A birthday in Bamburgh

We had another fun-packed agenda lined up for today, but first we had to celebrate Carole's birthday!

Judging by all the cards and presents she had to open, we were never going to be out early and breakfast was delayed whilst she worked her way through them all.

Carole also got to decide the itinery for the day, and her choice was Bamburgh, just higher up the coast from our cottage, to see the castle and the beach. The castle sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea and was recently a finalist in ITV's competition 'Britain's Favourite View'.

First of all we took the tour of the castle, which although interesting, wasn't what we expected is as much a stately home than a castle these days. I also got in trouble for taking photos (I genuinely hadn't seen the signs!). After leaving the castle, we had lunch overlooking the beach and once the early threat of rain had eased, we ventured out for some sea air.




Although the sun was out and the beach looked fantastic, at this time of year the best pictures of the castle are taken either really early in the morning or late in the evening, neither of which particularly appealed. Nevertheless we managed to get some good shots.

The beach is long and wide, and for July, very quiet too. We stayed on the beach for a good while, first of all trying to throw a frisbee and then checking the rock pools for sealife. The only things we found though were the occasional jellyfish left behind by the tide.

Once the tide was starting to come in again, we decided to drive down the coast to Seahouses, another popular holiday town. Here it's possible to catch a boat out of the small harbour to the Farne Islands, where thousands of seabirds including puffins live. We chose nothing so dramatic, choosing instead to watch the boats and sample the local ice cream instead!

Later in the evening we returned to the Mason's Arms in nearby Rennington where we'd had a nice meal on the day we'd arrived. Again they didn't disappoint. Carole had one last surprise when we got back to the cottage, as we'd brought her a cake complete with candles to round off a fab day.