Lindisfarne Castle

Lindisfarne

Route: Lindisfarne

Area: Northumberland

Date of walk: 17th March 2020

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 5.2 miles

Ascent: 200 feet

Weather: Sunny at first, gradually clouding over with light rain near the end

After this morning’s short walk around Berwick-upon-Tweed there remained enough time for a visit to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island – the northern cradle of Christianity. We’d walked here 5 years ago – click here for a shorter version of today’s walk – but it’s a place that merits multiple visits

Before setting out to Holy Island it’s essential to check the tide timetable, as the road leading to the island is inaccessible during high tide. We’d timed our arrival to coincide with low tide, and drove across the Lindisfarne Causeway – a fascinating journey in its own right – and parked in the public car park on the outskirts of Holy Island village

We walked through the village in order to visit Lindisfarne Priory, built by the ancient monks about 1,400 years ago and now preserved by English Heritage. From here we climbed up to The Heugh, which has good views of Lindisfarne Castle. We then walked around the harbour to join the popular path to the castle, and passed by it to visit the small Gertrude Jekyll Garden managed by the National Trust

From here we headed north along the coast as far as Emmanuel Point, where there is a tall white pyramid. This appears to be a modernist installation but in fact it is a daymark for maritime navigation, built in 1810, and is said to be Britain’s earliest purpose-built daymark

From here we descended to the beach and, after a pleasant stroll along it, followed an undulating path over the dunes to start the return journey south back to the start. By now the weather had closed in, with grey skies and light rain, and we felt fortunate that the best of the scenery had coincided with the best of the weather at the start of the walk. A stroll along Straight Lonnen brought us back into the village and the end of a wonderful and unique walk

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