Coastal odyssey

“Of the many stunning beaches we visited in Northumberland, this was the most spectacular, curving away to Alnmouth in the north”

If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium; so goes the old joke about Americans on whistle-stop tours of Europe. When we bought our motorhome in 2017, we settled on a plan to ‘do’ the English coast in six weeks (as in, if it’s Thursday, this must be Skegness!). Fortunately, common sense prevailed and we decided to do our odyssey in bite-sized chunks, starting with the lovely stretch of coast from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Spurn Point.

So, one sunny morning in mid-September, we found ourselves rolling into the venerable town of Berwick. Our first stop was the rather old-fashioned visitor centre with the friendliest of staff (seemingly standard issue in the northeast), where we tucked into coffee and cake whilst watching a homespun film (think am-dram meets Horrible Histories) about the tumultuous history of the town and some of its visitor highlights.

Armed with this new-found knowledge, we set off along the Elizabethan walls, built at eye-watering expense to keep out the marauding Scots. Whilst the views out to sea are a joy, it is the sights within – narrow