Northumberland Coast Path to Beadnell

Thursday 4th September 2025

The day before this walk I had started the Northumberland Coast Path, starting from Berwick-upon-Tweed, and heading south I had reached Holy Island also known as Lindisfarne. I had planned on skipping the next stage by catching a bus to the village of Seahouses because the trail heads inland from Lindisfarne to avoid a nature reserve, but by this point in my holiday I was keen on a change of scene from the coastal walking and with the bus to Seahouses not being until 10.30 I decided to keep to the trail. First, I needed to return from my overnight accommodation to the village of Fenwick where I rejoined the Northumberland Coast Path as it climbs into the hills. After the rain of the day before it was great to be walking in sunshine again, though it would soon cloud over, and on Fawcet Hill I had views, over a herd of cows, back to the coast and the low-lying island of Lindisfarne. There I came to a junction of paths where my maps, both Harvey and Ordnance Survey, indicated that the coastal path keeps climbing to reach St Cuthbert’s Cave, but the signpost directed me in the other direction into Virgin Hill Wood. This was a shortcut that I had already considered on taking and now appears to be the official route so I was more than happy to take it instead of climbing up to the pass between Greensheen Hill and Cockenheugh and then after passing behind the latter heading back towards the coast.

My route took me along a track into the conifer plantation and past Swinhoe Lake to rejoin the old route at Swinhoe Farm whereupon I crossed many fields to descend into the village of Belford. I took advantage of my being in Belford to buy some food to keep up my strength and after passing through the lovely, little village I took a footpath past the edge of a golf course that brought me to the busy A1 road. Rather than taking the footpath opposite I turned onto the B1342 road around a small industrial estate to reach the railway line. The day before I had not enjoyed using the pedestrian level crossing at Fenham Hill so I didn’t want to repeat the experience at Belford Burn crossing, however, this left me stuck on the road, which after a level crossing meant walking along the road into the oncoming traffic for over a mile until I reached a junction where I could take to the safety of a quiet country lane, signposted Spindlestone. This brought me into a lovely, little, tree-covered valley where a walk through the gorgeous woodland brought me back onto the Northumberland Coast Path and the coast itself, for the first time this day. I was at the southern tip of Budle Bay and followed the shoreline path where I had views across the bay while the buildings on Lindisfarne were a distant blip on the horizon. 

A caravan park and a golf course provided me with distractions inland until I reached the club house where my way now proceeded along a road with views down the coast to Bamburgh Castle, sitting dramatically on a rocky plug. It was an impressive sight and perfected by the golden beach before it, but the area was too popular with tourists for me, so I just followed the road through the village and on the other side a path took me tediously through many fields as I frustratingly veered away from the coast again. The new England Coast Path stays beside the coast at this point while the older Northumberland Coast Path keeps away, which made me think that perhaps the latter has now been superseded by the former, whose route is much better, with the issue possibly being that the Northumberland Coast Path sticks to pre-existing rights of way while the England Coast Path uses new access rights to the coast. At Shoreston Hall I turned left to return to the coast following the route on my map, but the official route actually stays inland until it reaches the outskirts of Seahouses. 

Instead, I was able to enjoy walking beside the beach that brought me into the large village of Seahouses and around a golf course on the other side, which necessitated my having to walk beside the road until I could walk through the dunes that brought me into the village of Beadnell where I waited for a bus to bring me to Alnwick. Although there were some enjoyable moments on this walk, helped by the weather, it was beginning to frustrate me that the trail wasn’t keeping to the coast and the coastline was not as dramatic as what I had seen earlier in this holiday. With only a few days of my holiday left I at least wouldn’t have to put up with it for much longer.

Northumberland Coast Path to Lindisfarne

Wednesday 3rd September 2025

A year ago I bought a Mac in a Sac poncho and throughout the Cambrian Way in May and until the end of my walk the day before this one it had proved very useful, especially during short showers where I could quickly put it on without taking off my rucksack. It wasn't perfect though, mainly in windy conditions when it was very difficult for me to put on, which I found very frustrating, and then it just flapped excessively in the wind. Despite this I loved that mac so I was upset when I couldn’t find it at the start of this day. The day before I had used it briefly, near the end of the walk, and when the rain stopped I had hung it onto the back of my rucksack, but now there was no sign of it. I can only think that it had fallen off having not been properly secured, which was distressing for me. Inevitably, it was raining this day, so just when I really needed it I no longer had the poncho. I just hope that someone found it and they needed it more than me. I tried retracing my steps to the point where I remember having the poncho but it was hopeless. Soon I got very hot in my waterproofs, which the poncho would have prevented, and this is a common problem in the warm, humid conditions that often occur in Britain. After wandering around Berwick-upon-Tweed wondering whether I could find something to replace my lost poncho I disconsolately gave up and set off along the Northumberland Coast Path, crossing the River Tweed on the historic Berwick Bridge and soon I reached the magnificent sight of Spittall Beach.

After walking along the promenade at Spittall I climbed up towards the railway line that is part of the East Coast Main Line and I had walked beside on the previous day into Berwick-upon-Tweed. I now followed it again on a track with the sea to my left all the way to a car park at Cocklawburn Dunes. From there I walked along a quiet road with views across the extensive sands and as the rain eased my route became a path through the dunes. I appreciated being able to put my hood down as this made me feel less claustrophobic, isolated from the environment and free to take in my surroundings. The walking was very easy on flat ground, but there was nothing interesting to look at and especially when the path plunged deep into the featureless dunes with the sea hidden beyond the undulating grassy mounds. As the rain started up again I eventually had a change of scenery with a line of concrete blocks dating from the Second World War, but even this didn’t last long with the dreary landscape not improving.

Eventually I crossed the South Low river where an alternative route follows a cycle path while I stayed on the official route along a faint, wet path beside the river to another line of concrete blocks that brought me to the road at the start of the Lindisfarne Causeway. A line of cars was waiting for the tide to fall sufficiently so they could cross over to Holy Island with the official safe crossing time just ten minutes away but as I looked on some cars started to risk the crossing while I pondered whether to walk across myself. I was unsure. Lindisfarne has been a place of pilgrimage for over a thousand years but I didn’t really care. The Northumberland Coast Path doesn’t cross the causeway and while there are the ruins of an abbey and a castle on the island they would probably not be very appealing in this weather. Eventually I turned my back on the cars streaming across the causeway and followed the Northumberland Coast Path, which soon turned inland to avoid crossing Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, and brought me to the railway line. 

To cross this I needed to phone the signal box to get permission, to make sure a train was not coming, and this terrified me, either because I had to talk to the signal box or just because I was crossing the railway line. I think it was the latter because the trains were passing at more than a hundred miles an hour. Despite my trepidation I safely made it across and five minutes later two trains passed each other at the level crossing. Moving further away from the coast, I passed over a hill, across Fenham Burn and to the A1 main road, which was much more easily crossed than the railway line. Soon I entered the village of Fenwick and there the coastal path turns left but I ignored the turning and eventually returned to the A1 where I found my accommodation. This was a disappointing walk, mainly because of the weather, though losing my poncho was not a good way to start the day. Fortunately the rain was mostly light and I wasn’t too severely affected by the loss. However, even when I had a view of the coast it wasn’t the dramatic sea cliffs that I had enjoyed on the Berwickshire Coastal Path and instead all I saw was sandy beaches, which don’t look good in this weather.