8 September 2023 - Alnmouth & Howick Hall
Miles driven today = 15
Total Miles to date = 357
We pondered about the possibility of going into Alnwick today. There is a fabulous looking castle but it's not an English Heritage site so we would have to pay and besides we have at least 2 other castles lined up to visit over the next few days. There are also some very impressive looking gardens but we have found another local alternative to scratch that itch as well, so Alnwick will have to wait for another day. We've always got to keep somewhere unexplored in the locker to entice us back again in the future.
Instead we drove just 6 miles up the A1068 Coastal Route to the village of Alnmouth which, unsurprisingly, sits at the point where the Aln Estuary meets the Sea.
In the 18th Century Alnmouth sustained a fairly major port, exporting grain and importing timber and slate. But a violent storm in 1806 resulted in the shifting of the course of the river and hence the disruption of the port and its associated industries.
Nowadays the village has less than 500 permanent residents but its quaint Oldy-Worldy charm is a major tourist draw.
This row of colourful houses have earnt Alnmouth the title of the "Tobermory of Northumberland" but I really think that is pushing things a little too far.
Lots of very tempting looking samphire on the Estuary but we didn't fancy getting our shoes muddy.
The beach is a broad band of soft golden sand but I'm afraid you'll just have to take my word on this as the mist on the coast persisted throughout the day.
Alnmouth is also home to the oldest 9-hole links golf course in England.
We had hoped to pop into a cafe for a spot of brunch but found none of them to be open so we headed back to the van for scrambled eggs before driving a further 6 miles to Howick Hall.
The Hall dates back to 1782, although it was completely gutted by fire and therefore completely redesigned internally in 1926. It hasn't been lived in since 1967 and now forms a visitors centre with information about the hall and the surrounding gardens and arbouretum.
Howick was the home of the Earls Grey. The most famous of these was the Second Earl who served as Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834. During his tenure the Great Reform Bill was passed. This painting shows a banquet celebrating the passing of the bill with the Earl standing in the centre. Slavery was also abolished during his watch, which makes him one of the good guys in my book. He also fathered 15 children.
Howick was also the birthplace of Earl Grey Tea which was created with the help of a Chinese mandarin. Bergamot was added to offset the taste of the lime in the local water and when Lady Grey took it to London it became so popular that Twinings started to market it. Although the tea bears the Earl's name he never trade marked it and never made a penny from it.
The Arboretum which surrounds Howick stretches to 65 acres and is planted with 12,500 trees and shrubs of 1,800 species from all over the World.
Autumn Crocuses in full bloom.
The Church of St Michael and All Angels is in the Hall grounds.
There is a collection of 83 tapestry kneelers which were created in 2018 and 2019 based on paintings depicting local scenes.
The tomb of the second Earl Grey with an eagle lecturn.
Beyond the arbouretum are some wonderfully bucolic scenes.
The Hydrangea Garden was created in 2016 and was coming into full bloom for our visit.
The present owner, Lord Howick, has spent decades travelling the globe to find new specimens for the gardens.
Huge Elephant Ears with Lisa for scale.
I had no idea they produced flower spikes like this!
There is a beautiful Sensory Garden created with the assistance of the National Autistic Society.
Even big kids get to create their own water cascade.
The Bog Garden surrounding the pond is currently at its colourful peak.
I'll say this quietly but I'm not really a massive fan of Earl Grey Tea so we plumped instead for a large pot of English Breakfast and a slab of coffee & walnut cake before taking a wander around the terraced gardens to the rear of the Hall.
You can do further walks through the grounds stretching to as much as 3.5 miles but we were pretty much done in for the day so we headed off to our pre-booked campsite near Longhoughton.
Coast & Castles Camping is a fairly new venture set up on an old airforce base. It has a mixture of gravel hardstanding and grass pitches. Toilets and showers are somewhat rustic but the water is hot. And it seems fairly reasonable value at £26 per night including hook up, although the site is predominantly solar powered and we have been warned that the power goes off between 11:30pm and 6:30am, so we'll have to remember to switch the fridge over to gas before we go to bed.
The site has a fabulous "Gin Tin" bar and a different pop up food stall each night. Gourmet burgers tonight and woodfired pizzas tomorrow. We are here for 2 nights so we might just treat ourselves!
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