Out & About September 2017

enjoys a bit of coastline walking in the far reaches of Northumberland F ollowing an earlier Out and About article on the pleasures of walking in the countryside, this is a follow-up piece about a recent visit to Jonathan Hopson

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. Northumberland is a great place for bracing walks and Scremerston beach, three miles south of Berwick, is one of my favourite areas to experience the many wonderful sights and sounds of coastline walking. The shoreline is quite flat and extends for miles southwards towards Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands beyond. There’s usually a healthy sea breeze, which helps blow away any cobwebs, and the dogs enjoy running over the rippled sands and investigating the numerous rock pools for signs of life, particularly crabs. It’s also a great place for wildlife with many species of sea birds including cormorants, guillemots and kittiwakes. You might even be lucky enough to see the occasional grey seal bobbing about in the surf. A visit to Northumberland would be incomplete without a visit to the Farne Islands, the most famous sea bird sanctuary in the British Isles and home to a large colony of grey seals. There are daily boat trips to the islands from Seahouses and there is a profusion of bird life, including three species of tern and literally thousands of puffins. During our trip to Northumberland we also visited Paxton House, a few miles west of Berwick and watched a small group of fishermen use a coble – a traditional open small fishing boat – in attempting to net salmon. They were unsuccessful on this occasion, only managing to catch a single sea trout, which apparently was destined for the Paxton House restaurant. In summary, a short, but nonetheless busy, trip to Northumberland and one with many happy memories. PS Sadly, the 25th instalment of the Hopson Hotshots vs. Hewens Heroes annual cricket match, (mentioned in last month’s Out & About), which was due to be played on July 29 at Wilcot, near Pewsey, had to be cancelled due to wet weather – hopefully the weather in 2018 will be kinder.

Nesting seabirds on the Farne Islands

Arctic terns flying around Farne lighthouse off the Northumberland coast

Approaching sunset over Scremerston beach, Northumberland

Netting salmon for scientific and conservation purposes on the River Tweed

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