Britain's Best Kept Secret

I am referring to the Northumbrian coast. Family circumstances have recently been drawing me to this part of the world and it has been a real treat. I have visited it at different times of the year and each time there has been something different to enjoy. This recent journey has revealed the power of the North Sea in all of its glory. You can't help but be inspired by the waves crashing over the harbour walls at Seahouses. Sadly there were no boat trips to be had but nature provided her own show.

Last time I was there was in early June and I was able to take a boat ride. We were in quite a small boat and so were able to get in close the the rocky cliffs which provide shelter for a whole host of nesting sea birds. I've seen many such scenes on television but to experience nature in the raw in our own islands is breathtaking. Nothing prepared me for the smell - the many thousands of puffins, shags, terns and guillemots which gather in the Farne Islands each year will produce a phenomenal amount of droppings. Believe me, when the smell of pure guano burns the back of your nostrils, you know you are alive! Fantastic!


This time we visited Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, which took on a new mysterious beauty, veiled as it was in sea mist. We had to wait a little while but patience was rewarded, as it always is, by some little magic or other. This time, as we stood, a solitary group, looking out to sea on St Cuthbert's island, we saw something move on the rocks below. It was a seal. We have seen them in the past from boats, but this one was really close by. We marvelled for a little while before leaving the little fella to his own devices.