Days 220 & 221: Bamburgh to Marshall Meadows Bay

The sun rises over Bamburgh Castle to balance our last encounter in the rain.

Stag Rock sits below the lighthouse at Blackrocks Point. Local legend states that a stag jumped into the sea to escape hunters.

A small group of cockle pickers are busy in Budle Bay. It’s tempting to try and cross the sand rather than trek inland, but I suspect that would not end well.

Several previous coastal walkers hiked inland to Belford. A new section of the English Coast Path opened in August to avoid this detour. Initially, it follows St Oswald’s Way before turning north near the railway, at which point I lose my way and end up in the bayou. All I need now is a crocodile.

Backtracking through the floodwater, the field is the correct route, albeit missing a signpost. A hare breaks cover and zig-zags across the grass, sheep running before it as if it were a sheepdog.

Arriving back at the causeway, there’s no chance of crossing to Lindisfarne today.

A little egret rises at my approach and glides gracefully down a few yards away.

Someone appears to have abandoned an engine in the woods.

Next day

The walk from Cheswick to Berwick is lovely — sandy bays and limestone rocks.

The Lowry Trail guides me round Spittal into the town centre.

Impressive ramparts lead to the start of the 28-mile Berwickshire Coastal Path up to Cockburnspath.

The clifftop walk north of Berwick is beautiful, with my favourite sandstone rocks.

The border at last! The media must have got the dates wrong as there are only sheep to welcome me.

It’s a short bus ride back into Berwick, just in time for a glorious fiery sunset.

To celebrate my completion of the England Coast Path (barring two short sections to be filled in due course) and the Wales Coast Path, I retire to the Barrels Ale House. It’s a superb pub. A Tom Petty look-a-like propping up the bar is a keen hiker, and we discuss the rainy delights of Arran. Steve and Jill from Manchester, keen music fans, join me in the snug for a chat.

2024 beckons, and I’m excited to head into wilder lands in Scotland. The East Coast should be relatively straightforward, but the West Coast will be a considerable challenge due to the lack of coastal paths, the need to camp most of the way, the inclement weather and my desire to explore as many islands as possible. I may finish by 2030!

I’m also considering a 99-mile hike across the Lofoten Islands off the coast of northern Norway in the Arctic Circle — I must like the cold.

Walk distance: 29 miles.

Total distance: 3,744 miles.