The Bathing House Howick

Craster

Route: Craster and Howick Round

Area: Northumberland

Date of walk: 3rd September 2017

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 7.5 miles

Ascent: 600 feet

Weather: Sunny with light cloud

On the first day of our short stay at The Bathing House, we wanted to make use of the Northumberland Coast Path which runs behind the cottage, although this walk can conveniently be started from a number of other points – Craster would be a good choice

We walked out of the back door of the cottage and joined the coastal path heading north, with views of dramatic Dunstanburgh Castle ahead of us in the distance. After about half an hour of easy walking we arrived in the little village of Craster, famous for its kippers. We walked away from the harbour to start the return leg inland, passing by two crags – Howick Scar and Hips Heugh

After walking along a field beside the woods we arrived at Howick Hall and its renowned arboretum (open from February to mid-November). Our rented cottage is part of the Howick estate so we had free entry to the grounds – anyone else will have to pay a fee. It’s worth allowing plenty of time to explore the gardens, which cover 65 acres and contain 11,000 trees and shrubs grown from seed collected in the wild. We followed one of the many trails through the gardens, following Howick Burn towards the sea, and eventually leaving the grounds via a one-way metal gate (the gate means that this walk must be followed in an anti-clockwise direction)

A narrow path lead to the coast at a point near Sugar Sands, and from here we followed the Northumberland Coast Path back to The Bathing House

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

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