Along the coast are the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. It was built on the instruction of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster in 1313, but he was executed a few years later. John of Gaunt prepared the castle for the Border Wars and built another gateway in 1380. During the Wars of the Roses the castle was a Lancastrian stronghold, but from the mid-1400s it was redundant, in total being used for only 140 years (now leaving dramatic ruins and a number of ghostly legends).
An old whinstone quarry is now Craster's car park and the starting point of the walk. At the top end of the car park, the quarry face is now home to gulls, and the first part of the walk passes the Heughs (a line of gorse-covered whinstone hills on the seaward side, and cornfields inland).
After Dunstan Square Farm, the route follows a quiet, open lane between cornfields. On the left, just after a pine plantation and looking curiously out of place, is a World War II pillbox — a gun emplacement made from concrete-filled sandbags. From the lane there are tantalising glimpses of the sea at Embleton Bay and the towers of Dunstanburgh Castle.
The route passes through the farmyard of Dunstan Steads Farm, and afterwards a lane leads to extensive sand dunes behind Embleton Bay (a conservation area owned by the National Trust). In summer, bloody cranesbill can be spotted along with scrambling thorn bushes of burnet rose. The long, sandy beach of Embleton Bay marks the halfway point of the walk and the ideal spot for a picnic if conditions are right.
At the end of the beach, sand gives way to rounded boulders of grey dolerite. Here, the coastal path passes Greymare Rock — a distinct saddle-shaped lump of limestone. Next to Greymare Rock is Rumble Churn, aptly named as the sound of crashing waves below Dunstanburgh Castle rumbles in the natural amphitheatre.
As well as the rumble of waves and sea, the shrieks of hundreds of seabirds fill the air, covering the face of Gull Crag below the castle (kittiwakes, fulmars, guillemots, shags, and sometimes puffins). The top half of Gull Crag is dolerite, with sandstone and shale below. After the drama of the scene, the walk climbs past the east edge of Dunstanburgh Castle (which can be visited), followed by a lovely stroll along the coastal path southwards back to Craster.
See my extended walk of Craster and Dunstanburgh Castle, including the village of Embleton →
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
