This promontory of the Whin Sill in the bay below Dunstanburgh Castle looks like a twisted stretch of road jutting out to sea. As the name suggests gorse – also known as whin – grows on the outcrop and there was still plenty of it in flower today.
Our coffee break was at Eleanor’s Byre. Eleanor was the sister of Henry III and lived here, a mile or two from Dunstanburgh. In her will she set up a lepers’ hospital a few traces of which – cobbles used to surface a yard and a gate pillar – were found when the buildings were renovated.
The golden retrievers, a pair of them, were taking a lunch break in the Jolly Sailor at Caster.