We are staying in the pretty little town of Alnmouth and just round the corner there is a haunted hotel, the Schooner. If this wasn’t bad enough, we are now a few miles away beside Cresswell Tower which is also haunted. We know you have probably had enough of royal weddings but bear with us.

In this case the daughter of the Cresswell family had fallen for a handsome Danish prince. At the time, England was at war with Denmark so perhaps the happy couple should have seen the writing on the wall. Throngs of people gathered at the foot of the tower waiting for the fairy-tale wedding. The bride-to-be was waiting at the top for her prince to arrive only to witness his dead body being dragged behind a horse. The prince had been murdered by the bride’s brothers. She died of a broken heart and on occasions can still can be seen atop the tower gazing out to sea looking for her beloved. Thank goodness Meghan’s was an altogether different story.

Avocets

We however were here looking for something completely different … avocets. Neither of us had ever seen avocets before but we had it on good authority that we might be able to see them and maybe even a little egret here on Cresswell Pond, another site managed by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. No sign of the little egret but there were at least half a dozen avocets. We were thrilled to have seen them at last. The Drift Café is quite close to the Pond so after a spell in the bird-hide we knew that a scone wasn’t far away.

Going after crumbs

Initially you think that Cresswell is a very quiet seaside village. Not a soul to be seen. Until you enter the Drift that is … everyone’s in here! It was going like a fair! Lots of things for sale by local craft folk and a fabulous display of scones. Pat went for a cheese and chive option. It was so big she swore she would never get anywhere near finishing it. She finished it, and even went after the crumbs left on her plate. My fruit scone was great as well. Just how I like them with the added bonus of crunchy sugar bits on top … delicious.

All in all this was  definitely one of the most enjoyable experiences we have had in a long time and to make it even better, when we were leaving, across the road from the café, a stonechat … another one for the list!

Londoncentric politics

The first recording of the Cresswell name was actually in Renfrewshire in Scotland which is perhaps not too surprising given that  over 50,000 people in this part of the world have signed a petition wanting to secede from the UK and join Scotland when it becomes independent. Obviously it’s not just the Scots that are utterly fed up with Londoncentric politics. Pat’s list continues to grow.

NE61 5JX        tel: 01670 861599        The Drift Café