2021 AUTUMN HOLIDAY: WARKWORTH AND WARKWORTH CASTLE
Good day readers
Recently I went on holiday to Northumberland staying self-catering at a
location in Amble with my spouse. We had good weather all week except one day
as we were leaving to go for a walk, it started to rain, went back inside for
coats and it stopped. It was fine for rest of day and we were equipped for
rain. One of our favorite walks is from the Amble Braid and Marina alongside
the River Coquet to Warkworth Castle. We generally have a meal/snack at
Bertrams bistro/café in Warkworth, and then walk behind the houses alongside
the river and up the steep hill to the Castle. From the castle we retrace our
steps back to the car. This is our favourite type of walk thirty to forty
minutes walking, food, and thirty to forty walking back.
Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the town of Warkworth
in Northumberland. We first visited the castle, that is in the protection of
English Heritage whilst members of the National trust are allowed in for free,
some thirty odd year ago when our son was pre-teens. The weather was raining on
that day and we played hide and seek in the castle for several hours. The
castle was believed to be built by king Henry 2; although popular belief is
that it was built by Prince Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria in the mid
12th century. The original timber castle was overrun by the Scots in 1173.
The timber castle was replaced by a stone built castle between 1213 and
1319. The stone castle successfully survived two sieges by the Scots in 1327.
The Earl of Northumberland supported Oliver Cromwell in the English civil war
and the conflict saw much damage to the castle.
The castle was given into the keeping of the predecessor of the English
heritage by the 8th Duke of Northumberland and is
currently owned by the 12th Duke. It became a scheduled ancient
monument in 1915 and is a grade 1 listed building.
I have included in this blog a couple of pictures of the castle.
My first book “Port St James: Cliff farm” is a modern romance set in
Northumberland. The fishing village is overlooked by a medieval castle.
Alncastle is some six miles to the East and is the major town in the area
served by the East coast mainline and the A1. The two principal characters meet
on the steps of a solicitor as both of them complete their respective divorces.
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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