DAY THIRTEEN: BAMBURGH, Northumbria

You're not just looking at a view, you're standing in the footsteps of Kings

I read that in a guide brochure and that about says it all. 

Relocation day to Bamburgh ( Bamburrah) , on England's east coast . Bamburgh is a stunningly attractive small village set on the Northern stretch of the Northumberland Coast. It is without doubt dominated by its magnificently striking Castle that can be seen for miles around, giving the whole village an imposing and dramatic feeling. The history and conflict surrounding the castle is one of the most turbulent and far-reaching in English history. You can't fail to be impressed by the sheer scale of the Castle once you are up close and in the village itself.

Away from Moldy Dacron Manor and relocation to the east coast, we swung north to Scotland, just because, then traveled east along the border, dropping down into England again. I felt a sense of AHHHHHH. Home again! Want to know what was really strange? Having the world pass by at 50mph. After 2 weeks of a slow, meditative pace of 2.6, driving again was an adjustment. 

You can almost imagine the medieval village settled by the mighty castle, and the fear its might evoked.

There's more than the castle, more than the holiday homes and the beach, though the sun disappeared and the North Sea air blew in so there wasn't much beaching to be enjoyed. 

The  church of St Aidan perched on a hilltop overlooking the sea, was founded in 635 by St Aidan. The story goes ( and there's always a story) Aidan was called by King Oswald to come to his newly united kingdom of Northumbria and spread the Word of Jesus. A few days back we walked past Heavenfield, the battle site where Oswald raised a cross and triumphed over Celtic pagans. From there you can walk the Oswald Way to Bamburgh. Anyway.....

St Aidan's

in the churchyard is a memorial dedicated to the heroic tale of Grace Darling. She isn't buried here but she was born in Bamburgh. The tale of her bravery in saving nine sailors who were shipwrecked on the Farne Islands is legendary. 

1838, the paddle steamer SS Forfarshire hit the rocks off the coast of the Farne Islands, North of here. ​  Out of 60 passengers, 9 people survived, clinging to rocks in the storm. As morning dawned, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, Grace Darling, decided to row out with her father and saved them. She kept the boat steady in the ongoing storm while her father rescued the survivors one by one. Grace became a heroine. She died of tuberculosis 3 years later at the age of 26.
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Grace Darling Memorial

The Town Water Supply Back in the Day

 TALE of the LAIDLEY WORM: King Ida of Northumbria had two children, a son named Childe Wynd and a beautiful daughter named Margaret. Her evil stepmother, a sorceress,  was jealous of her popularity and turned Margaret into a loathsome serpent. News of the Worm terrorizing people and eating livestock reached Margaret's brother at sea. He returned in a boat with a keel made from the wood of a Rowan tree , a sure protection against dark magic.  Facing the Worm and ready to slay it, he heard a voice he recognized as his sister's say "Strike me not for I am your sister!"
The two returned to the castle where Childe touched the sorceress with a Rowan branch. She turned into a warty toad, which Margaret threw down the well at Bamburgh. She is still there today. But the spell can be broken - for once every seven years, on Christmas Eve, the portal of the cave opens, in case any man is willing and brave enough to kiss the toad, and free the dark woman of the west from her magical prison. 

Yarn Bomb

"Croquet, Great Game if You've Got the Balls For It" BOFUR

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Another Secret Symbol

So to Bamburgh - a castle was  first built on the site in the 6C as part of the northern frontier separating England from Scotland.  The prominent site was one of the key strongholds of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria. It is traditionally said to have been founded in 547 by King Ida, one of the first Anglian rulers of the north. The name means 'Bebbe’s fort' . It was the seat of King Ida's grandson, the ruler King Aethelfrith of Bernicia (593-617) "The Ravening Wolf". Why don't we have names like this anymore?

Bernicia was the area of what is now where I'm sitting, NE England and SE Scotland. Bamburgh was particularly important under Oswald (king and saint), who succeeded Aethelfrith and converted to Christianity. The twin centers of Bamburgh and the monastery of nearby Lindisfarne were to be the focus of the Northumbrian golden age in the seventh and eighth centuries. The Vikings first raided Lindisfarne, more on that when we go to Holy Island, then under Olef and Swein Forkbeard they seiged the castle ,tearing it apart in 993. The castle changed hands many times, falling into disrepair. What remains today is the great Norman keep from 1120. In 1610, with the unification of the Scottish and English crowns accomplished, and the frontier no longer significant, the castle was sold to a local  family, who stripped it of its materials. In 1704 it was bought by Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, for whom our B&B is named. It was used at different times as a school, a hospital and accommodation for shipwrecked sailors. 
It's now owned by Francis Watson-Armstrong, but he doesn't live there. He's a farmer and  opens it to the public. 

A walk around the village inspired many visuals of history and fantasy.

Sweet Room at the Lord Crewe B&B

Cold, Gray Day Calls for Tea!