2021 AUTUMN HOLIDAY; DUNSTANBURGH CASTLE
Good day readers
Dunstanburgh Castle is a short (1½ miles from Craster) walk. There is a
large carpark (with public loos that are barely acceptable) on the right as you
approach Craster and there is no public parking (or loos) in the village.
The carpark has two Electric Vehicle charging points, but no apparent cables to
connect to your car. Be careful to follow the rules of the carpark because the
Parking Warden is very enthusiastic. Parking in a non-existent bay or over the
line delineating your bay will result in a fine. Although a relatively large
carpark and a small village the carpark fills rapidly so it is best like us to
go early. Equally later in the day you will find yourself in a stream of
walkers going to the castle or past the castle to Embleton bay.
There is a café in the village (The Shoreline café) that opens at 10am.
The Jolly Sailor is the only pub in the village and is very popular and it is
definitely best to book a table in the restaurant if you want an evening meal
or Sunday lunch. The view from the Jolly Fisherman restaurant looks over the
cliff towards the East and the sea. We have on occasion seen Seals from the
full-height windows and a friend of ours has seen a pod of Dolphins from the
cliffs. There is an alternative eating venue at the café attached to the famous
Craster Kipper Smokehouse. The harbour is tidal and the home to a few crab and
lobster fishermen. Most of the few boats earn a living by taking groups of rod
and line anglers out to sea. It is possible to see Eider ducks in the harbour,
they are mentioned in the first book. Eider ducks are most famous for lining
their nests with feathers plucked from their breast. There is a cottage
industry conducted by Icelandic farmers. The farmers protect the nests of
colonies of the Eider duck from predators. After the eggs have hatched and the
young have left the farmer collects the surplus nest linings to be used as filling
in Eiderdowns, more recently the filling is either goose feathers or polyester
loft. An episode of Vera was filmed at Craster and on the nearby Farne Islands.
Leaving the village towards the North, you walk on a broad grassy path
with fields of cows, pewits, curlews and oyster catchers to your left. On the
right is a rocky foreshore where you can see Herons and occasionally
kingfishers hunting for small fish in the rockpools. A couple of seasons ago we
saw a beached juvenile hunpback whale. Unfortunately it had died at sea and
washed up onto the coast. A few weeks later some friends walked the same route
and the whale had substantially decayed and the smell was very pungent.
The sharp-eyed amongst you will notice little flags dancing on the end of poles
200 metres or so offshore marking th positions of crab and lobster pots.
Eventually located on the hill in front of you, the derelict
Dunstanburgh Castle is reached. The castle is in the protection of English
Heritage although National Trust members get in free. There is now, a Google
Earth 3D walk along the top to the castle and around the inside of it, for
those of you who cannot manage the walk. The walk can be very arduous in windy
conditions and there are no public loos in the castle.
The castle was started to built in the second decade of the 14th century by the Earl of Lancaster in an open rebellion to king
Edward 2. Unfortunately in the third decade the ill founded rebellion was
quashed and before he could retire to his castle he was captured and subsequently
executed. The castle was later strengthened to protect against the Scots.
During the War of the Roses it was seiged and captured by the Yorkists. It fell
into decay and is currently protected by English Heritage.
I’ve attached two photos of Dunstanburgh Castle, one of which shows a
view which is reminiscent of the castle on the cover illustration of the book
(but it isn’t the castle featured).
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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