Sea Houses

On the rugged and beautiful Northumberland coast this authentic little fishing community is well worth a visit. Once the salt herring capital of Northumberland the harbour still sees a small fleet come and go.

You may eat fish caught and landed that day in the lovely seafood restaurants and just watch the colourful passing of the day. Or you can take one of the half-hourly voyage to the nearby Farne Islands which is Britains premier bird sanctuary. large colonies of grey seals share the Farn Islands with Terns and twelve other species of birds.

It was from Longstone Lighthouse on these islands that Grace Darling made her historical and heroic sea rescue.

There are wonderful beaches and magnificent sand dunes stretching for miles on either side of the town and if you are lucky then you will see the small band of wild ponies that live here. please don't feed the ponies though - it makes them less independent.

Bamburgh (Click Here for More)

Just to the north of Sea Houses lies the grand and impressive Bamburgh Castle. This castle is massive even by the standards of this coastline of spectacular heritage and it absolutely dominates the village of the same name.

Lying atop a massive, dramatic outcrop of Whinn Sill rock (The Whin Sill is a type of igneous rock which was formed as the result of hot, molten material being forced between surrounding strata some 300 million years ago.) overlooking the North Sea, Bamburgh Castle was the royal seat of the Kings of Northumbria from the 6th century onwards.The castle was renovated and rebuilt by the first lord Armstrong - a famous geordie engineer who made vast fortunes manufacturing arms.

The castle is open to the public and is well worth a visit to see the collections of tapestries, ceramics, paintings and the collection of Lord Armstrongs engineering masterpieces.