Cute Northumberland Villages

There are so many lovely little villages to visit in Northumberland that it's difficult to choose where to start. One of the first we went to this week was Low-Newton-by-the-Sea which according to the info in our cottage "is one of the most picturesque villages on the Northumberland coast". You can't drive into the village, instead there is a large pay and display car park up the hill from the village.

When we parked we spotted this fabulous campervan and when I took a picture of it two lads near me said they'd taken pictures of it as well - probably a very photographed vehicle.

The village consists of an open ended square with a pub, The Ship Inn, being at the top of it. I love this photo looking over the green as every group of people sitting on the grass has got a dog or dogs with them. We've found that it's a very dog friendly area, so if you've got a furry member of the family then this is a great place for a holiday.

Bramble made a new friend, Loki, who lives in the village - his parents were telling us what a great place it is for him as the beach is a few steps away and in the summer he meets lots of other puppy dogs.

Loki did get a little familiar with our little girl - thankfully he's had his manly bits removed.

The Ship Inn is the larger building on the right - we sat for a while at a table outside it to have a drink - several people came over to meet Bramble Jelly as they all think she's very cute.

Cute little corrugated iron church that is near the carpark.

Love this sign that is on one of the side roads - we didn't see any frogs but I'm hoping people look out for them when driving up this road.

Bramble was having a great day making new friends - this beautiful pony was very friendly.

Leaving Low-Newton we headed towards Embleton and on the way discovered the fabulous Eleanor's Byre which is a gift shop and cafe, so of course we stopped.

It's a beautiful space that has been built into a very old farm building.

 Whilst we were there the most amazing thing happened. Anyone who has read my Top Ten post on RULES will know that my beloved doesn't believe that vegetables should be in cakes, but all it took was one pretty young female waitress to convince him to give chocolate and beetroot cake a go. The faces below say it all really - his verdict, what's the point as he couldn't taste it so why bother. When I told him it was meant to make the cake more moist, he said it hadn't worked - well at least he tried it.

There are some beautiful things in the shop and yes I did buy a couple of things - a new notebook for my poetry and a small blue bowl for my dresser. We loved these light shades which are made out of old bottles.

There were lots of dogs sitting outside with us but this one was chancing his luck of trying to get into the shop.

In the field next to the shop there lives a donkey and a very big pig - a strange friendship if ever I say one. They were both very friendly and came over to have a chat to us and let us scratch their noses.

Lovely old shepherds hut in the carpark.

Our next stop was Craster which is named after the Craster family that has owned the local estate since the late 1200's. The town sign has a sculpture of a lobster pot with various crustaceans attached to it.

We found a lovely pub garden to sit in for a while - what could be better, great company, great view, and a lovely white wine spritzer.

In the distance over Ken's shoulder you may be able to make out Dunstanburgh Castle which we visited last time we were in Northumberland. Please ignore the fact that Ken is trying to eat Bramble's chew toy.

My two gorgeous ones enjoying the sunshine.

Craster is famous for the production of kippers, which they do in the traditional way of oak smoking. On the building below you can see the stains of the smoking process and you could definitely smell it.

The harbour at Craster was built in memory of one of the Craster family - the memorial plaque is below.

Arty shot of lobster pots.

A lone fisherman sitting at the end of the harbour.

Slightly odd statue that I think is missing a few bits - we think it's a fisherman wrestling a sea creature.

I have done a whole post on DOORS before and can never resist taking pictures of nice ones. Here are two very different but equally gorgeous doors that we went past in the village. The first one is a funky colour and has a lovely horse door knocker whereas the second one is quite plain in itself but they've made it look very pretty by what's around it.

The end of a very long day for our little one and she was out like a light next to her daddy on the couch. It's such a rare occurrence as Bramble is so full of energy that we really enjoy it when it happens.

That's it for today so until next time, be good, stay safe, and I hope you're having a great day wherever you are in the world.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx