We were up and ready to leave the Lakeland hut at 09:45, so we did. Whilst packing I discovered what the petroleum smell we had been smelling was caused by, the spare oil in the boot pack was slightly leaking, luckily contained within the bag, so I wasted some time wiping down the air pump, triangle and fire extinguisher.
We headed off past Whitehaven, then onto the A7 and through Carlisle, the roads are quite rural long and straight. Eventually we turned off towards Kielder Forest and water, where we though a good lunch stop would be the Osprey Watch point. The road in was pretty empty, but was a good surface a a dream to drive on. The houses were sparse along thje route and you get a real sense of the size of the forest it is massive.
We got to the Osprey watch point (part of a Kielder complex campsite, pub etc) and parked up £1.40 for an hours parking. The osprey watch point was an area round the back of the pub where the local Nature Trust had set up camp with their telescopes, including a quite powerful astronomical one. We had a look you could just about make out the platform, but that was about it, even if the birds were not hunkered down due to freezing weather you could not have seen them. I guess the idea is to catch a view when the fly out hunting for fish over the lake, but it was too cold to be standing around, and we only had an hours parking!
Back on the road we had our packed lunch, and headed into the Northumbria National Park, where the landscape changed from forest to moorland, very open and bleak rolling countryside. The roads were straight only turning when we got to human habitation or followed a valley river. We passed through Otterburn where there once was a battle.
Alnwick was our planned stop to get supplies, and as we drove through looking for Sainsbury’s, I spotted Barbers book shop “one of the largest in England”, and what a lot of books they have. The shop is in the old railway station and it is full of book shelves, most of them open but the rarer books are in cabinets. Helen bout a couple of books while I took some photo’s.
We found Sainsbury’s on the edge of town, and it seemed like everyone from Alnwick was there shopping like the shops were going to be shut for the next month, we checked and they are not closing at all over the Jubilee weekend.
Then it was off to find Craster even after TomTom put us onto the A1 heading south when we needed to go North, but after a U-turn we were back on track and soon in Craster. The cottage was easy to find and had coned off parking directly opposite. The accomodation looked great two bedrooms both en suite, one with a view over the harbour. The lounge was comfortable with plenty of soft furnishings, kitchen well equipped, but no dish washer.
Helen and I settle in to wait for H&N to turn up.
They arrive before 18:00, after a reasonable journey, up the A1. We sat around and caught up, them had some Pizzas that they bought with them before going over the harbour to the Jolly Fisherman.
The beer is good we had Black Sheep Brewery Bitter and Golden Sheep. Tomorrow we have planned a circular walk from the hut.