Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island England

Travelled:78km 

Stay: Berwick Upon Tweed at Gary and Anita’s

Visited: Craster parking £1, Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island National Trust £9.90pp, parking £3.50 

This morning we called in to Craster, a lovely little fishing village that is famous for its smoked kippers. L. Robson & Sons has been smoking herrings for over 130 years and it is still owned and run by the same family. They choose herrings with just the right oil content, use a machine that splits 500kg per hour, then place them in brine, hang them up and smoke them for 16 hours over a fire made from whitewood and oak. The kippers still need to cooked before eating.. so we bought a couple to try out. Will let you know how they taste. 

Having checked the tides for Holy Island we didn’t dally too long as the causeway would only be able to be crossed until 1:30pm or we would have to wait until 7pm tonight. 

We arrived just after 10 and met up with Gary and Anita who are friends we met Alpe d’Huez in 2013. 

We then went to have a look at Lindisfarne Castle, which was built as a fort on Beblow Crag, to protect the natural harbour and remained armed until1819. It fell into disrepair and then in 1901 it was purchased by Edward Hudson who remodeled it into a private holiday residence.

Holy Island has a quaint villlage and a priory that is now in ruins. 

St.Cuthbert has made a place of pilgrimage with some walking all the way from the West coast. The most dangerous point is crossing the sand at low tide, making sure they follow the markers to stay away from the quick sand and  have enough time before the tide comes in. There are a few shelters available along the way if this does accur and you need to wait it out! 

We walked up to the lookout tower.

We regrouped and then drove up the coast stopping at a bay and chatted about Anita’s passion to spot and photograph dolphins. Then it was onto theirs and had an enjoyable evening together.