Something right next to my ear was making an incredible racket and it took me a few seconds to work out what it was. Turned out to be my alarm clock and it was 6am. Maybe staying up late with family drinking wine wasn't such a good idea after all. Although leaping out of bed (a couple of hours later) I managed a couple of cups of coffee, some breakfast and getting myself dressed and out of the door into the cold (although closer to 10am than the 'early start' I'd planned). At least it was still morning!
As I'm from Northumberland and always return for Christmas to spend the holidays with my family my Festive 500 would be in Northumberland rather than around London where I currently live. So for the first stage of my Festive 500 I planned to head north up the coast and see a couple of the many castles in Northumberland; Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh. I was setting off from the coastal village of Alnmouth, a tiny village that has seen a lot of history through its long life so a fitting place to start my Festive 500. The village was mentioned by the Venerable Bede in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum in 731 and according to the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana Alnmouth was taken and fortified by the French during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Alnmouth was also once a smuggling port and was even attacked by the American privateer John Paul Jones during the American War of Independence. In 1779, Jones fired a cannonball at the town which landed in a field before hitting a farmhouse.
Leaving Alnmouth I headed up the coastal route towards the tiny village of Boulmer, a small fishing community, and on towards Craster. The little fishing village of Craster is the producer of Craster Kippers, or cured herrings, and the smell of the smokehouse smoke often wafts across the pretty little harbour.
By the time I was leaving Craster I started to get a bit more into my ride. Often you just have to start and certainly a headache and hangover is just the sort of thing to keep you indoors on a grey and damp day but after warming up on the first few miles I started to really enjoy myself. Standing up on the pedals I pushed up a couple of the hills and my bike sprang to life underneath me, as if to say "Finally, you're putting some effort in!".
Just next to Craster is the ruined Dunstanburgh Castle, the largest castle in Northumberland which was started in 1313 by the Earl of Lancaster but evidence suggests the site has been occupied since prehistoric times. During the War of the Roses the castle was slightly damaged and not repaired, so slowly the castle fell into decay. But by all accounts it was a very comfortable castle with a high standard of comfort and design; certainly it's an imposing sight on the coast. Though as I was cycling up north I didn't stop at the castle but carried on up past Beadnell and on towards Bamburgh Castle.
Covering a few more miles up the coast I eventually found myself riding along the beach-side road towards Bamburgh Castle, the castle looming in the mist on it's rocky outcrop. The castle itself was home to the native Britons known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the British kingdom of the region. The castle was then captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia before bring briefly retaken by the Britons then subsequently destroyed by Vikings in 993. Later, the Normans built a castle on the same site which can be still seen as the core of the current castle. Years later Bamburgh Castle became the property of Henry II and was a target for regular raids from Scotland and during the Wars of the Roses became the first castle to be defeated by artillery at the end of a 9 month siege by the Earl of Warwick. After this time the castle had many owners and slowly fell into disrepair until the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong bought it and completed the restoration and the castle still remains in the Armstrong family today.
Although it was a week day and the castle was closed it was lovely to spend some time near this imposing building and the last climb up the steep driveway to the castle gate reminded me of climbing Mont Ventoux a couple of months ago. But as the usual Northumberland weather was in place; grey and damp, I decided to return back.
It was a damp but very pleasant ride back and as it's Christmas eve a large dinner awaited me that evening, and some more alcohol; a common theme during this holiday, I suspect. But I guess that's the point of the Festive 500; balancing some of the excesses of the season with getting out on two wheels and I can't think of many better places than Northumberland!
Oh, and in case you're interested, it's 'Northumberland' not 'Northumbria'; that was a mediaeval kingdom. ;)
Distance: 76.3km
Remaining: 423.7km
Strava Ride Data