A trip to Dunstaburgh Castle & Craster

We decided to take a family day out to Dunstaburgh Castle during our trip to Northumberland.

The castle is north of the village of Craster.  We parked in a car park in the village (£2 to park all day) and took a lovely walk to the castle.  It was a glorious day so put lots of sun cream on Baby M, put him in his pushchair and got walking.  We went with my mum, dad and their dog Maddie too.  A true family day out.

The walk to the castle is lovely, through fields along the coast line.  The fields had sheep and cows in, they didn't seem bothered by people walking by.  Dogs must be kept on their leads

Dunstaburgh Castle was the focus of fighting during the War of the Roses.  It was build in 1313 by Earl Thomas of Lancaster.

You don't have to go into the castle grounds to admire its wonder however as English Hertiage members we got in for free.  Adult tickets cost £4.30, Child £2.60 and under 5's are free.

There were nesting sea birds (which were creating one hell of a racket) but it was great watching them flying to their nests.

It takes about 35 minutes to walk around the ruins of the castle and the views into the sea are amazing

You can also walk up into the 2 turrets of the keep.  The steps are spiral and get tighter as you go up so I only went about half way as heights aren't my thing

We then decided to walk to the beach.

If you do go to the castle and then the beach don't do what we did and forget the baby carrier.  It was really difficult along parts of the path with the pushchair and my dad and Mr M ended up lifting it over rocky parts.  We then got to the point where Mr M just carried Baby M and we folded up the pushchair.

It was worth it though as the beach was lovely.  Plus saying it was the school holidays and a glorious day it wasn't that busy either.  We had a lovely picnic.

This was the first time Baby M had been on a proper sandy beach.  It was also the first time he stood in the sea.  My parent's dog loved it too

We walked back to Craster and had a lovely cup of tea and cake in the Shoreline cafe, whilst we were in the cafe the local Sea King flew by and the crew gave us all a wave.

I would definitely recommend this as a day out for the family.  There is so much to see and do.  We walked 10 miles, according to my Fitbit.

We had a great time


This post has been added to Coombe Mill's #CountryKids link and Red Rose Mummy's #WHWH.  Go check what other families have been up to for great ideas for days out.

Getting out and about - Exploring and Beach side strolls

As the weather this weekend has been lovely we decided to get out with Baby M as much as we could.

On Saturday it was quite windy but sunny so we explored our local area.  As with many people we walk the same way into town all the time and don't really explore what else is around.  We thought now we have Baby M we should find what is on our doorstep, plus it would get us out of the house and enjoying the nice weather.  We found 2 grassy areas that will be great for Baby M and Mr M to play football on and a small play park near a local school that we can take Baby M to once he is a little bigger.  He loves sliding down Mr M's legs, I can't wait to see his reaction on a proper slide!!

Baby M was engrossed throughout our walk - by sleeping!

On Sunday the wind was much calmer so we went for a beach side stroll.  The beach is about 10 minutes walk from our house.  Not only can you go on the beach but there is a lovely walkway along the side (perfect for the pushchair).  I can see us spending many sunny days on the beach with Baby M!!  The great thing about where we live is that it is away from the main tourist areas so it's mostly local people that use the area, meaning its quieter and cleaner!  The tide does come in really quickly though, we have seen people just getting off the beach in time on many occasions! 

There is a shipwreck and rock pools for us to explore.  When the tide is out there is miles of beautiful beach and the local council are also looking at putting interesting structures on and around the beach - great for exploring kids. 

I have added this link to this week's Coombe Mill Country Kids - have a look at the other great posts too!!