream, we meanwhile stopped near Shiellow Crag. We had been past an information board about red squirrels and we were now sitting close to a squirrel monitoring station, which a man came to inspect while we were eating our lunch. They think that there are only red squirrels in this part of the wood, but there are greys nearby so they are vigilant. We didn't see any squirrels at all!

We continued through and then alongside the wood, with occasional sections that were familiar from when we walked St Cuthbert's Way, though, inevitably, the trees were taller! The other walkers had stopped under a tree on the way out of the wood, we stopped at a bench at a junction on the straight section of road leading to Fenwick - and watched a woman walk up towards us then run back downhill, then walk up towards us, then run back... I have no idea what she was doing.

In Fenwick we remembered to post a couple of letters we had carried with us all day, then we continued across the A1 and up through Fenwick Granary. The other walkers from last night's B&B are staying at Fenham Farm this evening; this means they have a very short walk today but we saw signs to Fenham Farm, presumably down by the coast, and it looks idyllic. We were so busy discussing this that we missed a turning up a track; fortunately we realised before we had gone too far.

We reached the coast at around 3 pm and the official safe crossing to Lindisfarne was not until 5.25 pm. We expected to be able to cross before that (though not by way of the Pilgrims Route across the sands, and on foot we weren't even sure about the causeway); there was an ice cream van parked in the little car park by the causeway, and its driver was telling people he was going across at 4.30 pm. We walked down to the water's edge, marveling at the number of people who were driving to this point rather than stopping at the car park, then we walked inland on Cycle Route 1 to The Barn at Beal, conveniently located for those waiting for the crossing (though for those on foot it would have been better if it was even closer and not up a hill!)

We enjoyed local Doddington ice cream (our first on three walking holidays in Northumberland this year) followed by tea and coffee. We sat outside, and my camera on full zoom enabled us to watch cars queuing for the crossing, and then - soon after 4 pm i.e nearly an hour and a half before the official safe crossing time - some cars edging their way across. Most didn't go then, so presumably the water was still quite deep.

We left the Barn at Beal around 4.30 pm and by the time we got back to the causeway, cars were flowing in both directions. We had decided to use the causeway for this crossing, partly because this is the official route of both St Oswald's Way and St Cuthbert's Way (and we used the Pilgrim's Route at the end of St Cuthbert's Way) but more especially since we would have felt we needed to wait longer before heading off on the Pilgrim's Route, and we wanted to get to The Manor Hotel in time for dinner!

Walking across the causeway is not as good as walking across the sands, but it was still an enjoyable walk. Close to the mainland end (before the causeway and the Pilgrim's Way diverge) there is a little bridge over the main channel "South Low" and on a sand bank just by this there was a seal. Later on, we were able to walk to one side of the causeway for much of the route, and on the approach to Lindisfarne we cut off a corner across the sands, which was lovely.

We walked up into the village and found the Manor House Hotel. Accommodation on Lindisfarne is difficult, and expensive, and the Manor House Hotel (where we also stayed last time) is probably as good as anywhere with single night availability. As last time, we had a distinctly boring room on the back of the hotel, but you can't beat the hotel's location, right next to the Priory and with stunning views from the front of the hotel to the harbour and the Castle.