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BAMBURGH

6th April 2020

I shared this walk at Bamburgh on Steller last week (you can see it here) and looking through the photos and videos I took from this trip back on February 14, it really struck me how much our lives have changed in these recent weeks. Our worlds have shrunk to our local areas, which hasn’t been easy, but as we’re entering week three of this new social isolation, I’ve grown to really appreciate our local walks. I’ve grown to appreciate simply being outdoors, even if the places we really love are too far away for us to visit now.

And I was also struck by the sense of peace in these photos. That’s not to say that our lives didn’t have worries then, but the worries were different, and here, walking along this vast empty beach below this vast sky, with nothing but the sound of the waves, it was the perfect way to cleanse our minds; to switch off the chatter for a few hours. So I wanted to share this walk here too, just to reflect on that peace.

Friday 14 was my birthday, and we’d both taken the day off work to go away somewhere with the lads. It had been an endlessly rainy week, which had shifted our plans as we’d hoped for a forest walk at Tentsmuir in Fife, or perhaps in Perthshire, but it was too wet. The forecast showed better weather if we headed south, so we decided to drive to Northumberland in the hope of finding a break in the rain. It rained pretty much all the way down the A1, and our initial idea was to drive to Lindisfarne as the tidal times gave us a window of opportunity to cross, explore for a bit, and – crucially! – drive back off the island before the tide returned. But as we drove over the causeway the rain started again, so we turned around and headed a little further south to Bamburgh.

We didn’t expect to find blue sky after all this rain, but Bamburgh was feeling generous on this day. The light had that gentle misty quality, and the beach was almost empty so we just kept walking and walking until we reached these rocks, which felt like a natural point to turn back. Now, three weeks into lockdown, we can’t wait to return to these adventures, knowing that nature will still be there, waiting to welcome us all.

Bamburgh beach, Friday 14 February, 2020. 

See more on my Steller story here.