By the sea

The small village of Beadnell lies on the Northumberland coast three miles south of better-known Seahouses. The village grew up based on local industries of coal and lime (and smuggling!), and later small-scale fishing. While the harbour still operates, today the main economy is tourism, and, perhaps unfortunately, nearly every house in the village is holiday accommodation or a second home for ‘townies’ from Newcastle or beyond. This means that in winter it is almost deserted, with only a few year-round residents, while in summer the population swells, helped too by the large caravan park nearby.

Around the harbour

Beadnell’s harbour is located about half a mile south of the main village and has an unusual claim to fame – it is the only west-facing harbour on the east coast of England (look at a map if you’re struggling to visualise this!) The large structures above the harbour, seen in the background of my photo above, are 18th century lime kilns – Beadnell’s industrial heritage is in coal and lime (and smuggling – in 1762 a famous smuggling haul here captured 2,700 gallons of illegal brandy!)

Limestone was quarried in various parts of northern Northumberland and brought to the coast along with coal. Here the limestone and coal were fed into the tops of the kilns at a ratio of five parts limestone to one part coal. After burning at temperatures over 1,000 degrees centigrade the lime would fall to the base of the kiln from where it could be raked out once cooled and loaded on to boats in the harbour. But by 1827 the coal and lime industry began to decline and the lime-kilns fell into decay. Small-scale fishing took over, and although this too has since declined some boats still go out from this harbour, which was gifted to local fishermen in 1947 by the owner, Sir John Craster.

Beadnell Bay

South of the harbour lies the long sweep of Beadnell Bay, lined with sand dunes and with wonderful views south towards the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. This is a popular spot for water-sports – boating, kite surfing, kayaking, wind surfing and wake boarding. It is also a great beach for holidaying families, who can set up for the day in the shelter of the dunes with lots of space where children can run around, play ball games and build sandcastles. The North Sea is never warm but on a hot day a dip is welcome.

The middle part of the bay is an important nesting site for birds – Little Terns, Arctic Terns and Ringed Plovers. For the three months from May onwards the site is fenced off and National Trust rangers maintain a 24 hour watch for the nesting birds, protecting them from predators such as badgers and foxes, and monitoring their progress. Visitors are welcome but have to stay behind the fences – there is a viewing platform erected so you can see what is happening, and the rangers will tell you all about the birds. We’ve not yet visited at this time of year but I’d love to do so one day.

The bay hit the headlines in 2010 when sadly a sperm whale was beached here and died, having to be guarded to prevent people from stealing its ivory teeth (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8481898.stm).

There’s a car park at the northern end of the beach, near the caravan park. I’ve read online that there’s a fee for parking, but when we were there a sign clearly said, ‘free all day’.

Gypsy caravan at Beadnell Bay

Beadnell Beach

In addition to the wide expanse of Beadnell Bay, there is another accessible from the northern part of the village which stretches from there north to Seahouses. This is a great spot for rock-pooling, and there are wonderful views north to the Farne Islands and to Bamburgh Castle beyond.

There are lots of sea-birds here – we even spotted a couple of puffins, although it was rather late in the season. We found the rock formations and colourful seaweeds made for some great photo opps, and if you want to bring a picnic it’s only yards from the small village shop.

Beadnell village

The village itself is split into two parts – one clustered around the harbour and the other a little to the north nearer the main road. The latter part seems to have most of the available accommodation (we stayed in a great B&B, Haven House) and some good options for dining out. I especially liked the Saltwater Café, which was newly opened at the time of our visit (2016) and served excellent seafood and local meat.

The only building of significant historical interest in this part of the village is the church, St Ebba’s. This dates from the mid 18th century and has some interesting gargoyles. It is dedicated to the sister of King (later Saint) Oswald, who ruled Northumbria in the 7th century. Like her brother she was a convert to Christianity and later became a nun, founding a convent on the site of an old Roman fort at Ebchester, as well as one to the south south of St Abbs Head, which is also named after her. Though this is now in Scotland, at the time it was in an area that was very much part of Northumbria.

The church is thought to have been built as a replacement for a 12th century chapel dedicated to St Ebba which stood on a promontory called Ebb's Nook near Beadnell Harbour. It occupies a prominent spot at the western end of the village (furthest from the sea), with the main village street weaving around it. It is also near here that you'll find the several restaurants I mentioned.