The Holy Island walk on 17th July is the first of two walks around Holy Island on the same weekend. We had a small but great group of walkers for this Friday excursion.
The start
We met in the car park on Holy Island well before the tide covered the causeway. We had a walk down to the causeway to see the tide come in. It was taking a while so we left it and started our walk. We were now stranded on the island until the tide went out again.
Lindisfarne Castle
We walked uphill and around the outside of Lindisfarne Castle. The Castle has recently undergone a £3 million restoration. Unfortunately, it was closed.
Castle Point Lime Kilns
After the Castle, we came to the Lindisfarne Castle Lime Kilns at Castle Point, which are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. They are some of the largest examples of their kind anywhere in the country and certainly the largest actively-conserved kilns in the area.
Again unfortunately, they were closed, but usually you can walk around the kilns and, if you are brave, you can squeeze through one of the openings and look upwards.
Gertrude Jekyll Garden
After following the path around the coastline, where we watched more seals having fun, we made our way to the Gertrude Jekyll garden.
The garden was in full bloom of bright yellow and purple flowers including pale yellow eyed grass, crown daisy and golden marguerite.
Gertrude Jekyll, the Arts and Crafts garden designer, writer and artist created this small walled garden in 1911 alongside Edwin Lutyens. He nicknamed her “Bumps”, supposedly in relation to her figure.
There is a plain stone just outside of the entrance of the garden. Tessa asked what it was for. There is no information available but we persuaded Martin to make up a purpose for it. He decided it was where Gertrude sat to look at her garden.
The Lough
As we walked North along the old wagonway we came to The Lough, part of the Nature Reserve. We were still watching seals, as well as lots of birds, but still no dolphins.
Emmanuel Head
Emmanuel Head was our lunch stop. Martin had brought some of his latest goodies for everyone to try.
At Emmanual Head, there is a white pyramid, which is visible around the island. This is a day marker to direct boats towards the deep channel and into the harbour. The pyramid was built around 1810 and is 45 feet tall. There are seats on 3 sides, but these were all busy. So, we sat on the grass, enjoyed our lunch and watched the many seals and sea birds. Still no dolphins though.
Continuing on
We followed the footpath and coastline, admiring the flora on our way and were teased by the views of the beautiful small beaches. We had the chance to drop down onto one of these beaches and were amazed by how clear the water was.
After the beach there was a large step back onto the dunes. Everyone made this look very easy, until it was Julie’s turn. Ruth was very kindly on hand to take the obligatory photo.
We walked through the dunes. There were many different flora including creeping restharrow and moss campion. Hiding in the tree line, we were lucky enough to spot two roe deer.
Back to the Pilgrim’s Causeway and the tide was still over the area where we usually walk. Everyone took all the piri piri burrs off their shoes and trousers, to stop transfer from the Island.
We made our way to the Manor House Hotel for refreshments, both alcoholic and non alcoholic.
Everybody enthused about the walk and the day. Many of them had never been around the whole island and agreed they would like to do it again.
Thank you
Thank you for coming along. We hope you enjoyed the walk and see you all soon
Julie and Martin x
If you enjoyed the Holy Island walk, why not take a look at our other walks.
Gallery – Holy Island 17th July
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