'Oop North'

 We were away this past week in the caravan, travelling uncharacteristically far, up to a campsite on the Northumbrian coast near Alnwick.  We broke our journey each way with a night in Yorkshire: at Thirsk going up, and at Boroughbridge coming south.  In the north, we were camping in an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and it was lovely, particularly the unspoiled golden beach at Embleton Bay near our campsite. We had some lovely walks and were able to visit three castles in the week: Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh (of 'The Last Kingdom' TV fame) and Alnwick (now known for the Harry Potter scenes filmed there). DS kindly came and house-sat for us, since the house feels vulnerable now that all levels are accessible by scaffolding.

The small market town of Thirsk had some elaborate yarn bombing all over town, in the form of knitted hanging baskets themed to match the shops they were hanging in front of, eg. art shop, estate agent, butcher, craft shop etc.

The ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle

We walked to it and toured the ruins

Bamburgh Castle

Nicest from the outside as the interior was heavily rebuilt in

Victorian/Edwardian times

Alnwick Castle

We took the 'Film Locations' guided tour so I could fan-girl over the

Harry Potter locations. Also where the first BlackAdder series was filmed.

  

Boroughbridge, as it turns out, was the birthplace of Victorian explorer Isabella Bird. the Hall being the home of her maternal grandmother. I've read a few of her books and a biography. I suspect she was a rather annoying woman to know but there is no denying her fearless treading of paths not often taken by upperclass white women.

The coast with the sea in the distance

For leisure time in the caravan, I took along a wool felt kit by Corinne Lapierre to sew an embroidered felt cat.  The kit came with everything needed including stuffing.  Very cute.

I'm also close to finishing the cross stitch bookmark kit that I've been working on this summer during holidays. This was a free gift from a magazine.

So now it's back to scaffold-land.  The new double glazing panes are getting installed on the 15th, and then the following week I should be off to Shetland if all goes well (I've been reading worrying things about how often Logan Air cancels their island flights).