A Northumbrian Interlude .

We've been on holiday to Northumberland staying in a rented apartment in Beadnel near Seahouses on the coast of the North Sea . Did lots of walking and the weather was brilliant with only about ten minutes of rain all week . (the weather back in Cumbria was abysmal - smug grin !). Above is a Photo of Dunstanburgh Castle immortalised by Turner .

Not one of his better known efforts .

Mrs 'K' looking windswept ! .

From the other direction .

Not one but two Medieval 'guarderobe' exits - you wouldn't want to stand here when they were in use !

Bit of geology proving the movement of the earth's crusts .

A WW2 pillbox overlooking the beach nearby . It has been cast in concrete using corrugated iron sheets as formers , there are numerous of these set along the coast in various degrees of repair (I believe they are now listed buildings and so protected by law) Charlie is included to give scale .

Further on our walk and away from the coast is this fine example - but facing away from the coast ! , presumably to cover the flat area of fields in case of a paratrooper or glider landings by the Germans .

This one has been made from sandbags filled with concrete and 'walled' together , Charlie is intrigued by this method of construction .

The view from inside looking over the potential landing sites.

Charlie exits from the outer side .

We also spent the day on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) , well as the tide comes in and cuts the island off twice a day - we had to ! . The weather was blustery but dry .

All the beaches in Northumberland are brilliant - but windswept ! , we walked completely around the island - very bracing !.

Lindisfarne Castle , very impressive .

Walking under the walls (no 'guarderobes' this time).

The castle looking like something out of 'The Lord of the Rings' . We had a very nice 'cream tea' in a café and I bought a bottle of Lindisfarne mead .

Part of the remains of the Priory , which had the dubious record of being the first site of a Viking raid , these remains are later Medieval - and closed for some strange reason !?.

A great holiday ! , the accommodation was excellent although we had problems getting the oven to work (our incompetence rather than a fault with the machine) , luckily there was a pub that did brilliant bar meals about fifty yards away so starvation was not an issue ! . I must admit I like Northumbria and it is somewhere if we ever moved house I would like to live.