2021 AUTUMN HOLIDAY: BAMBURGH
Good day readers
Bamburgh is a little hamlet that is best known for its beach, Castle
and the Grace Darling Museum. There appear to be two pronunciations of the word
Bamburgh; The first is ‘Bam-bur’ The second is ‘Bram-bro-row’.
Grace Horsley Darling was born in Bamburgh on 24 November 1815, the
daughter of an English lighthouse keeper. Her father was the keeper at
the Longstone Lighthouse in the Farne Islands. On 6th – 7th September 1838 there was a terrible
storm and the SS Forfar ran aground on the Rocks of the Farne Islands at night.
Grace (then 22 years old) wanted to row out to the ship to rescue the survivors
immediately, however, her father persuaded her to wait until morning when the
light was better. Both Grace and her father William rowed out to the wreck to rescue
the stranded survivors. On return to the lighthouse Grace’s mother Thomasin
looked after the wounded whilst her father made further trips to the wreck.
Grace’s fame became known throughout England for her act of bravery and
Queen Victoria wrote to her and rewarded her for her courage. She was awarded
the Silver Medal for bravery by the forerunner of the RNLI.
She died in Alnwick of TB on 20th October 1842
aged 26 years old and was buried in St Aiden’s Church Bamburgh. There is a
monument to Grace in the graveyard and a stained glass window illustrating her
bravery in the church.
The beach at low tide is some 100-200 metres wide and stretches for
miles and it is possible to walk to Seahouses on of the last inshore fishing
ports in Northumberland. Several films have scenes that have been shot
both at the beach and at the Castle notably; Transformers and the latest (to be
shown 2021-2022) Indiana Jones.
From Seahouses it is possible to have a boat trip to Grace Darling’s
lighthouse and the world famous bird sanctuaries on the Farne Islands.
The castle was established in the 11th century
and has been much modified over the intervening period until its present form.
It is a world famous archeological site and the museum house many unique saxon
finds. At the other end of the timeline there is a section of the museum that
houses aviation artifacts and other exhibits relating to the industrialist
William Armstrong.
The castle was built on a 50 metre high crag overlooking Bamburgh.
There was a fortification on the site from the early fifth century built by
Celtic Britons. It lay in the hands of the ancient Britons, the Saxons and was
eventually destroyed by the Vikings in the 10th Century. After the Norman conquest the stone castle was built and
forms the core of the modern castle. During the War of the Roses in the mid 15th century, it was laid siege to by the Yorkists and was the first
castle to be beaten by artillery.
At a later stage in its life it became the property of the church and
the then Bishop of Northumberland, and later his son, built a windmill for the
use of the villagers and established a hospital in the grounds of the castle.
At this time extensive renovation were carried out to the keep.
Whilst Warkworth Castle is a ruin, my ideal of a castle, Bamburgh
Castle is more of a Stately home type with a museum and also has a tearoom.
I have included in this blog a couple of pictures of the castle, one
from the seaward side (the couple in the photograph is not us) and one from the
landside. The beach at Bamburgh is mentioned in the first book of the intended
series as a place where they played Frisbee.
My first book “Port St James: Cliff farm” is a modern romance set in
Northumberland. The fishing village is overlooked by a medieval castle. The two
principal characters meet on the steps of a solicitor as both of them complete
their respective divorces.
Extract for the first book Port St James: Cliff farm.
CHAPTER ONE CHANCE MEETING
Fordhams’ Solicitors (Newcastle): 10.00am Friday 16 April 2010
Jane
Jane blinked as she left the Newcastle solicitors’ office; the sun had
come out and was shining straight into her face. As she stepped forward, she
stumbled into a stranger, whose reactions were quick enough to catch Jane,
before she fell down the rest of the stone steps.
‘Oops a daisy.’
‘I am so sorry, it’s been a hectic morning and coming back into the
sunlight just disorientated me.’
‘Well it was lucky I was here to catch you or you would have fallen
down these steps and the local stone is not as soft as carpeted stairs.’
For Jane memories of her abusive husband flooded back and she burst
into silent tears. The stranger was clearly distressed,
‘I am so sorry, I didn’t mean anything.’
His mind flashed back over his words, in case he had actually said
something different to what he had intended to say.
My book was published by Austin Macauley on 31st August 2021and is available on line, from most bookshops and as
an ebook. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing the novel. If so
please post a review on https://austinmacauley.com/book/port-st-james
Thank you and all the best Philippa
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