The Magic of the Inner Farne Islands

In the afternoon of 10th June, we had booked a trip to Inner Farne, home of a multitude of seabirds - one of the best locations in the British Isles. This time of year, most breeds are plentiful, as they are busy raising young. So, blessing the calm day, we made our way to Seahouses, our point of embarking.

The trip visits some of the outer islands, just for a brief look. This was interesting as we skirted the island housing the lighthouse from where Grace Darling and her father made their heroic rescue. Then passed large numbers of gray seals lazily watching us sail past. Finally, we landed on inner Farne to be dive bombed by Terns who were nesting near the landing point.

Guillemot covering the rocks as we approached by the island.

Longstone Lighthouse - our closest approach. Some trips actually land - but not ours.

Grace Darling became a national heroine after risking her life to save the stranded survivors of the wrecked steamship Forfarshire in 1838. A good site to see the story of the heroic Grace Darling who lived here with her father, the lighthouse keeper. https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/timeline/1838-grace-darling

Gray seals

The remains of St Cuthbert's Chapel and Terns galore!

The chapel on Inner Farne was once part of a larger monastic complex including the present visitor centre - once itself a chapel - and the surrounding courtyards. It was built in the early fourteenth century and was used by the holy community up until the Henry VIII's Dissolution. It was heavily renovated to its present state in the nineteenth century.

The first monastic buildings on Inner Farne are no longer visible. They were built by Aidan and then Cuthbert, and the passage of time coupled with the weather has removed all sign of these structures. The Venerable Bede, in his Life of St Cuthbert, does though give us some clues as to the nature of these early buildings. Cuthbert's cell, the building that Aidan had first built, was of stone and turf and stood - according to Bede - 'higher than a man'. Another larger structure, a guest house or 'hospitum' probably stood on the site of the present Fish House. 

It wasn't until 1370 that we know the present Chapel was in existence, as the building of a new chapel on the site of a previous building is recorded as having begun in 1369, at a cost of £50. The presence of slightly older stone in parts of the north wall suggests an earlier building on the site so at least some of that has been incorporated into the later building. The monks of the House of Farne were wealthy enough to build such structures; they cultivated crops and even had livestock on some of the other islands. Seals were also a valuable commodity as they were classed as creatures of the sea, and so could be eaten on Fridays. 

Arctic Tern

They do indeed `dive-bomb` you if they think you are too close, as I found out. Luckily I had a cap on, as advised!

Guillemot

Kittiwake

Razorbill telling me to go away! This with a telephoto so I wasn't too close anyway.

And then of course the Puffin. Running the gauntlet of the huge gulls who waited near the Puffin burrow to grab their catch before they could deliver it to their young. We did see many a Puffin get away down their burrows, although it was quite a battle.

Shag 

Shag with young. Amazing how so many species of bird nest and raise young so close to other species.

Puffins galore

Baby rabbit near a burrow. His or a Puffins?

Young Gull

Goodby to the Inner Farne - our last view as we sailed back to Seahouses at the end of an amazing afternoon. A definite `must do` if in the area!

The Rescue in Seahouses

Dynamic statue, presented to the Parish of North Sunderland and Seahouses by Countrylife Homes and Seafield Caravan Park.

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Start of our holiday in Beadnell, Northumberland

Thinking of going abroad? There is a very good reason of course to stay at home, and that is the beautiful country that we live in. So, off to Northumberland, a place that always attracts. Beadnell, to be precise. We had a lovely cottage, shame about the road leading to it! As several days of this holiday were wet, very wet!, we found ourselves almost floating through large areas of this unmade road.

On the nearby beautiful beach was this seaweed left by the receding tide.

The foreshore just across the road was less inspiring being made up of rock and stones as above. However, just round the corner was miles of gorgeous beach, backed by sand dunes. Wonderful. A great base to explore the surrounding area. 

Past history revealed near the harbour, as the old lime Kilns show. I believe the harbour is the only one on the east coast which faces west. Only a small one now though. 

Another view of the magnificent beach and dunes as the tide receded. We walked along the Beadnell Bay beach until we reached a point called Miller`s Nick. A `Nick` is a local name for a gap, between two higher points, where water flows through. Beyond this point was a large area called Long Nanny, roped off for breeding Little Terns, . 

We, however, climbed to the top of the dunes and walked back through the varied vegetation. Some of the things we saw are pictured below. 

The beautiful Burnet Rose. 

The Bloody Cranesbill 

Spittle on a Yellow Rattle. 

Small White butterfly 

A great morning walk, before heading to Seahouses from where we were booked on a trip to the Farne islands, just off the coast. 

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Just swanning about

Swans are beautiful birds, you can find them almost anywhere there is a river. In Layham, we are treated, most years, to at least one pair with a clutch of eggs, and a trail of cygnets in due course. This year being no exception.

Most swans mate for life, with the odd exception. It gives them a higher chance of raising more young than `sleeping around`!

Most of the time we see swans like this. Serenely gliding along ... 

Other times looking for lunch! Swans living on fresh water will typically eat pond-weed, stonewort and wigeon grass, as well as tadpoles and insects such as milfoil. 

Swans living on salt water will typically eat sea arrow grass, salt marsh grass, eel grass, club rush and green algae, as well as insects and molluscs. It`s best not to feed them bread as the mouldy leftovers can cause them problems. 

I have read that this behavior is called `busking`. I am not convinced, as I thought that was when they lowered their head, thrust it forward while raising their wings in an aggressive pose. 

I do know that they have a very laboured take off, appearing to run along the water surface. 

...but they eventually make it into the air. 

This year, a pair built a nest by Layham Mill and some eggs were laid, and covered, and more laid - I am not sure of the eventual total, but possible five. 

Then the male disappeared. This is not a problem, as the female is quite capable of incubating and raising her cygnets on her own. And `no` she will not starve in the process. I believe the male will also raise the young successfully too. 

So here she is, day after day. No male in sight. Until one morning there was an empty nest and no sign of either swan. The Mill residents told us that she had been attacked by another family (complete with cygnets) who had been nesting further up river previously. 

Sad, but that is nature sometimes. Maybe they saw another brood so close, as a threat? Who knows. 

The original pair have not been seen since. Just an abandoned nest with eggs. 

Same site, but different year. A family raise their cygnets and we were able to watch them grow. This time a happy ending. 

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Burnham Norton church and RSPB Titchwell

On our way from Wells to RSPB Titchwell, we stopped at the village Burnham Norton to have a look at the church of St Margaret. The church stands on a hilltop well south of the village it serves. In fact, it`s much closer to Burham Market than it is to Burnham Norton.

St Margaret's boasts a round west tower, and there is debate over just how old the tower is. Traditional historians date it to the Saxon period, but more recent surveys suggest a date somewhere around AD 1090, some 4 decades after the Norman Conquest. It could very well be that the church is Norman, but built by a Saxon mason using traditional techniques.

The oldest historic feature is a Norman font. The font is square, supported on a large central stem and four slender corner columns. It is comparatively plain; its sides are carved with blind arcading, chevron and diagonal crosshatch patterns, while the legs with chevrons, vertical stripes, and barley-twist style decoration. Unlike most Norman fonts, the legs are more richly carved than the font bowl. 

Beside the church door is a small medieval wafer oven, looking like a stone cupboard

The real treasure of St Margaret's church is the wonderfully decorated hexagonal wine glass pulpit, which somehow escaped the worst efforts of the Reformation iconoclasts. But how did such obviously Catholic images escape destruction?

The painted panels are so richly coloured and in such good condition that the pulpit has been called the finest medieval example in England. The pulpit was the gift of the Goldalle family in 1450.

Four panels depict the 'four doctors' of the Church. These were not doctors in the sense of physical healers, but theologians whose writings were considered especially important in early Christian thought. For that reason each 'doctor' is shows with a quill pen and a manuscript.

One painted panel shows St Augustine regarding his pen, a manuscript on his lap. Another shows St Ambrose reading a scroll. A third panel depicts St Gregory writing on a scroll, and the fourth panel depicts St Jerome mending his quill pen. Curiously, St Jerome is shown wearing a Cardinal's hat, which did not exist at the time he was alive (c. 347-420). Obviously his likeness is very much medieval symbolism rather than any attempt at realism.

The final two panels show the donors responsible for the pulpit, Johannis (John) and Katherine Goldalle (Goodall). Perhaps John Goldalle was trying to buy spiritual favour by donating the pulpit, for local records show that he was arrested in 1446 for stealing oysters from the nearby salt marshes.

Looking past the Norman Font, it`s just possible to see the rather sorry remains of the rood screen and to appreciate the relative simplicity of this pretty little Norfolk church.

As for Titchwell? well, the only photo I took was this one of an Oyster Catcher. The day was definitely lacking in birds, and we were on our way home anyway!

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Rhododendrons at Sheringham Park

Sheringham Park is a landscape park and gardens near the town of Sheringham, Norfolk. The park surrounds Sheringham Hall, which is privately occupied, but the park is in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors. We had visited previously, but not at this time of year.

The park was designed by Humphry Repton (1752-1818) widely regarded as the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, and often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown

In the Park there are fine mature woodlands and a large variety of rhododendrons and azaleas. Several overlook towers provide good views over the gardens, and of the nearby coast and surrounding countryside. Although the one we climbed to the top of gave us a view of - nothing! Wrong lookout!.

The walks through the woods were lovely too, giving us an opportunity to see a Tree creeper, among other birds. A garden temple was constructed in the Park in 1975.

The colours are truly stunning, and, on a clear day like today, were beautiful against the deep blue sky background.

A peek through the trees toward the North sea coastline.

Some close-ups of the blooms.

A carpet of fallen petals.

Sheringham Hall - Designed and built by Humphry Repton and his son John Adey Repton for the Upcher family of Norfolk in 1812-17, romantic Sheringham Hall was Repton’s ‘most favourite work’ and one of his last. This finest of Repton’s ‘creations’, with its elegantly understated Regency house, listed Grade II*, and spectacular landscape setting, showcases both his acclaimed genius as a landscape designer and his less familiar talent as a country-house architect. When Thomas Upcher, who inherited the estate in 1954, died in the mid-1980s, Sheringham Hall and its surrounding park were left to the National Trust, since when the nine-bedroom house and its immediate eight acres of gardens and grounds have been privately let on a long Trust lease.

Soon after leaving the Park, on stopping at a layby for an ice cream, we spotted this swan with her young.

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Weird and Wonderful Wood - Haughley Park

Weird and Wonderful Wood is an annual event that we had intended to visit in the past, but somehow not managed to make it. Not so this year, as the whole family met in Haughley Park, Wetherden. The event showcases everything wood and includes craftsmen and women with every conceivable skill in wood. Amazing, is my summary of the day. A re-visit next year penciled in!

Demonstrations included furniture making, musical instrument making, displays by traditional fletchers and bowyers (think Middle Ages).

How on earth do they cut such intricate details with a chain saw! With lots of skill to be sure.

Chain saw carving (could have watched for hours) A small mole having a look around. 

Included also, wheel wright, hurdle making, wood turning, pole lathe turning, sign writing, labyrinth making, flute maker as well as coracle making and traditional gypsy caravan displays. On top of which there was a wealth of excellent locally sourced and produced food and drink. A brilliant day out. Beside all this, there were entertainers around the grounds and here are a few images of just a small fraction of what was on show. 

This contraption had various handles for the kids to turn and bubbles then emerged from all sorts of places. The kid loved it.

How about that for a flowered dress!

Haughley Park House in Stowmarket, Suffolk is an historical house of significance listed in the English Heritage Register. It is a large red brick country house built in about 1620 for the Sulyard family who were very prominent landowners in this area. The property remained with this family for two centuries after which it was sold. Today it is a private residence but at certain times of the year the gardens are open for viewing. The barn and gardens are also available for weddings. What a great spot!

Built on the site of a royal hunting ground attached to Haughley castle, the land was granted by Henry VIII to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk who later surrendered it to the Crown. The land was then granted to Sir John Sulyard by Queen Mary (Bloody Mary to most of us) because of the loyalty he had shown when she was deposed. John was a staunch catholic and Lord Chief Justice of England's. The house was subsequently built in the reign of King James I and generations of Sulyards lived there until the end of the 18th century. 

Fast forward to the 20th century and the property was bought in 1924 by Turner Henderson who was the second son of John Henderson owner of Studley Priory in Oxfordshire. 

When he died in 1956 he left Haughley Park to the Zoological Society to be used as a zoological establishment but they declined his offer. Instead Alfred Williams bought the Park to be used as for his poultry processing business. A devastating fire in 1961 gutted some of the house. However it was fully restored by the family three years later. The poultry business was sold but the Williams family still retain ownership of the Park. 

In 2019, plans to build new homes on the former poultry processing site were rejected by the local authority. 

For those who choose to use the exclusive and relaxed hire offered at the Barn, the Farmhouse is the ideal place to be together with family and friends and enhance the enjoyment of your special occasion. Make yourselves at home in this large Victorian property, surrounded by its own spacious gardens. There is plenty of room, outside and in, for guests to unwind and relax.`

So runs the advertising blurb, but by the looks of the farmhouse it would be a great place to spend a few days anytime. I believe this Victorian Farmhouse is only about 75 m from the actual Barn used for the weddings.

This was the view I had from the Weird and Wonderful Wood event we were visiting today.

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