" 1. Our 2014 Beadnell Holiday ~ Days 1 and 2 "

Date & Time: Mon 13th / Tues 14th October 2014.

Locations : The Northumberland Coast north of Alnwick.

Places visited : Beadnell Harbour and Beadnell Bay.

Accommodation : Accommodation at the Beach Court Beadnell, Northumbria.

With : Ann and myself and our dogs, Harry and Dylan.

Weather : A slightly grey and windy afternoon followed by a fine morning next day.

Beach Court Bed and Breakfast, Beadnell, (thanks to Carole and Russell Field)

You don't go on holiday for a while and then, like buses, two come along together. 

We head for the sea again but keep our legs firmly on dry land this time

as we re-visit old haunts and explore new areas of the Northumberland Coast.

The Harbour, the Limekilns and Beach Court B&B . . . our home for the next five days.

This is  a wonderful beach side home and Carole and Russ welcome guests in five star manner.

Our room, the Cheviot Suite, consists of the first bedroom with the triple window and the whole of the two top floors of the tower.

	After a three hour journey from home we take the earliest opportunity to get out for a walk. Ann sits for a moment by the limekilns and enjoys the view of the harbour.

There's a bit of a sea running due to the easterly breeze.	In the harbour a female eider duck has been diving for crabs.

She tossed and threw the crab until it broke apart.  As she ate it, the remainder sank and she dived again to retrieve it. 

Crabs, apparently, are a staple part of the eider's diet here on the coast.

Time for a stroll along the beach . . . this will be Dylan's first time on sand.

How would he react to the wide open spaces, the waves and the water ?

. . . by going berserk and rushing round like a demented puppy !

At nine months old now he's gaining peak fitness and runs around like a lunatic.

" Here I come "	" What's the rush ?" says Harry.

Beadnell beach, like all the beaches we visited, are all dog friendly

and everyone we met seemed to have one or more dogs, most of which were happily running free and able to play with each other.

In the stiff breeze this wind surfer was enjoying the sport to the full.

He and his colleague criss-crossed the bay, jumping and turning across the waves.

In the foreground is Beadnell pier and that's the magnificent, ruined Dunstanburgh Castle across the way.

Walking round the beach, the waves are bigger where the sea is open to the easterly wind.

Recent gales in the last few weeks have brought in a lot of seaweed which often created a continuous, dark tide line.

Colourful seaweed forms part of that tide line.

We've managed to walk half way round the bay without realising the distance we had walked.

This is the point where the Brunton Burn enters the bay and the seabirds gather in large numbers . . . most of these are gulls.

The people opposite will need to go upstream a short way to the bridge to get across.

An acrobatic crow glides in on the strong breeze.	Back near the harbour another castle . . . made of sand.

As the evening closes in it is time to feed the dogs (hence the light and open car)

before we make our way to Elan's Italian restaurant in Seahouses for supper.  It was as excellent as our last visit.

Looking out over the bay, the tide now nearly fully in, and the lights of the distant TV mast start to shine brightly.

- - - o o o - - -

Time passes and morning light floods into the bedroom . . . no specific morning sunshine as the room faces west !

Time for morning bed-tea . . .	. . . afterwards, Ann explores the tower.

The smallest of spiral stairs takes you up to a beautiful round room with superb views out over the bay and harbour.

The view out past the flagpole.	Yes, that was a lion you saw at the foot of the stairs

Dylan was not impressed but Harry has met Aslam before . . . they are now best mates !

After breakfast it was time to give the dogs a quick walk before we go out for the day.

This is Russ and Carole's front patio.

What no white doves in the dovecote ?	No, they're all down here feeding on fresh grain.

Butterflies and a lighthouse adorn the prow of an old boat.

The harbour from the top of the bank in front of the house.

I take the dogs out a short walk along to Abb's Point.

Pink flowers amongst the seashore vegetation.

The rear of the lime kilns includes an inclined ramp that once held a trackway

It was used for taking up the limestone, and used local coal as fuel to create agricultural lime for dressing the fields and improving crop fertility.

Aware of the steep, unprotected drops on either side and the danger notices along the way

I ventured forth and looked down on the harbour from above.

Several of the oldest boats have been removed since the storm as they were either damaged or generally unserviceable.

A new harbour master is a welcome addition to the village and he has obviously made his mark.

It is from up here that we get a great view of our holiday retreat.

Back down at ground level . . . looking up this time at the doves one a-breast on the narrow windowsill.

Carole and Russ also have a healthy following of wildlife attending their bird table.

Here, some of the sparrows that line the wall, waiting for a quiet moment to fly to the table once again.

To one side is the Beach Court aviary

where I try and focus out the wire of the cage and catch that clear shot of the birds themselves.

One of the colourful budgerigars perched on a bird box roof.

The male 'love bird', his good lady brooding eggs in the covered aviary alongside.

It was time to pack the car and get out for the day . . . dogs, coats, boots, flask of tea . . . back and fore . . . back and fore.

Hold your cursor over the picture to see his reaction !

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220 or my Canon 1100D Digital SLR Camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . . a route straight to the door of Beach Court.

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Previous walk - 6th October 2014 - Low Fell Backwards with Finlay

A previous time here - 24th to 29th September 2006 Beadnell and the Northumbrian Coast