Bamburgh Castle, Budle Point and Newtown Hill

There has been a castle on the site as far back as Roman times. It was attacked by the Vikings, and during the Wars of the Roses it was the first English castle to succumb to gunfire before being largely rebuilt in the early 1900s.

Much of the walk follows the coast, and grey seals (which breed on the nearby Farne Islands) may be seen, with even the chance of glimpsing a whale, perhaps an orca (Killer Whale).

Blackrocks Point, where the lighthouse is found, is famous for bird watching: in addition to a variety of waders and scores of eider, many sea birds such as gannets fly along the coastline. Looking out across Budle Bay from Budle Point, Ross Back Sands stretch towards the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and diving birds hunt for fish in the shallows.

In summer, wild flowers include sea pinks and yellow vetch on the crags, while wild thyme, heather, and gorse often hide roe deer. On every side there are open views: the Cheviot Hills to the west, great expanses of sand along the coast, rocky headlands jutting out into the waves, the Farne Islands, and the open sea beyond.

On the return route to Bamburgh, the first cottage on the right is the birthplace of Grace Darling, who became famous when she and her father (keeper of Longstone Lighthouse) bravely rescued survivors of the Forfarshire in 1838.

Grace Darling became a national heroine, but died — probably of tuberculosis — four years later at the young age of 26. There is a memorial in St Aidan's Churchyard opposite her birthplace, and the Grace Darling Museum is in the same street.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.