Mike is in Seattle right now but did that stop me from getting out and about? Nope. :) Well, maybe I'm overstating my bravado. After all, yesterday I drove the furthest I've driven in the last nine months! But--yay me, I did it.
Our proper British day included: Wellies and warm jackets, a drive through the countryside, a walk along the coast, sheep, a castle, 4:00 scones and tea, a day that started out rainy and ended up brilliantly sunny, a gorgeous big-sky sunset, and toad-in-the-hole with peas for dinner.
The boys and I drove up the A1 highway to get to Dunstanburgh Castle, just outside the seaside village of Craster.
 |
| The fall colors as we drive into the town of Craster were just lovely. |
 |
| The harbor and the village, straight ahead. Turn a sharp left for the 2-mile footpath to the castle. |
 |
| We're about halfway there, and it's still a long way to go. The misty air and brisk wind coming off the sea made the walk quite "bracing," as they say here. |
 |
| Hoods up, heads down, and hands in pockets against the cold and wind. They're good lads! |
 |
| As we approached the castle, we had to cross over the meres (shallow swampy freshwater lakes) which surround the castle on three sides. When the castle was in use, the meres were filled with water channeled from a nearby spring. They were connected to create a moat and were used for stocking and breeding freshwater fish . |
 |
| The boys couldn't believe that we were walking right through the sheep fields. The sheep were tame, but skittish. They'd let us get within five to 10 feet of them. |
 |
| Walking through the gatehouse, originally built in 1313 and fortified in the 19th century. The boys are getting ready to go into the small gatekeeper's room. |
 |
| Inside the gatehouse, we climbed three stories of spiral staircase to get to the top. Here, we look back along the track we walked through the cow and sheep fields. You can see the village of Craster in the distance. |
 |
| Turn 180 degrees and here's the opposite view: The Lilburn Tower, at the northern-most spot along the castle grounds. The tower was named for Sir John de Lilburn, a notorious local bandit and, briefly, a constable of Dunstanburgh. |
 |
| Three stories down to the bottom of the gatehouse floor. |
 |
| The sun is coming out! The sun is coming out! Merrit takes a peep through the arrow slit in the wall. |
 |
| Helping Ollie up. They are such good brothers. (Most of the time.) |
 |
| Back on the ground now. We are exploring along the east wall of the castle, which includes the Constable's Tower, the Egyncleugh ("Eagle's Ravine") Tower. These bits of the castle were finished around 1351. There are half walls where interior rooms would have been, and geological surveys show that there are more like this buried under the turf. The Constable's Tower was originally three stories high and the Egyncleugh Tower was two stories high and included a separate entrance with a drawbridge. |
 |
| It seems like the kids really never stop moving, but every now and then, they'll stop long enough to appreciate a view. A rare moment here, captured on film. |
 |
| Yes, a posed picture. But the light was great and they looked so cute in their royal blue jackets and Wellies. |
 |
| Balancing. |
 |
| Climbing. |
 |
| Walking. |
 |
| Directing. |
 |
| The boys decide to bushwhack our way over to the Lilbburn Tower. |
 |
| Ollie struggled a bit with the tall grass. |
 |
| ...But Merrit helped him up when he needed a hand. |
 |
| ...And he kept a sense of humor throughout. |
 |
| The view north from the Lilburn Tower, including part of a golf course (don't know which one). What a great course to play, huh? |
 |
| Ollie being silly. |
 |
| Walking back to the gatehouse now. The sun is getting low in the sky. |
 |
| Time to go. We have a long walk back to the village and our parked car. And more than an hour's drive home again. At this point, I'm actually worried about Ollie's stamina, hoping I don't end up having to piggy-back him for some or all of the two miles back to the village of Craster! |
 |
| The best view of the castle gatehouse. Most towers when this castle were built had square towers, so the fact that these are round is noteworthy. The wall to the right is the east wall and extends all the way down to the North Sea. Originally these two towers were three stories high with an additional two stories of battlements. |
 |
| Ollie with sheep, the Constable's Tower, and the east wall in the background. |
 |
| The boys getting their goofies out. |
 |
| These sheep are, like, posing for us! They even bleated on cue. They must be on the payroll. :) |
 |
| You knew they were going to chase them, of course, didn't you? |
A few pictures back in the village of Craster:
 |
| The Shoreline Cafe, where the boys had fruit scones and I had a cup of tea. They had a log fire burning when we walked in. Ahhh, perfect! |
 |
| Goodbye, Craster and Dunstanburgh Castle. |
No comments:
Post a Comment