TraceysTrek

Best bits: beautiful beaches, lager shandy at the finish

Worst bits: hot weather, sore foot

Distance: 18.6 miles

The weather forecast was for a very hot day today with temperatures down south reaching 32°. Fortunately for me it was a little bit overcast and there was a lovely cooling breeze from the sea. The tide was out when Heather dropped me off at Creswell and so I was able to walk all the way along the beach.

Druridge Bay is a beautiful long flat beach with firm sand and made for excellent walking. It wasn’t long before I arrived at the visitor centre where Heather was waiting and had been given out cards and hearts. I enjoyed a cup of tea and a fruit scone, yummy.

On the way back to the beach I saw a group of people painting their views of the beach.

Back on the beach the tide was even further out as I began my walk to Amble. I continued walking along the beach until it became quite rocky at which point the path diverted through the sands for a while before arriving into Amble. All the while I was on the beach an island with a lighthouse was visible in the distance then it became closer and finally passing it as I arrived in Amble.

It was sports day at the local school and excited children were undertaking various activities. It took me back to when Will and Dan were competing at primary school, Danny in the sack race and Will with the beanbag!

Amble Harbour is a quaint little village with a multitude of independent businesses housed in small huts.

Ali told me that she was a breast cancer survivor. She had been mistaken for me in Devon back in February and was pleased that she had finally met me today. 

As I was taking a well earned rest and drinking my cup of tea, Kerstin and Steve came up to me and kindly gave a donation. The lady at the tea place had also given me my cuppa for free.

Once I’d eaten my sandwiches, I was back on the road again. It wasn’t long before Warkworth Castle suddenly came in to view. I had now entered the land of castles which is very exciting.

Warkworth castle was the site of a trip in the mid 1980s with Lynn when she decided she could run down the side of the mound on which the castle is built. It was muddy that day and you guessed it…..Disaster!

As it was relatively early in the day to stop and so I had decided to continue on past Warkworth to Alnmouth. I took an opportunity to go back down onto the beach, which was lovely with the cooling breeze. Just before this I made use of the local toilets and purchased an ice cream from the van that was parked in the car park. A lady had been stung by a weaver fish and was wanting some hot water to help relieve the pain. I hope that this worked.

The tide was out revealing the full extent of beach and I could see right across the estuary. It was a little unclear as to whether I could walk right across to the village of Alnmouth. I was dubious and after scrutinising the map decided to take the path the long way around. It was just as well that I did because apparently there are many signs saying do not attempt to cross the river. Locals even told Heather that I must not attempt to cross as it was very dangerous.

Leaving the beach involved climbing up a sand dune on my hands and knees because it was so steep and the sand was very deep and I kept slipping backwards.

Once over the top and down the other side, I joined a cinder track which took me a long way in land before coming back around and over a bridge and into the village where Heather was waiting for me. Fortunately, there was a bar at my finish point and I was rewarded with a lager shandy.

Heather has embraced the TraceysTrek supporter role complete with high viz jacket and bum bag containing hearts and cards.

There were some rather beautiful sea holly which hold a special place in my heart as these were some of the flowers we had at our wedding and at Angela’s funeral. It was lovely to see them in their natural habitat by the sea and covered in bees.