Coast and Castles, Beth's chosen hike. We finally got to the trail head (eg, planned 3 mos ago, 3000mi away)...tho it started in the shadow of easily accessible Bamburgh Castle. Started late, 2:30, with a plan of sleeping wherever we were when the time came, having a pup tent and bags. It being a Saturday pm, there were too many beach walkers initially so no wild coastline feeling. Lots of summer visitors at Seahouses and much too much road to Newton-by-the-Sea, either due to a river/stream that crossed the beach, dunes closed for breeding seabirds, getting lost so to speak (who needs a map for a coastal-beach hike...) or, once, not trusting that a Public Way path was the Coastal path. A group of 4 adolescent girls (in their own world as expected) happily bailed us out of the caravan park. We had dinner at a pub in Newton-by-the-Sea and then set out again around 2030.
The beach to the south was quite empty being Sat eve as well as the fact that its was just a slightly less traveled part of the route. Finally, we ran out of company except for a couple and we ran out of beach. Around 2145, we set up the tent in the dunes, wondering how bad we were being, though no signs forbidding that we saw. I certainly was concerned about the tent being seen and thought the dip in the dunes surrounded by the tall grass was ok. Over the course of the night, from maybe 0100 to 0330, I'd guess nearly 20 young people passed within 5m of us. There was a singing group that sounded like 6-8 - - first heard a long way down the beach - maybe even 1/3rd mi. It was eventually apparent that they were coming our way & did so, so close but none of them saw us. It was probably as dark as the night was going to get. Sometime later, a few more "happy beachgoers" passed and one remarked "look at the tent" but nothing came of it. It rained on & off. We were up at 5, onto a ponder of closed, deserted Dunstanburgh Castle and finally to Crasters where we had a 3 hour wait for a bus. I had a beer at 0645. There was a pub on Heugh St. that had had a shindig the night before under an enclosed tent - kegs etc. We sat out rain there and this bottled beer was just staring at me. It seemed fit to make it go away, given circumstance. The town was as asleep as a town can be on a somber, sunless Sunday morning in the UK.
Dunstanburgh Castle
Checkout time
Poppies for color