… is usually quiet, but not this year. COVID-19 and the resulting staycations has resulted in a once quiet coastline being overwhelmed. This is all good news for the local economy I guess but not what I have come to expect of Bamburgh and Lindisfarne. Once the school holidays are over, I assume things will quieten down again, always assuming the little darlings can be persuaded to return to education. The couple of Bamburgh images are from last week and the Holy Island images from today – 12th August:
Bamburgh Castle and an unusually busy beach in light and shade …
… and how I got there.
Holy Island Causeway
… and how I got there.
The alternative route
‘Pilgrims’ heading for Holy Island
northumbrian : light 
Beautiful captures, Robin. And great memories 🤗💕
Thanks Jo – trust your life with the family is returning to some sort of normal.
Life here is fairly normal again apart from masks and distancing. Will that be with us forever? Who knows! Family, not so easy because we’re in different countries and he is now out of work thanks to Covid. Still hopeful though 🤔💕
Evocative photos. Love the frostiness of the first image, especially. Tourist season is alive and well in northern Michigan. We have been overwhelmed, like every year. I work as a bartender at a historic hotel and it has been brutal. It’s kinda sad…our summers are so short up here but I can’t wait for it to be over.😳 Hope you are enjoying yours, Robin.
Thanks Julie – a good summer in many respects. I have always thought it slightly mad to go chasing across the world when there is no place quite like Northumberland. I am discovering a lot of hidden places across the county and the Borders. Thought of you on one bike ride out – not sure if you will have been to Hermitage Castle or not but it was once a stronghold of the Douglas clan. It is the most imposing castle I have ever seen, once described as “the embodiment of the phrase ‘sod off’ in stone”.
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2738086118980322145
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/hawick/hermitagecastle/index.html
I feel the same about northern Michigan. I have almost no desire to travel far, or even out of my area, anymore. I would still like to take the trip to Peru that was supposed to happen in April and I still dream of Antarctica, but if they never happen, I will be just fine. I live in paradise. 😊
I haven’t visited Hermitage, but I have been to Threave and Tantallon. Thanks for the links!
Lovely. Looking forward to visiting again.
Regards Thom
Thanks Thom – I recommend waiting until later in the year when the crowds have diminished. Not the quiet places for contemplation that they usually are.
Great photos, Robin.
I share your feelings about staycationers in ‘our’ places!
Many thanks – they have got a nerve haven’t they 🙂
You can say that again especially the bikers!
Whoops, I’m one of those 🙂 But, I am local and socially acceptable 😀
We drove through Bamburgh only last week, whilst simply gorgeous, it was heaving with people. The photos are just fabulous, I much prefer black and white my self.
Many thanks – that was the week those images of Bamburgh were taken (3rd August)
🤍 the shots of the causeway. Lovely tonality.
✨☀️🙏🕉️♾️☮️🙏☀️✨
Many thanks Graham
Your photos are stunning Robin. I feel ambivalent about tourists as well; I don’t want small local businesses to suffer any more than they have, but I can’t help feeling that having large numbers of people trampling over the countryside and often very fragile ecosystems is much worse.
Many thanks Su. It’s all very difficult isn’t it – basically we don’t want people in ‘our’ places. A non-COVID example is Scotland’s North Coast 500, a publicised route which takes the wandering hordes through all my quiet out-of-the-way places on Scotland’s northwest coast. For some it has become a challenge to do it as quickly as possible on the fastest machines available, thereby missing the whole point of the journey and bringing almost nothing to the local economy. Some tourist board expert obviously thought it a good idea – hopeless. Rant over 🙂
There are rides like that here too ☹️ While I totally admit that I hate crowds at a personal level, my real concern about tourism is the environmental,damage it brings. The Tongariro Crossing here has become such a famous “must-do”walk that the landscape has been all but destroyed. And it’s not the only one.even rock pools are dying because of the number of people wading and swimming in them and leaving behind sunscreen and all sorts of other chemicals from their toiletries — not to mention the physical damage. Sorry for the rant; it’s one of the things that really pushes my buttons.
I absolutely love your photography, very atmospheric 💛
Many thanks for the kind comment