Christmas in Northumberland: Warkworth
On the last day of our Christmas break we visited Warkworth. Leaving the car part way between the town and the beach, which we would visit later, we crossed the old bridge over the Coquet. Warkworth’s castle is already visible high up on the left. However, our first aim was the 12th century church of St Lawrence which we approached along the riverside – but not before spotting the, by now totally expected, Little Free Library.
St Lawrence dates from 1130 with medieval and Victorian modifications.
The interior was very Christmassy with a display of trees by different local societies and companies, usually with some connection to their organisation’s raison d’être. The cricket club, for example, had chosen mini bats and balls.
After looking at the church we continued along the river for a while before cutting back up into town, views of the castle ever present.
The castle wasn’t open, but we walked all the way round it.
As this was Boxing Day we had leftovers from our Christmas dinner which we ate as a picnic on a bench by the river. However, we were in need of a coffee so we popped into the Castle Brew House before a last wander down through the town and back over the bridge. There were some very handsome doors, including a fairy one.
We then headed down to the beach for the final walk of our holiday. It was absolutely stunning.
The following morning we had to pack up and head for home after a wonderful week – a fine addition to our growing list of Christmases away from it all.
Linked to Jo’s Monday Walk.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
What a great trip you had! – brilliant scenery and great photographs to shove it.
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That’s definitely a brilliant way to spend a Christmas.Your photos capture so many wonderful sights on these visits that they really encourage others to follow in your footsteps and visit these places! Warkworth looks delightful with a church, castle and that stunning beach to visit…just perfect!
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What a lovely finish to your holiday. We visited the castle way back in 2015 when we had a week in the northern Pennines and had a day pottering along the coastline. Another Percy connection – we once lived on Percy Street in Shrewsbury. A nice thing about English Heritage sites is that they often have an audio tour which I think greatly enhances the experience.
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It was a lovely finish – Christmas Day and Boxing Day were far the best for weather. I’ve never actually been in Warkworth Castle, a treat for another day. There is a Percy Street in Glasgow too, but I’ve never been to it.
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You make going away for Christmas very enticing. Just wish we could guarantee the weather.
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We have always been reasonably lucky, but that will probably run out some day! We tend to go somewhere no more than 2-3 hours away, sometimes shorter, so getting there and back is not too much of a problem if the weather turns.
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Like the river views and the beaches. Luckily that’s one thing that has come down in price. I can get best selling books and DVD’s for as little as 20 pence out of charity shops whereas I was paying £5 to £10-£20 pounds ( box sets) each for the same items in the 1980s. Happy days when everything else has gone up in price. Bob. BSS.
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We were lucky to get such lovely blue skies for the beach walk. They were certainly keen on their book swaps in Northumberland – every village we visited had a Little Free Library.
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Beautiful pictures all round. I like seeing what my daughter would call ‘proper’ castles when she was young and love the idea of the Little Free Libraries. I am so sad to read about the fire near Glasgow Central.
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I enjoy a good “proper” castle too! It’s a miracle that no-one was injured in that terrible fire, and that the station was untouched apart from smoke damage it seems. I’m so sorry for all the small businesses that were there though – I hope they were properly insured. Another beautiful building gone.
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Another fine castle and beach. 🙂
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The beach was looking particularly splendid I thought.
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It looks like a great final day Anabel. The beach in the sunshine looks lovely and I like the Christmassy church. The first time I went to Warkworth I got lost in the castle, every staircase seemed to take me back to the same room and I thought I was destined to die in there 😀 The second time I had a friend with me and we went for a meal in the Mason’s Arms just across the road from the Hermitage.
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I don’t think I’ve ever been inside Warkworth Castle. The castles were only open at weekends which, as we travelled on the Saturdays, only gave us Sunday and we chose Dunstanburgh. Another time! The light was gorgeous on the beach.
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There’s nothing in the castle, it’s just empty rooms with information boards showing what they would once have looked like so I only took photos round the grounds.
https://tigermousetales.blogspot.com/2012/08/saturday-june-30th-2012-first-time-in.html
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It looks good – I like climbing up and down ruins. 2012 was before we connected – and it’s been a long time since I visited that blog which I presume you’ve retired!
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Well yes and no – for ages I’ve been meaning to copy all my camping posts from the mousehouse blog onto that one but never seem to get round to it, plus I was made aware quite some time ago by other people that blogger had changed in several ways and it had become difficult to do certain things. Whether that’s still true I don’t know, I haven’t yet tried to find out. Maybe I’ll get round to it sometime….
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I haven’t used Blogger for years but always thought it was more straightforward than WordPress. I prefer WordPress though because you can have a conversation in the comments more easily.
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You’ve ‘done’ Christmas in a narvellous way. You gave it a right good send-off in this post.
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Thank you, Margaret. It really was a lovely week.
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