Heading south into northern England, one notices a change in the landscape, especially along the coastal regions of the North Sea. Castles...most ruined, a few refurbished, but omnipresent. One such example is above, Tantallon Castle, sitting like a reddish lump on top of tall grasses.
The first thing you see when you arrive at Bamburgh (as you round the corner) is the castle, one of the largest in Britain. You can see Rowan running along the vast field beneath it, chasing after more birds. Home to the ancient Britons, it was the original capital of Northumberland, taken by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century, sacked by the Vikings in the 10th, and rebuilt by the Normans in the 11th. After a series of back and forths, it is now the seat of the Armstrong estate, which bought and reconstructed most of it. The only original thing (from the reign of Henry II, I think) is the central keep. For Rowan, the main attraction was the field, where he could chase birds all day, and the playground nearby.
Bamburgh is also a great hub to visit the Farne islands, especially Inner Farne. On Inner Farne, the old home of the 7th century Celtic Christian hermit St. Cuthbert, there is a waterfowl sanctuary, where arctic terns, cormorants and puffins (to name a few) live throughout much of the year. It is also the place where the terns (shown above) make their nests and hatch their chicks, which happens in early summer. Now, if you visit Inner Farne during that time (which of course can only be reached by boat) you have to wear a hat or carry an umbrella, for something like this might happen to you...
Arctic terns protect their young by dive-bombing anything that comes near them, attacking with a peck and a squeak. Or, in the case of Winnie, they simply land on your head and proclaim it official tern territory. Winnie is carrying Rowan at this point, who is not quite aware of what's going on (he eventually caught on, after which point he hid in a small shelter and rambled on and on about the birds). The other tourists were very amused (they'll get their just deserts, though--no hats). Others were not so lucky, returning to the boat with slightly bloodied heads.
Bamburgh Castle from the beach. Many a good time were had here, and Rowan continued his love of digging in the sand, and slowly lost his fear of dirt.
As I said, there's a little playground near the castle (notice that Bamburgh is really all about the castle), and Rowan loved to play there. He really enjoyed the giant swing that you can lie down on, but he refused to go down the slide saying "Too big, too big!" It really was a nice little playground, and rabbits would frequent the area in the morning and early evening.
Rowan and Baba survey the waters. Rowan spies a rock.
Heading south into northern England, one notices a change in the landscape, especially along the coastal regions of the North Sea. Castles...most ruined, a few refurbished, but omnipresent. One such example is above, Tantallon Castle, sitting like a reddish lump on top of tall grasses.
The first thing you see when you arrive at Bamburgh (as you round the corner) is the castle, one of the largest in Britain. You can see Rowan running along the vast field beneath it, chasing after more birds. Home to the ancient Britons, it was the original capital of Northumberland, taken by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century, sacked by the Vikings in the 10th, and rebuilt by the Normans in the 11th. After a series of back and forths, it is now the seat of the Armstrong estate, which bought and reconstructed most of it. The only original thing (from the reign of Henry II, I think) is the central keep. For Rowan, the main attraction was the field, where he could chase birds all day, and the playground nearby.
Bamburgh is also a great hub to visit the Farne islands, especially Inner Farne. On Inner Farne, the old home of the 7th century Celtic Christian hermit St. Cuthbert, there is a waterfowl sanctuary, where arctic terns, cormorants and puffins (to name a few) live throughout much of the year. It is also the place where the terns (shown above) make their nests and hatch their chicks, which happens in early summer. Now, if you visit Inner Farne during that time (which of course can only be reached by boat) you have to wear a hat or carry an umbrella, for something like this might happen to you...
Arctic terns protect their young by dive-bombing anything that comes near them, attacking with a peck and a squeak. Or, in the case of Winnie, they simply land on your head and proclaim it official tern territory. Winnie is carrying Rowan at this point, who is not quite aware of what's going on (he eventually caught on, after which point he hid in a small shelter and rambled on and on about the birds). The other tourists were very amused (they'll get their just deserts, though--no hats). Others were not so lucky, returning to the boat with slightly bloodied heads.
Bamburgh Castle from the beach. Many a good time were had here, and Rowan continued his love of digging in the sand, and slowly lost his fear of dirt.
As I said, there's a little playground near the castle (notice that Bamburgh is really all about the castle), and Rowan loved to play there. He really enjoyed the giant swing that you can lie down on, but he refused to go down the slide saying "Too big, too big!" It really was a nice little playground, and rabbits would frequent the area in the morning and early evening.
Rowan and Baba survey the waters. Rowan spies a rock.
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