A grand week away
A grand week away June 2007Just when we thought we’d seen everything, Ken came through with our best trip ever. Most of us had already stayed for weekends at Grey Barns, near Alnmouth, and were looking forward to spending more time in that area of the Northumbrian coast. As we knew, the house itself was impressive: roomy and comfortable. But I don’t think any of us had previously appreciated the idyllic location, until we saw it in brilliant sunshine.
There, just beyond the garden gate was a lovely bay, with sand, rocks and crashing waves.
Although that first afternoon was not so bright, we enjoyed just sitting on the rocks, watching the waves, and relaxing. Not far from us was a guillemot, which seemed quite happy to share the beach with us. Then Roland arrived, cup of tea in hand, to be followed by several others of the group. Ken was the only one with a camera, so those winning guillemot shots will be his. Or maybe not! We spent some time settling in before going off to Alnmouth for dinner, which we all enjoyed. Thanks to Ken for booking it in advance.
JohnE. worked his magic on the Sunday evening, producing an impressive meal, with loads of his special leftover soup to be enjoyed by whoever was feeling hungry over the next few days. He had also shopped for basics to be shared, making sure the enormous fridge was full, and also replenishing it over the week as things began to run out. We all appreciate John’s hard work, which helped the catering run smoothly.
During the week people did their own thing, visiting many of the local places of interest, offering lifts to anyone who was going in the same direction, and giving feedback on the places they had seen. Thanks, Pat, for your excellent map reading and direction skills. Trips to the Farne Islands were popular, though a few people got a good pecking as a penalty for taking photos. Cy liked it so much, I believe he bought Inner Farne!
The walking enthusiasts were well provided for as there are many splendid walks. Hope your feet are better now, Keith! I think we all enjoyed a visit to the gardens at Alnwick castle. The overall planning and the immaculate upkeep of this lovely garden are impressive, though the rope bridge to the tree house was a little scary for some of us, especially with Liz bouncing on it!
Lindisfarne was also well visited and seen at its best in the bright sunshine, although I preferred it in the swirling mist we found when we arrived, which gave it a mystical look. No-one was caught by the tide, although Karen tried hard to leave John there. Luckily, he had the car keys. Sometime soon I think we may all become a little too familiar with shots of Bamburgh Castle in a variety of lights, and also Dunstanburgh from many angles, not to mention seabirds in flight, on the ground, on their nests, eating, sleeping and doing what seabirds do.
On the Thursday evening we had a visit to Ashington camera club, where we were entertained by a presentation of some stunning wildlife prints by one of their members. We were made very welcome, and provided with an excellent buffet. I think we all enjoyed the evening. Especially Janet, who stayed at the house and took the opportunity to have a good soak and relax at the end of an exhausting day of photography with Liam, Keith and Edward.
Having already previewed some of the photographs taken on digital cameras, I hold out little hope for my own slides, which have now returned and are mostly blank, curiously.
So Mike and John McN. have a clear field! But watch out for Edward’s work, if he gets it printed up, he seemed to have some great shots. Maybe you could make a digital presentation to entertain us in the future Edward?
Sadly, the week was soon over, and we had the last supper at the Red Lion in Alnmouth, an excellent meal, if a little raucous. We were all up, packed and tidied, in plenty of time on Saturday morning, thinking that we’d have a sunny drive home. I’m not sure about everyone else, but our journey was through heavy rain, thunderstorms and low cloud. It was hard to believe that we had just had a week of great weather, give or take the odd grey morning. Many thanks to Ken for organising it all, and perhaps we could do it again, with the same superb weather, another year.
J.Hollows
posted by joyceh @ 5:05 pm
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