Subtitle: All things Aln-: Alnwick Lodge B&B, Castle Alnwick,
Alnwick (the village), Alnmouth (the village, including the River Aln)
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 – Thursday, April 12, 2018.
We took the rental car from Newcastle north to Alnwick, deciding
to skip trying to see Hadrian's Wall since we spent more time
exploring Newcastle. We stayed at the Alnwick Lodge B&B which
is right off of the A1 highway. I took some pictures of it. It
had once been stables.
The next day we drove into Alnwick and explored Alnwick Castle,
then the town of Alnwick, including Barder Books, a pretty large
used book store in an old train station.
The weather was still mediocre at best (cold, foggy, occasionally rainy)
and spending an hour getting to Holy Island in the middle of a storm
seemed like a poor idea. So instead we went to Alnmouth, a town 5
miles away, where the Aln River meets the North Sea. It's a cute
seaside town that was pretty deserted. Even the water was deserted
as it was low tide and many boats in the river were grounded. I
took more pictures.
Part 9: Backyard
Blacksmith Workshop Part 10: Bagby Airfield Part 11: Byland Abbey Part 12: National Railway
Museum Part 13: Cambridge (Part
2) Part 14: Cambridge
Botanical Gardens Part 15: The Departure
003-DSC_0889-header: Alnwick Lodge B&B
003-DSC_0889-headertext:
I drove the rental car out of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne while Stephanie
navigated. It was the first time I've driven where you keep to
the left side of the road. And the first time I was driving a
car from the right side. So many of my habits were simply wrong
and I needed to consciously think about many things, like my
positioning with respect to the road, where to look for information
in the car, where to look for the mirrors, where to look for traffic,
what the traffic signs said and meant, and where street signs
are located. Even units of distance in the English system required
thought! We have yard, but don't use them for driving. It's not
hard to multiple yards by three to get feet and then think about them
in that way, but that took extra thought too. I realized that it
was the right move not getting a manual transmission. I didn't need
yet another distraction demanding my attention.
Driving is not that difficult, but basically I have about 35
years of driving habits working against me. Negative transfer
would be the more technical teaching and psychology term. Interestingly,
while driving I would consistently swap "right"and
"left" when talking. Even though I meant to say
the correct one, I would consistantly say the opposite, as if my
brain was just flipping everything relating to left and right just
on the off chance it might help.
I was happy I didn't have to drive and navigate. Navigating was
also challenging (it was a fancy new GPS with a weird touch screen input
and a semi-complete database of locations). At some point it was
around 4:30pm, we had pulled off the side of the road in a neighborhood
still in Newcastle to re-evaluate the situation. While not super-heavy,
traffic was not light, and it would be slower getting places. The GPS
did not actually know our destination (the Visitors Center (or Centre)
by Hadrian's Wall) and it was unclear how to toggle the GPS between
showing the map and moving the map to keep it updated with our current
location (i.e., the difference between where we are and where we want
to be, both of which we need to know). We decided to bail on Hadrian's
Wall, head to the B&B and have time to relax a bit, then get dinner
somewhere, and make plans for Thursday. So we did.
The Alnwick Lodge was a nice place that's about a mile outside of
Alnwick just off the A1 Highway. It's a farm and many of the areas
used to be stables or similar lodgings. Most of the reviews I saw
online were quite positive, though used the word "quirky."
It was comfortable, the breakfasts were nice, and the staff were
quite friendly and helpful.
Stephanie took a nap and I wandered around the B&B taking pictures.
It was still cold, foggy, and damp out. We decided we'd stop at a grocery
store in Alnwick, about 1-2 miles away, then head the other way, about
a half-mile beyond the B&B to a small restaurant. Easy.
That's when I made The Mistake. The B&B is just off of the A1
highway, 2 lanes in each direction with a big median, sometimes controlled
access (on-ramps/off-ramps), sometimes with direct left turns or right
turns from the median. It wasn't busy, and in fact there were no cars
to be seen in either direction, and it was still daytime. I needed to
turn right beyond the median, to head north into town. After checking
both directions (still nothing) I pulled into the median and then started
to point the car to the left. Stephanie yelled, "What are you
doing!?!" I stopped, the car was still in the median, but pointing
in the wrong direction, to the left. There's no way to avoid admitting
that I had attempted to do something very stupid and very wrong. Checking
that everything was (still) clear, I turned from the median onto the
left side of the road (in the direction which the car had been facing).
I wanted to put that mistake behind me. Stephanie then, more calmly,
asked why I was heading away from town and if, perhaps, I might
want to stop driving. I was more than willing to admit my mistakes
and my appreciation for her catching it and telling me (though in all
fairness, we had agreed ahead of time that "wrong side"
would be the official, unambiguous phrase for that). But I didn't want
to give up. I wanted to get back on this wrong-sided horse because
it's a challenge. It's also a low traffic area and safe enough. I said
I'd let her do some driving tomorrow and I'd navigate.
We got a few groceries and then we headed to the restaurant, The Cook
and Barker Inn in Newton-on-the-Moor. It was a cute place. I
got some Thai Fishball thing that was decent, but pretty small. I
don't know if I made the mistake on how "entree" means the
opposite thing in the US/UK (big dish/small dish) or if it was just
a small item. The parking lot was full, so we parked on the road.
Everyone was parking on the right side of the road, facing away
(i.e., parking as if they were on a US road). I had to make a mental
note that when we left for home, I would need to ignore the false
cues and immediately switch to the left side of the road. I remembered
that and the trip back was uneventful (especially since we had already
driven that way.
003-DSC_0889: This is the room where we stayed. It was called the Loose
Box. I don't know why...it might be a farm thing. No wait...I just
looked it up. It's a British term for compartment of a building in which
livestock can freely move about, like a stable for horses. I guess Loose
Box sound less hobo-y than ex-Horse Stable. The bathroom door is at the
far end of the room.
004-DSC_0890: There was a little vestibule at the far end where the
entrance/exit door was.
005-DSC_0891: The vestibule had a chair.
006-DSC_0892: This wasn't the guestbook; it just had information about
the area.
007-DSC_0893: The bathroom. The toilet is in the left corner. Another
odd thing...usually Americans are more blunt, but the English refer to
bathrooms as "toilet", while the Americans seem to prefer to
avoid the main defining purpose of the room (restroom, washroom,
bathroom, room-where-anything-but-shitting-happens-room).
008-DSC_0894: The cow headboards were cute.
009-DSC_0895: The front of the house looks pretty old and grand.
010-DSC_0896: The road where the B&B is, technically, is named
West Cawledge Park, but really it's the driveay and is more or less
the twice as long as the sign. The street beyond it is the A1 Highway.
But traffic really isn't that bad here.
011-DSC_0897: The van speaks for itself (almost literally).
012-DSC_0898: Another view of the front. Note the chair on the roof,
as the van in the previous picture had asserted.
013-DSC_0900: I took two timer shots inside the public den. The ceiling
was low, so I was going for the dramatic, shadowy shot.
014-DSC_0902: Another one, playing with the shadows on my face.
015-DSC_0903: The owner saw me and asked if she could help, so I had
her take a picture or so. This one wasn't bad for "brooding".
016-DSC_0906: Me, taking a picture of me, outside of the main building.
017-DSC_0907: Is it a sea-horse?
018-DSC_0908: Or maybe a ... I don't know, a cobra-duck?
019-DSC_0909: Kind of raven-y now, maybe?
020-DSC_0911: The last few were pictures of the shadow of my hand cast
into a birdbath. I had to hold the camera with one hand and then play
with my hand trying to get the shape to match what I had in mind. The
previous one was intended to be a little blurry. I think the wind was
blowing the water quite a bit in the first one, distorting things.
021-DSC_0912: Quirky two goose decor.
022-DSC_0913: Front gate and a sort of garden area.
023-DSC_0914:
024-DSC_0915: I liked the colorful clothespins.
025-DSC_0917: More narrow depth-of-field focus on the clothespins.
026-DSC_0919: The farm fields just beyond the B&B.
027-DSC_0920: It was cold and foggy, so the distant hillside was very hazy.
028-DSC_0921: The two goose decor from the outside.
029-DSC_0922: The den with a nice wood-burning stove to keep it warm.
030-DSC_0923: Better view of the fire in the stove.
031-DSC_0925: The common room/den where I took the self-timer/brooding
pictures earlier.
032-DSC_0926: The outside door of our room with my reflection taking
the picture.
033-DSC_0928: The Cook and Barker Inn on Newton-on-the-Moor. It was
a decent place and the bartender was friendly to us.
034-DSC_0930: A picture of me (or a semi-infinite number of me's)
in the mirror in the vestibule of our room.
035-alnwick_treehouse_Panorama-header: Alnwick Castle
035-alnwick_treehouse_Panorama-headertext:
The next day we went to Alnwick Castle in the town of Alnwick and
explored the area. It is the current residence of the Duke and Duchess
of Northumberland. They have a family line that goes back to at or
possibly one year after the Battle of Hastings (1066).
035-alnwick_treehouse_Panorama: This is a cool looking mega-treehouse.
We didn't go in it, so I don't know what it actually is. I just
checked—among other things it's a restaurant among.
035a-DSC_0935: A map of Alnwick, for reference.
036-DSC_0936:
037-DSC_0937: Birds among the flowers. What are they? See next caption.
038-DSC_0938: Apparently these birds are Helmeted Guineafowl wandering
among the daffodils. Guess they were imported from Africa.
039-DSC_0939: Daffodil fields in front of the castle.
040-DSC_0947: Daffodil fields.
041a-alnwick_castle_Panorama: Panoramic Alnwick Castle! (It's just a model...)
041b-DSC_0948: A little valley that likely once was a moat.
042-DSC_0949: Entering the front gate of Alnwick Castle.
043-DSC_0950: Free broomstick riding lessons. This is, after all, the
original Hogwarts from the first Harry Potter movie.
044-DSC_0951: And a class of kids (and adults) learning to fly (broomsticks).
045-DSC_0952: Part of the interior of Hogwarts, er Alnwick Castle.
046-DSC_0953: More broomstick training. Picture taken from the wall.
047-DSC_0954: A "wizard" giving instruction on broomsticks.
048-DSC_0955: A view of the River Aln from the opening in the castle wall.
Hey, there's a word for it: Crenels (openings) and merlons
(square sawteeth).
049-DSC_0956: A view of the river and countryside from Alnwick Castle.
050-DSC_0957: The chemin de rounde, allure, or wall walk
(more castle terms!) with Stephanie standing on the side.
051-DSC_0958: Looking through one arrow loop in the wall with another
one visible through it in the distance.
052-DSC_0959: The foggy countryside with the road to the castle that
crosses the River Aln over an arching stone bridge.
053-DSC_0960: The bridge over the River Aln on a foggy day.
054-DSC_0962: Frank leaning on a crenel on the battlement in Alnwick Castle.
055-DSC_0963: Alnwich Castle and its cannons from inside the outer wall.
056-DSC_0964: Frank sticking his head where it doesn't belong (part of an
ongoing series).
057-DSC_0965: Another view of part of Alnwick Castle.
058-DSC_0966: A canon to defend the castle.
059-DSC_0967: Jugglers at Alnwick Castle. It was cold (40sF/5-8C) and
damp. It'd be hard to juggle with cold, numb fingers.
060-DSC_0968-header: Town of Alnwick
060-DSC_0968-headertext: After touring the castle, we went back to the
car (which took us a little time to find the parking lot or "car
park", which sounds to me either something like a fish kill, or
an amusement park for cars) and ate the lunch we had packed while it
rained. The rain had held off up until that point.
We then went into town and spent some time at
Barter Books
a cool, used bookstore in the former train station.
Holy shit! The "iconic and trivialized" phrase
Keep Calm and Carry On from the WWII posters (that were
never issued) was fucking discovered by Barter Books!
Here's a video from their web site on the
history of the poster.
Anyway, after spending some time in the bookstore, we then spent some
time walking around the town of Alnwick (the rain had stopped by then).
The downtown area (or city centre?) had various little shops, some
monuments and statues, and stone gates. The town itself (in some form)
dates back to around the year 600 (though it wasn't obvious anything
that old was still present).
060-DSC_0968: Bondgate Tower, completed in 1480.
061-DSC_0969: Plaque with information on Bondgate Tower.
062-DSC_0970: This is where the road B6346 splits into the roads
B6341 (to the left) and B6341 (to the right). Part of the reason
why it's a pain in the ass to navigate in England.
063-DSC_0971: A cute little store in Alnwick. I guess they sell Grannies.
064-DSC_0972: A plaque with information on the Harry Hotspur statue.
065-DSC_0973: A statue of Sir Henry Percy, a.k.a. "Harry Hotspur,"
eldest son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland.
066-DSC_0974: Pottergate in Alnwick (spoken with a Hogwarts accent...)
067-DSC_0976: The War Memorial, originally unveiled in 1922. It has
plaques commemorating the dead from WW I, WWII, Korea, and a soldier
killed in Belfast in 1991.
068-DSC_0978: The former train station that is now Barter Books!
069-DSC_0979: A map of downtown Alnwick and the memorials.
070-DSC_0980: It was still a foggy day.
071-DSC_0981: The Tenantry Column, errected to honor the 2nd Duke of
Northumberland for lowering their rents during the recession following
the Napoleonic Wars.
072-DSC_0983: The Tenantry Column. Note the cartoon-erection of the
lion's tail at the top.
073-DSC_0984-header: Town of Alnmouth
073-DSC_0984-headertext: After walking around Alnwick, we stopped in a
coffee shop to figure out where to go next. It was around 4pm or so.
Originally, we had planned to go to Holy Island/Lindisfarne. It's a
30-45 minute drive, and then we'd drive on a road that's unpassable
during high tide. While the next 6-8 hours would be safe to cross
to Holy Island, we'd be doing a lot of walking and the weather maps
we looked at showed storms in and around that area. It was looking
if-fy in terms of how fun it'd be and we'd spend a good chunk of time
to get there and back, and then it'd be too late to do anything else.
I still wanted to see the coast. So we came up with an alternate plane.
Alnmouth is a little village 5 miles away, situated on the coast where
the River Aln ends at the North Sea. Plus it was easy to get there,
there were a few restaurants that looked like they might be good for dinner.
So we went there. Stephanie had driven the car earlier in the day. We
decided I'd drive to Alnmouth and back and then Stephanie would drive
us back to Newcastle in the morning. That made sense since I could check
the route and navigate, and Stephanie was more comfortable with the
left/right swap and traffic, and it'd get a bit busier as we got into
Newcastle.
It took maybe 10 minutes to get to Alnmouth. It was low tide so the
beaches extended way out, and most of the riverbed was dry. Boats
in a marina area were all grounded. But they were designed for the
twice per day low tide, so they could safely site on the sandy riverbed
and not tip over. We walked around there and around the town. It was
cold and damp and foggy. We walked around the town to check out our
dinner options and warm up.
We saw a hotel called The Schooner and in it was an Indian restaurant
called Spice Galleon. The menu seemed acceptable. It was inside and
heated. And the sign said that they serve non-locals (my guess is that it
was not a joke, and that in the off-seasons, some places might only be
open to local residents). So we went there. We were seated and there
was no one in the restaurant. But it wasn't cold and they'd serve
us, so we decided we'd give it a go. We ordered a number of vegetarian
things, appetizer and side dishes. And it turned out to be really good.
The portions were small-ish, so we ordered another round (some the same,
one thing different). In the end, I think it wound up being equivalent
to $18 per person for a lot of food. We talked with the owner a bit. I
must admit, the Indian/"proper British" mix with northern English
accents sounded a little odd to me. He mentioned how damned cold it was,
and how the town was pretty deserted now, when a year ago around Easter
the town was really busy. Afterwards we headed back to the B&B,
spent some time by the stove, made plans for tomorrow, and eventually
called it a night.
073-DSC_0984: A fairly weather-worn informational sign on Alnmouth in
the 18th century. The full size image is readable.
074-DSC_0993: It was foggy. The bit of water in the sandy area beyond
the road (Riverside Road) and before the grass is the River Aln at low tide.
Note the white boat sitting on the ground.
075-DSC_0994: Stephanie just beyond Riverside road, before the beach.
That area is the mouth of the Aln where it meets the North Sea.
076-DSC_0995: I believe this is the shore of the North Sea.
077-DSC_0996: Looking out across the River Aln at low tide. Two red
lights are visible inthe center of the picture. They were flashing.
I think it might have been a railroad crossing on the road heading
towards the haze.
078a-DSC_0997: Looking out across the Aln Estuary at low tide, with
the land in the distance obscurred by the haze. The little orange
thing on the left is a post with two orange life preserver rings on
either side of it.
078b-alnmouth_Panorama: A 180° panoramic shot starting from Riverside
Road on the left, looking out to the southeast to the River Aln and
North Sea beyond the river, and eventually ending back at Riverside Road
to the southwest.
079-DSC_0998: A sign. It says: Alnwick district council. Warning Bathing is unsafe from this beach. Do not even paddle in the vicinity of the river estuary.
080-DSC_0999: Looking back to the houses in Alnmouth.
081-DSC_1000: I guess we weren't the only ones there. Stephanie
watches someone else exploring the beach.
082-DSC_1001: The Aln Estuary at low tide, with Church Hill to the right.
The big concrete cubes are WWII anti-tank cubes to protect the beaches
against invasion! Church Hill had defenses installed into it too.
083-DSC_1002: The Aln Estuary at low tide (no water!). All the
boats are grounded.
084-DSC_1003: Church Hill, where there used to be a church that was
finally destroyed by a storm in 1806. It likely had been a religious
site for over 1000 years, but had been in decline fron the 1500s
after the Dissolution of the Monasteris by Henry VIII.
085-DSC_1004: Low tide. Perhaps the cover shot for Stephanie's new albumn
(and maybe the title)...
086-DSC_1005: The bit of water behind Stephanie is what remains of the
River Aln at low tide. The mound in the distance is Church Hill, which
is an island at high tide. The orange thing directly behind Stephanie
is a mooring buoy with rope attaching it to the seaweed covered cement
anchor.
087-DSC_1006: Another view of the grounded boats in the estuary.
088-DSC_1007: Boats normally like water. This is reminiscent of Nova
Scotia and the tides that ground the boats in its rivers. Note how
they have two fins on the port and starboard side of the keel, to keep
them from tipping (too far) over when they are grounded.
089-DSC_1008: Frank holding back the imaginary tides of his mind...
090-DSC_1010: Frank channeling his inner-Moses, using his super
water-parting powers. I intended to modify this picture with
Photoshop at some point. And maybe I still will.
091-DSC_1011: Frank by the wall of the harbor (I'll spell it their way
when using it as a proper name). It looks like it only normally comes
up 2 feet or so. Although it drops off a little as you walk further
away from the edge. There's a LOT of water that moves in and out of
the harbor daily.
092-DSC_1012: A house right by Alnmouth Marine Harbour (their spelling,
not mine). Nice water view, though I imagine high tide in a storm
could be a bit worrisome.
093-DSC_1013: Frank and Stephanie at the B&B before checking out.
Bottom:
Part 9: Backyard
Blacksmith Workshop Part 10: Bagby Airfield Part 11: Byland Abbey Part 12: National Railway
Museum Part 13: Cambridge (Part
2) Part 14: Cambridge
Botanical Gardens Part 15: The Departure