Seahouses via Beadnell and Low Newton

The Coast:Seahouse via Beadnell and Low Newton

Things to see and do on route: Your Route

MorningFlodden Monument

LunchChips at Seahouses HarbourThe Olde Ship Public House

AfternoonDunstanburgh CastleBeadnell BayBeadnell Lime KilnsSt. Ebba’s ChurchPele Tower

If you have not visited Seahouse and its surrounding areas we have put together a route for you to explore. This route takes you to and past some of the famous parts of Seahouses and some of the more infamous historic sites which this small fishing village culture was born form.

If you have come to Seahouses for a holiday you are probably looking forward to long and languorous days on one of the many fines beaches, all awarded the prestigious “Blue Flag” by our masters in Brussels for their clarity of water and purity of sand, it’s just that we have no industry with which to pollute them!

Seahouses via Beadnell and Low Newton

On entry to Seahouses along the B1340 from Beadnell when you arrive at the roundabout by The Harbour Inn, if you turn right you are in Seahouses, if you turn left you are in North Sunderland. In former times the old seaport village was called North Sunderland but caused Maritime confusion with the port of Sunderland on the river Wear, so the good burghers turned the piece of the village that was nearest the sea into Seahouses and it remains so today. Whilst being a working port Seahouses is the centre for tourist accommodation and recreation along the area of outstanding beauty that is the North Northumberland Coast, and has all the “go with its” associated with seaside holidays (apart from the donkeys) Crazy golf, Fish and chip shops that are all excellent using local fish, amusement arcade, gift shops and so classic pubs and hotels, the

public bar of The Olde Ship Hotel must be the best dressed bar in Britain!. and of course one of the freshest fresh fish shops ever in the old part of the village and last but by no means least a challenging 18 holes Links type Golf course with a most welcoming club house. Whilst Seahouses has wonderful beaches both left and right of the village here’s a day that lets you explore the wonderful stands of sand to the South, and you don’t need to take a car if you don’t want to! An Arriva service number 501, that ends up in Newcastle, leaves the centre of the village opposite the War Memorial at 0832, 1018 – 1220,1418 hop on and ask to be let off at High Newton. If you prefer to take the auto drive along the B1340 towards Alnwick and take the signpost to Newton bear right at “the Joiners” pub (stop if it’s open) and you will see a car park at the right opposite the white building on top a mound which was the old coastguard station. Either way make your way down to Low Newton; the locals call it “Stinky” Newton because of the seaweed smell. After you have passed the most frugal of Northumbrian Churches, it’s a tin hut in is basics dedicated to Saint Mary as you clear the rise you will be met by one of the most spectacular vistas in Northumberland – the sweep of Saint Mary’s haven, the icing sugar sands and dunes tapering away to the ruins of distant Dunstanburgh Castle - pure

Seahouses via Beadnell and Low Newton

poetry. Continue down to the little hamlet which is Low Newton and be amazed for it’s formed as three sides of a square, with the open side towards to sea and boats haven and its centre a verdant village green. It was on this green that within living memory the fisher wives who inhabited these cottages would be obliged to bait their long line hooks, sometimes over 1,000, with the limpets they had gathered from the rocks during the day in order that their men might “set” these at night. A most engaging little pub “The Ship” almost huddles in the squares top right hand corner and is a real treasure for apart from serving the highest quality food it brews and sells its own beer and stout; it’s the smallest commercial brewery in England. Before you head back towards Seahouses its worth following the track at the rear of the pub south for about half a mile where you will arrive at the bird hides at Newton Pond. These substantial wooden hides, one has a disabled access ramp, allow the avid bird watcher access to the inhabitants of this freshwater pond and a legend in the first hut allows identification.Now its time to head towards home, follow the haven northwards along the headland, under the white old coastguard station, and passed the wartime RAF radio brick built post and shortly you will be treated to an almost Hawaiian sight – the most compact strand of pure white sand encased by two rocky promontories, this is Football Hole, known to and treasured by the few. Tear yourself away and continue along the springy turf path and suddenly another gasp may be uttered as you see the wide sandy sweep of the Beadnell Bay. A car park has been provided here, note for future reference, it’s opposite the luxury self catering complex of the “Links House” residence of the well known racehorse trainer whose steeds you may encounter on your walk. The distance to Beadnell, whose lime kilns beckon their invitation varies depending on the tide –if it’s out an almost direct line may be struck, if it’s in it’s another half mile on your stroll. About halfway along the beach The “Lang Nanny” a small burn meets the sea

Seahouses via Beadnell and Low Newton

and makes “plodging” a must so roll up those trouser legs. If this is not for you a bridge may be used which is three hundred yards up the burn. Please be careful at this spot for this is the only known nesting site of the rare “Little Tern” as the signs will tell you and is watched constantly by volunteers from the RSPB throughout the nesting season. As you approach Beadnell you will detect that the mouth of the harbour you are approaching is pointed due west, the only harbour to do this on the North East Coast. It’s a splendid sight the lime kilns rearing up against the harbour, and hints of the former prosperity both of these contributed to the inhabitants of this small village. These lime kilns contemporize with those on Lindisfarne and Seahouses their massive size is evident, not so the little railway type track which was used to fill the tops of the kilns with the coal and limestone mixture prior to the ignition of the furnaces beneath. It’s worth a wander into the village, whose population is doubled or halved depending on the “toonies” occupation of their holiday homes. Two Hotels provide excellent accommodation whilst self catering opportunities abound, the Garden of “The Craster Arms”, a converted Pele tower whose dungeon is now a beer cellar, is a fine place to devour a pint and a bar meal as you gaze of the spire of the lovely little Church which is dedicated to Saint Ebba. This Saint was the sister of King Oswald and came with him out of exile in Iona where her Christian upbringing directed her to the monastic life. She first founded a small chapel, in AD657l on what

is known as Saint Ebba’s point, recently excavated by Tony Robinson and his time team, and went on to found the Abbey at Coldingham, This was the Abbey that during the Viking raids insisted that its nuns disfigure their faces and cut off their breasts so the Viking might not find them sufficiently attractive to assault. So now you are on the last lap, so stick to the beach and walk the final mile to Seahouses, be careful as you approach the end of the beach as there is another small burn meeting the sea so its socks off again and gently easy round the golf course path and into the village and great set of views to the North as the as the outline of Bamburgh and Lindisfarne castle appear over the harbour and the Farne Islands to the East – ain’t life grand! If there is still enough of the day left a ten minute drive to see the remains of one of the best preserved Pele Towers may be in order. Head out from Seahouses past Beadnell and over the crossroads at Swinhoe to Chathill. Through Chathill take the first turning right and then turn left into the grounds of the delightful Palladian mansion that is the home of the Baker- Creswell family. Preserved, in its 14th century starkness, the remaining third of a most illustrious pele tower, known as Preston Tower. Pele is a curious name to describe a tower but comes as a corruption of the Norman French “palisade” which was used to describe an area enclosed by a

Seahouses via Beadnell and Low Newton

timber fence and having a secure dwelling at its centre.Built in 1392 the remains have been diligently and lovingly maintained by the family and furnished as it may have been in the reiving days of the 15th Century. Its original inhabitant was a William de Harbottle who was a close friend of Harry Hotspur and liked nothing more than to ride in to Scotland to create a little, or a lot, of mayhem.Two thirds of the tower, that is the mirror wing of the existing tower and the joining curtain walls, where removed and used to build the existing farmhouse and outbuildings at sometime in 1861, however the remaining thirds is a classic example of the itinerant masons craft many of whose “mason’s mark” are still visible within the tower. Please make note of the thickness of the walls and the size of the lancet windows, designed so that a man on a scaling ladder could not enter. The internal sanitary arrangements leave a lot to be desired if you look at the hole in the bedroom wall. The most astonishing feat in this architecture is the vaulted ceilings on all three floors holding the massive weight when locked with their key stones in place.The view from the top of the tower may seems a bit scary but be calm and drink in the atmosphere of the tower and try to imagine the trepidation and cold on a winter’s night as the guard who watched the Border. The addition of the Victorian clock adds nothing to the building but when you examine the workings on the second floor you may see how this miniature replica of the mechanics of “Big Ben” in Westminster would captivate those with a mechanical mind.If you exit the tower, putting your visit money of £2.50 in the honesty box, and walk straight ahead for about 100 yards, you will see a most touching cemetery for the families deceased Labradors and a wonderful view of the front of the mansion, count the chimney pots and imagine having to clean and light all those fires before breakfast – the joys of service!