A brilliant sunrise heralds the start of our walk overlooked by pigeons perched on leeward ledges of the bridge across the Tweed. For the first half of the 110 miles, skeins of geese overfly our way, particularly around Holy Island, where we stay for two nights. There, in sight of silhouetted Bamburgh Castle and the distant Farnes, sun sparkles on white horses offshore and glows red on the Rainbow Arch within the ruined priory.
Wind rattles around Lindisfarne Castle and, beyond dunes, sand blows like smoke across exposed beaches. The last view of the seals off Guile Point is from the causeway that crosses puddled sand strewn with bladderwrack and shells; 13 swans dabble in the channel by the refuge and the cry of curlew haunts our retreat. Three days later, on a boat trip from Seahouses, we see more seals, glistening in the morning light as they rest and wallow off seaweedy rocks.
On the mainland, St Oswald’s Way continues approximately parallel to the coast – skirting vast sandy bays, passing wooded crags, arable fields sown with winter wheat, and pastures grazed by sheep and cattle. Holiday chalets tucked away in dunes adjoin stretches of shining sand and, on deserted fairways of golf links, oystercatchers stroll. As the tide retreats from low cliffs, waves crash onto rocky foreshores; some carrs (reefs) give shelter to havens such as Newton-by-the-Sea with its restored fishermen’s cottages. Spray drifting up vertical cliffs above the Rumble Churn emphasises the impregnability of Dunstanburgh’s fortifications.
Inland, after Warkworth, sound and sight of geese and sea are lost – up the Coquet valley where haughs (low-lying meadows) level places above the river. Overgrown muddy bridleways are edged in hips, crab apples and haws; sheep shake water from soaked fleeces and wreaths of mist rise from woods by Cragside. Away from Rothbury, grouse cackle and glide across the Simonside hills and drizzly cloud hangs above logging tracks in Harwood Forest. Boggy upland fields, rough ploughed land and “poached” ridge and furrow hamper progress; it is a relief to join the Roman wall. The last lap, towards the village of Wall, becomes a march into the wind, alongside earthworks and with wide clear views, north to the Cheviots and south towards the Pennines.
