Tag: Northmberland

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Crafting at Craster

Posted on by Jackie B

Yesterday I was in the pretty Northumbrian fishing village of Craster. I’ve just gone back to the local craft group recently after a long break. They meet in the village hall in the centre of Craster on a Tuesday morning, from around 10-12, and for the princely sum of £2 we get tea or coffee and biscuits, sometimes delicious home baking from group members too… and, a raffle, not to mention the great company. It’s such a lovely friendly group.

On this occasion I took Buddy the Labrador too. He would have been left home alone otherwise. He’s a chilled old boy, so, although when he enters a room full of people he seems to think he’s arrived at a meeting of his personal fan club (he just loves meeting people), he soon settles and goes to sleep under the table. Fortunately there are a lot of dog lovers in the group who sometimes bring their own. Buddy made friends with Tilly the miniature schnauzer, who wasn’t sure at first (Buddy is huge).

I took some spinning, but there was a lot of knitting as well as crochet, needle felting, and sewing going on.

Afterwards I took the opportunity to give Buddy a walk and explore the village – I haven’t done that for years!

Craster is famous for its kippers. These smoked herrings are a real local delicacy: on smoking days you can smell the process and see the smoke emerging from the chimneys of Robsons Smokehouse, just a few yards from where I’d been crafting. The business has been run by the same family for four generations and includes a seafood restaurant.

Buddy stopped for a long drink at the dog bowl outside the Mick Oxley Gallery. We walked towards the harbour, past the village pub, the Jolly Fisherman, which serves excellent food.

It was a still, rather murky day and the sea was calm as we approached the harbour. This place holds fond childhood memories. When we were small, my brother and I would get damaged and unusable herring from the smokehouse to use as fishing bait, then go fishing for crabs and small fish off the pier.

Close to the harbour the War Memorial has been decorated with knitted and crocheted poppies prior to Remembrance Day on 11th November. These have been made by members of the craft group.

The poppies extend to the adjacent park bench…

…and the railing overlooking the harbour.

Down on the tiny beach, some canoeists were preparing to take to the water.

Although Craster is popular with tourists, with many of the dwellings in the village now converted to luxury holiday accommodation, it remains a working fishing port.

Craster also sits on the Northumberland Coastal Path. Despite the grey day there were still plenty of walkers about. Buddy and I joined them, heading north out of the village, through the gate and along this well-beaten track – dogs must be kept on lead as sheep graze here. Directly ahead, looming eerily from the mist, are the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle.

Along the the path, the gorse is still in bloom, adding a welcome splash of colour to the dull day.

Soon it was time to turn back, switching the view to the village.

What a lovely way to spend a morning!

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Enjoying the Spring Sunshine

Posted on by Jackie B

I’ve been struggling with the blog recently. Regular blog subjects, like visiting the beach, eating scones at local cafes and taking part in knit and natter groups have all stopped. I threw myself into some knitting and craft projects, but it didn’t seem the same. I’m not a walker – I use a disability scooter to get about, and have other health issues so I hadn’t been leaving the house. This week I reached the point when it was time to pull myself together and, as the weather was so good, I got the scooter out and joined K on a couple of walks with Buddy, the Labrador. I’m so glad I did.

The little Amelanchier tree in the front garden has finally come in to flower and is looking stunning

As we walked through the village I saw a few rainbows, painted by children and stuck in windows.

There’s also this sign, which has been placed at the entrance to the little garden of remembrance, which is known as Green Hut Corner.

It’s a lovely gesture – the village has applauded loudly for NHS staff and other key workers every Thursday night – there were even fireworks last week!

I enjoyed seeing all the spring flowers. This garden wall was festooned with aubretia.

Here in Shilbottle, the grass verges are full of daffodils in Spring. Until now I hadn’t noticed that some hyacinths had been planted with them in one spot. I wondered if they had originally been indoor ones that someone had planted out after they finished flowering. They had a beautiful fragrance that we could smell as we went past.

There’s a really quiet lane that winds through farmland – we can let Buddy off his lead there. He’s not bad at avoiding other dogs and people if you tell him to “leave” . We met several people out for their daily exercise or walking dogs but all were cheerfully observing distance guidelines. We are lucky to live here where there is the space to get out safely.

One of my favourite spots on this route is a by a gate at the top of a bank- there’s a wonderful view towards the sea from here. It was very hazy on one of my walks this week but yesterday was beautifully clear.

It was good to see the wildflowers in bloom as well as the garden plants. These primroses are one of my favourite signs of spring.

The blackthorn is also in full bloom. We hope that the sloe berries this autumn are as profuse as the flowers – we always make a batch of sloe gin if we can pick sloes. Some years, if there are late frosts that stop the fruit forming, there are none to be found.

Of course the newborn lambs are one of the signs of spring we love to see and there were plenty in the fields.

We doubled back and came back up the hill, stopping for a little while to take in that view again. Buddy seemed to be glad of the break. I had forgotten just how important it is to get our in the fresh air and I felt so much better for it.