Holy Island

(4th day)

I enjoyed the feelings that I woke up, all I need to do was just to get ready to play. YES !

Another day that full with lots of curiosity and expectation had begun. That's the best thing about going to a total strange country for vacation, cause you never know what you will about to see at the place.

Our next destination was Holy Island. The name itself is special enough, and instantly lead me to imagine a beautiful picture of the heaven. This time, KS briefly described the place as a mysterious, tranquil, dangerous, yet an awesome place to visit. We were so excited to hear that. He said we just got to seeing to believing it.

We checked out the hotel around 8 am. Since the time was still early, KS said we should go somewhere else before Holy Island. Fine, whatever he said.

About half an hour later, we approached the Scottish border. Just when KS and I whined about the regret for had to write off Scotland from our plan, we saw this marvelous castle in front of us even from far. Wow, another grand castle !

Standing high on a basalt outcrop, Bamburg Castle is one of the most impressive looking castles in England. It is visible for many miles. The site of the castle has a history of occupation dating back to the 1st century BC. One of the oldest buildings remaining is a large Norman Keep, probably built by Henry II.

We heard that Bamburg Castle is the home of the Armstrong family. Part of the castle is open to public from 11 am -5 pm. In view of the late opening time, it isn't quite fit to our schedule. Nevertheless, it's still good to come here and take a look of this majestic historical site.

No doubt this is a grand house, but too grand to be my dream house.

This road was closed by the time we were there. So we stopped our car before the bar, and walked inside instead.

Overlooking the North Sea, and from its battlements offers views of Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island, the Farne Islands and the Cheviot Hills.

In 1464, during the Wars of the Roses, Bamburg became the first castle to succumb to cannon fire, suffering a heavy damage. The ruins of the castle were restored and extended in the 18th and 19th centuries leaving little of the earlier fortifications.

This castle is considered very well maintained, probably because the Armstrong family is still living there. Looking at the window, I wonder if they were still sleeping at that time?

I wonder if all this land is belong to the castle's owner? And the people who live in the nearby settlement are their workers and staffs? Emm...unless I knocked their door and asked, I have no way to find it out.

Also, I wonder how is it feel to live near a big castle that is centuries old? Furthermore, most of them seem to have their own ghost story, interesting.

This is a small pub we saw on the way to Bamburg Castle. The design of the house is noticeably different from the other towns.

Be it commercial or residential house, they would share the similarities as long as they were built in the same town. If one is expect enough, maybe he /she can distinguish the town by looking at the outlook of their houses?

Holy Island is just a few miles away, north of Bamburg Castle. Around 9 am, we reached the only causeway that can lead us to the island. The signboard of "Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve" that was put aside of the road can hardly be seen if one didn't pay attention.

The most compelling fact about this island is its periodic isolation from the mainland by high tides. Holy Island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that is cut off twice a day by the tides. . That means the island is inaccessible at high tide, unless he / she can fly.

There are 2 ways to go to the island, by walking or driving. Visitors wishing to walk between the mainland and the island are urged to keep to the marked path, check tide times and weather carefully, and seek local advice if in doubt.

Visitors driving should pay close attention to the timetables prominently displayed at both ends of the causeway. The causeway is generally open from about 3 hours after high tide until 2 hours before the next high tide. There is no substitute for checking the timetables for a specific date, and the period of closure may extend during stormy weather.

We stopped the car at this end of the causeway to check the tides time table. According to the time table, on 5-Aug, the day we wanted to go Holy Island, the safe time to cross the causeway was 10 am. And the visitor was adviced to leave the island before 4.20 pm. Ok, must keep this important information in mind.

We certainly don't want to make fool of ourselves to be rescued in this way, which may be widely broadcasted in the England TV's news....like that so shameful lah, must cover my face in plastic bag lo.

Instead of waiting from far side, KS said why don't we drive a bit nearer to see things clearer. So, we followed. Just when we could see the middle part of the causeway was still submerged in water, the boys screamed hysterically as KS kept driving near to the water. Gosh, they were really frightened. Frankly speaking, I felt nervous that I "wei wei wei wei WEEIII..." him several times myself too. Finally he stopped. We sat in the car for some time before we stepped out. I felt like we were surrounded by water, and the feeling that we could only stand on this small piece of land is terrifying. Ah yes, nobody was there but the 4 silly us.

Still feeling a bit uneasy, KS reversed the car to where we'd stopped just now. Some cars were waiting there to cross the road by then. About 15 min later, we saw some cars started to approach the island slowly despite the water was not totally subsided. We waited some more time until we saw all of the cars had made the cross successfully. Then, KS started the engine again. I checked my watch, the time was around 9.30 am

Before we drive through, KS stopped the car at this point, just want to make sure the road ahead was all clear. Ha, look who was so dare-devil just now?

Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, was a religious centre in 635, when Saint Aidan established a monastery and church there. It was abandoned in 875 because of the threat of Danish raids, but the monastery was refounded in 1082 and survived until the dissolution of the monasteries (1536-40) under Henry VIII.

Home to a population of less than 200, Lindisfarne was mainly a fishing community for many years, with farming and the production of lime also of some importance. Tourism grew steadily throughout the twentieth century, and it is now a popular place with visitors.

We parked the car at a public car park near to the town. There were only 2 cars (inclusive ours) at that time. Without permission, all vehicles are not allow to drive in the town.

There is shuttle bus to take visitors to the various designated places. But it will only start the service after 10 am. Sigh, still have 20 min to go. We didn't want to wait for that long, so we decided to take a walk in the town area.

The town was so tranquil and peaceful at that time. We hardly see anybody there.

Just when we turned left into a small street, we saw the famous Lindisfarne Castle ahead.

Sited atop the volcanic mound known as Beblowe Craig, Lindisfarne Castle is one of the most distinct and picturesque features of the Island and can be seen for many miles around.

We estimated the distance to walk to the castle is around 2 km, should be ok to the boys. So, we decided not to turn back to take the shuttle bus.

Another turn, then we were on the track heading to the Lindisfarne Castle.





Looking at the town behind us, this is indeed a very small town with population less than 200. At peak time, visitors can outnumber the local people a few times.

This is quite a long way to walk. KS and Vincent walked faster, William and I walked more leisurely behind them.

From time to time, when we were too far behind, KS would push us to walk faster.

He didn't understand why we took such a long time to catch up with them. I didn't know too, I guess I was just not in the hurry.

Ah yes, one of the reason I walked pretty slow was my attention was easily captured by this kind of pretty flowers grow along the road. They are very small actually, about the size of a 50 cents coin. I think KS walked too fast that he didn't notice them.

And those wild flowers also captured my attention too...

The scenery here is truly mysterious but very very beautiful. As KS said : seeing to believing it !

This road is longer than my expectation. I really didn't know how far is it from the place we first saw it? Maybe more than 2 km?





After walking for 30 min, finally we reached the castle. It looks very awesome at the near distance. Lindisfarne Castle has provided a shooting location for a number of films, notably Roman Polanski's The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971).

The castle is located in what was once the very volatile border area between England and Scotland. Not only did the English and Scots fight, but the area was frequently attacked by Vikings. The castle was built in 1550, around the time that Lindisfarne Priory was demolished, and stones from the priory were used as building material. It is very small by the usual standards, and was more of a fort. The castle sits on the highest point of the island, a whin stone hill called Beblowe.

The castle is facing the North sea and the view is just superb.

Sunddenly, I so envy the people who live in this isolated heaven. They wake up only when they feel like waking up, eat when they feel like eating, sleep when they feel like sleeping, work when they feel like working....I ponder : life can be that simple, but why I choose to live a bustle busy life? I need to think...

In 1901, Edward Hudson (founder of Country Life magazine) negotiated its purchase from the Crown and in 1902 Sir Edwin Lutyens (the well-known architect) began the conversion to create the Edwardian country house we see today.





The slope is indeed very steep. I wonder if there is any potential danger of land slide?





Admission charge is considered cheap : Adult £6.00; Child (under 18yrs) £3.00

We definitely wanted to go inside after a long walk to here. Boy, we couldn't wait to see what's inside the castle...

The entrance to the castle is quite dramatic and involves a steep climb around the rocky base. Lutyens' original slope was unprotected by either rails or fences in an attempt to emphasise the exposed nature of the site.





The boys have all sorts of imagination about the castle. Anyway, I didn't want to scare them with the ghost story about this castle. It's said the ghost of a soldier haunts Lindisfarne Castle, a resident since the Civil War when Parliamentarian forces attacked a Royalist garrison at the castle. The ghost of a phantom white dog also roams the ruins.






We walked through a narrow corridor to this front yard.













My first time entered a very old castle, heart was pounding. This is the reception area, we were told not to take photos inside the castle, but outside area is ok. Well, seeing the photo books that they display on the desk, I understand they do this to protect the publisher. But this is a free market, isn't it?






There is 9 rooms that open to the public. This is the dining room. The space is not very spacious but the ambience is excellent.






The opposite wall was painted in blue. So, 1 dining room, 2 different visual effect. The designer is such a genius.










In certain rooms, there got crew inside to safe guide the valuable stuffs. So I really couldn't take pictures no matter how 'thick face' I am. Those rooms are more beatiful than the one that I could take pictures of.





This is one of the bedrooms. All of the furniture there are antiques.

This bed doesn't look very comfortable to me.

There is another front yard on the other side of the castle. We took a short break here.

The boys were busy with the little quiz that they took part. They need to find the 9 icons that was shown in the paper. For example, icon 1 is the picture hang on the wall in room 1, etc. They like that quiz and they were very enthusiatic to find the embedded pictures. End up, they found 6 out of 9 by themself. Their prize was a sticker, and they took it like a precious.

Standing up there, we could see Bamburg Castle that we've been visited before we came to Holy Island.

Don't know whose grave yard is that? I guess should be someone who has close relationship with the castle.

After a short break, we continue to visit the rest of the rooms.

About an hour later, we finished the tour and walked out the main entrance.

I wonder : was the people who used to lived here feel very very lonely?

There is a bump near the sea side.

Looking at Lindisfarne Castle from the same horizontal level.

Forgot what they've found on the grass there.

The time was around 12 noon. And we were so surprised to see thousand of visitors flocked to the castle in groups. Luckily we came at early time, otherwise, I don't think we could enjoy the walk nor the castle like we just did.

We were very tired to walked back to the car park. So, we sat on the grass there and waited for the shuttle bus to arrive.

While waiting for the shuttle bus, we bought some crab sandwiches from a mobile hawker.

A popular delicacy on the island is crab sandwiches, which are sold to tourists at many shops and cafés. It cost £2, and very very delicious. The crab meat is very juicy, with the natural taste of sea water.

The boys were more interested to play on the beach though. Only when we called them, then they climbed up to take a few bites of the crab sandwich.

On the way back, the bus driver brief us a bit when we passed by some stops in the town. There is nothing too special, except when he pointed to a small house on his right, and said it is a school which currently have 6-7 students. Almost at the same time, KS and I blinked to each other. Thinking of the same thing, we burst out laughing. This place is truly a haeven, isn't it? I bet the students and parents as well, will never ever feel the pressure studying there.

When we returned to the car park, it's amazing to see so many cars were there. Holy Island has became such a popular place with visitors. Sometimes a little too popular, as space and facilities are limited. That's understandable cause Holy Island is indeed a very special place to visit.

We left Holy Island at around 1 pm. KS said there is another great castle nearby, name Dunstanburgh Castle, worth a visit. As usual, we couldn't agree more. By then, we just love castle.

However, the road to that castle is quite difficult to find. We have made several wrong turns before we finally on the right track. We arrived at Craster town some time around 2 pm.

Dunstanburgh Castle lies on a spectacular headland on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle is the largest in Northumberland and the site shows traces of much earlier occupation before the erection of the castle was started in 1313 by the Earl of Lancaster.

As usual, cars are not allowed to go too near to the castle compound. The only way to go there is by walking. Looking from far, we estimated the distance would be at least 2 km. Under the hot sun, we were too tired and hungry to walk that far. So, we just had to cancel the plan.

Since we were there, we walked a bit further to the Craster town to look for something to eat. This is a very small town and there isn't many restaurants there. We have checked 2 restaurants and they were all full house. Knowing people would take a very long time to enjoy their lunch here, there was no point to wait for our turn. So, we decided to leave the place fast.

On the way back, we saw this L. Robson & Sons Ltd, world famous traditional fish smokers, This is the producers of the legendary 'Craster Kipper'. Here you can purchase a range of specially selected, finest quality seafood, and also find out why this unique family business has been producing some of the world's finest smoked salmon and kippers for almost 100 years. We entered the shop for a quick look, bought nothing, then left.

Just when we were headache looking for foods, we saw a van parked in front of the Information Center. Many people line up there to buy hamburgers. Well, that's our only choice to get foods in the shortest time. So, we walked straight to the van without any hesitation.

There isn't many choices for the hamburgers. But the famous local delicacy, Kipper fish burger is in the list. The Kipper fish was smoked, though got many fine bones, it's very delicious.

The other burger we bought was beef burger. The taste is simply too strong that none of us like it.

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We sat there and rested for a while, then we departed to our next destination. KS said this would be the longest journey amongst all. Without an accurate map, KS think it would take 2 hours. He seem a bit tension that day cause he hadn't booked any hotel for that night. We just got to go there to look for one. Well, we think, as long as we have enough cash in the pocket, shouldn't have any problem, right.

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William fell asleep very fast, and lucky him, he slept like a pig the whole journey.

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