A grand day out Part II
Another bit of a drive this one, though we enjoyed it immensely and look forward to visiting more of Northumberland. Thanks to our friends L and N for being our tour guides for the day!
We drove up to Alnmouth, a most spectacular stretch of beach. We walked the golden sands in the sunshine before heading to the golf club for a surprisingly good cup of coffee, given as it was from a vending machine. I’m not a coffee snob, but machines can sometimes be hit or miss; this one, I am happy to confirm, was excellent.
Alnmouth is within one of Northumberland’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a gorgeous village surrounded by the Aln Estuary. The area has several protected wildlife and habitat sanctuaries and is perfect for birdwatching. Indeed, as we drove around, our friends pointed out the Farne Islands in the distance, where puffins and grey seals live on the National Nature Reserve. Boat trips to the islands depart from Seahouses, 16 miles from Alnmouth. But, as we didn’t have time, that’s an exploration for another day.
Craster Harbour, Northumberland
Instead, we made our way to the village of Craster, famous for its smoked kippers, and the beguiling scent of the smokery lingered around us as we headed to the Jolly Fisherman pub for lunch.
Three of us had the fish platter, while our resident outlier ordered ham, egg and chips. The seafood was as good as I’ve had anywhere in the world, with the star of the show being the rollmop, which was so fresh it barely needed the gently tangy marinade. We had prawns in a lemony dill sauce, crabmeat, the aforementioned hero rollmop, mussels, smoked salmon, mackerel paté and calamari rings (the latter were lovely, crisp and tender, none of that rubbery nonsense that some places serve). Apparently, the ham, egg and chips were pretty good too.
It was with overstuffed stomachs that we walked around the harbour, watched a fishing boat being swabbed down, then waddled our way back to the car.
Next, at the insistence of our guides, we visited Barter Books, which is housed in the old Victorian railway station at Alnwick. As soon as we entered, I knew I had found my spiritual home – this second-hand bookstore is everything that a bookshop should be. It has open fires in the winter, a mind boggling selection of books, cosy nooks to browse and read in, and a café (which, sadly, we didn’t get to try, as even we didn’t have room for cake after our gargantuan lunch).
I could have spent days wandering around, but it was time to get on. So, I contented myself with a reverent walk around this cathedral of reading, uttering squeaks of unbridled glee (which, I am informed, were disturbingly like those I made while eating the fish platter), until I was physically dragged back to the car by an increasingly impatient husband.
I know that we barely scratched the surface of the area and we will most definitely be going back. It’s a perfect trip from Waitby and well worth the drive.