AMBLE THROUGH NORTHUMBERLAND

Having left the banks of the River Aln behind, we soon have another watercourse to traverse, the River Coquet at Warkworth.

Warkworth is a compact place, dominated by its castle.....

.....and its church.

Now, we're back on the coast, at Amble, where the harbour was used to transfer coal from the nearby pits onto coastal shipping.

Today, Amble harbour is used for pleasure boats. One can see Warkworth Castle on the horizon.

Here's Amble High Street - an old postcard view.

Smith's of Amble was once the local bus operator.

This former Eastern National Bristol coach was found, in the hands of a contractor, in Amble in the 1970s.

To the south was the village of Radcliffe, mostly now gone because of open cast coal extraction. Craigg's Coaches' depot was here.

Heading inland, we cross the ECML at Acklington station.

Further inland. We are now at Rothbury, at the end of a North British Railway branch.

Rothbury once had a thriving sheep market.

Right inside rural Northumberland is Netherton, home of the totally unspoilt Star Inn. WARNING - real ale may not be available and opening hours are very limited.

Back into a more populated area, at Otterburn, to the depot of Vasey's Coaches.

Beside the ECML, near Widdrington, was an open cast mine, where this fine Hunslet 'Austerity' 0-6-0ST was employed, painted in pseudo-BR livery.

Our next stop is Morpeth, a fine town, though its railway station is a decent trot from the town centre below.

Castle Square, Morpeth.

Bridge Street.

Morpeth market around 1900.

Morpeth Market Place in 1937, with some United buses.

A modern view of the town centre (Creative Commons License).

The church of St Mary the Virgin (Creative Commons License).

United was the main bus operator in the 1970s.

United later became Northumbria.

Independents have included Tower Transit, Vasey's of Otterburn and Craigg's of Radcliffe.

The Joiners Arms serves a selection of real ales.

Sadly, no cask beer these days in the Waterford Lodge.

The last pub of this post is the Tap & Spile, a magnet for real ale lovers.

Next time, we'll be looking around the Ashington area. See the route here.

KIPPERS & THE RIVER ALN

We now take a trip along the coast, passing en route Dunstanburgh Castle. 

We soon arrive at Craster and we can look back at where we've been.

1994 saw the first passenger boat to arrive in Craster Harbour since the 1930s, thanks to Crookham Travel.

Craster is famous for kippers! (Photo by Sarah Davison CC).

Here's the village pub, the Jolly Fisherman, when it was a Vaux house.

We now head inland to Alnwick. The railway station here closed in the 1960s and has now been converted to a bookshop (Paula Funnell CC).

A new station, called Alnwick Lionheart, is being brought into use by a preservation society, the Aln Valley Railway (Steve Knight CC).

Alnwick is a walled town. It is entered using one of the gates.

Within the walls is Alnwick Castle.

Here's an old postcard view of the state dining room within Alwick Castle.

United Automobile Services had a depot in Alnwick and this brand new Leyland Olympian was photographed there in 1986, just before it received its Northumbria paintwork.

Dreadnought Coaches ran tourist buses in and around Alnwick.

In Alnwick town centre is the Queens Head.

Close by is the Fleece Inn.

It's dark by the time we reach the excellent Tanners Arms.

Another good boozer is the John Bull.

Alnmouth station is now the railhead for Alnwick. Here it is, on the East Coast Main Line, in NER days.

An Arriva bus will soon take us into Alnmouth itself.

Here's the "tranquil mouth of the River Aln" in the 1880s.

Now, a more modern view, with Coquet Island visible.

Looking up the river in 2008.

Some moored boats on the river.

The Hope & Anchor is more of a restaurant these days, but still has real ale.

The Red Lion Inn has decent beer and accommodation.

It would appear that the Saddle Hotel is no longer in business. 

So, it's goodnight from Alnmouth.

The next post will find us in more industrial surroundings. Here's the map of the route so far.