Northumbrian jaunt.

 

    We've been away on holiday staying in a cottage in Northumbria, the weather was brilliant although there was a cool wind - it is Northumberland after all. Here we seen Mr. and Mrs. Walker on the beach at Alnmouth, very bracing!

We did a fair amount of walking along the River Tyne and here is the rather splendid bridge over it at Corbridge. 

The view of the River Tyne looking upstream from the afore said bridge.

Came across this impressive pile of dressed sandstone blocks (dog for scale).

The explanation of the edifice. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Much to Mrs. Ks alarm our path took use over the Carlisle-Newcastle railway tracks - she always thinks I'm capable of doing something silly in circumstances like this. I explained to her how as a small child we used to place pennies on our local railway tracks to get them squashed by the speeding trains - the problem was finding them after the train had passed! (Health and Safety wasn't a thing then) 

We stopped for lunch, and I thought a photo shoot with Mr. and Mrs. Walker overlooking the Tyne Valley was in order.

Further on we had to cross the 'Dyvils' Water via the 'Dyvils' Bridge - a new one. the old stone one was washed away by floods - the authour and hound for scale. The dog is on the lead because of pheasants in whose presence he has a tendency to disgrace himself. 

The 'Dyvils' Water from the bridge rather innocuous at the moment but a raging torrent capable of sweeping bridges away it seems in spate.

The theme for this holiday seems to be bridges, another fine one here at Hexham . 

What was I saying about bridges-upstream is the remains of an old branch line bridge which was demolished in the 1950's when the line closed.

Since the authour had been a good boy and not got himself run over on the railway tracks he got to visit 'Barter Books' in Anwick sited in the old railway station - a huge secondhand bookshop which is always well wort a visit, much to Mrs. Ks alarm I proceeded to try and take a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Walker outside the entrance - she thinks the passing public will think I'm 'odd' and her by association, hence the hurried out of focus picture as somebody was coming. 

We had to have a cup of tea and cakes in their cafe and I perused the bookshelves, coming away with a modest haul of a couple of 'Bill Bryson's' and a book on collecting Toy Soldiers. I was intrigued to see a copy of Charles Grant's 'Wargaming Tactics' in the locked display cabinets they keep for rare expensive books for the price of £56! - I have a copy at home that cost me about £2.50 when it came out in 1979, A grand holiday with fine weather all the week.