The Northumberland Coast Path runs for 101 km (63 miles) from Cresswell, a small village about 30 km (20 miles) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, to Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the border with Scotland. For logistical reasons, my mate Pete and I decided to walk it from north to south and finish about a mile passed Cresswell, at Ellington. The walk was planned over 4 days, staying at Inns and B&Bs along the way.
I thought Day 1, from Berwick to Belford, might be the longest (at around 30 km or 18 miles), so we set off early, shortly after 8am. It was almost dark, but that turned out to be the low, brooding clouds overhead, which persisted for most of the day. That is except for 30 minutes or so, when we had some very light hail.
Little did we know it, but we were to risk life and limb… (The things I do to bring you these posts!) Not only did we have to navigate our way through an old Military Target area (see Warning sign, pic 12), but we also had to cross the East Coast main railway line – TWICE. Fortunately though, in the UK, Health and Safety is paramount, so we had to ring the Signalman before crossing. Pete phoned and was asked some obligatory questions (calls may be recorded in case of accidents, and any litigation, no doubt):
a) How many of you are there ? Answer given: 2
b) Are any of you disabled or requiring assistance ? Answer: No
c) How long will it take you to cross ? Answer: Just a jiffy!
The signalman obviously thought this was fast enough, so he said it was ok for us to cross.
So how long do you think a jiffy is?
With a big thanks to Pete for some of these pictures (as watermarked) and in the 3 posts to follow.
Alittlebitoutoffocus 
The bridge with reflection is perfect! Lovely pictures despite the dull weather.
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Thanks Julie. I presume you mean the railway bridge. If so, Pete will be pleased, as he’s quite competitive. (I may post more on that later…). 🙂
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Oops! No favouritism intended😆😆
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That’s OK. Pete and I thrive on competition. 🙂 We had a little shot putt competition with a big stone on one of the beaches. He won, so I didn’t mention it! 🙂
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Wow!!!!
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I’m glad you liked the pics CeeJay. There’s more to come tomorrow, and the day after, and… 🙂
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Yes! Loving it!
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Love it Mikey…though while this report doesn’t have the pristine blue and white peaks of your normal alpine adventures, i love the down the down to earth nature of the trip and reminds me of those days back in the motherland…the phone call perfect, only in England, would you spend 5-10 mins to call the signalman to let him know you’ll cross the tracks in a “jiffy!!!!” As long as it wasn’t as much as “it might be little bit,” Cheers mate!!
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Yes it is a little bit different to my usual swiss trips, but it was very enjoyable ninetheless. This was made especially so, of course, by the various real ales on offer in the pubs. We did wonder about taking pictures of the different beers that we were sampling, but thought that it might not reflect too well on our drinking habits! The weather did improve though, as you’ll see in my next post (or two). Cheers mate.
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I’m glad your so courageous (and amusing)! Who likes a safe post? 🙂
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Brave – or was that stupid? 😉 I’m sure it was all perfectly safe, but you know the Brits, they have to cover every eventuality. There are so many ‘silly’ things that happen on these trips that it’s hard to fit them all in, but that situation and conversation was certainly a highlight. We spent the next 10 to 15 minutes debating what Pete could have said, but most might have ended with him saying, “No, you can’t cross”. (On the 2nd crossing, I rang and, expecting the questions,I simply answered “About 20 seconds”. Boring I know, but…
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…better safe than sorry.
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🙂
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