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.