Sunday- Beal to Lindisfarne!

 The final blog! We had such a great day completing our big walk. It had some real challenges along the way, but what a great way to finish.

View from within the tent! Special blackout lining to block out the early morning sun. We were awake anyway though, used the luxury of an airbed for camping these days!

The lambs were in the middle of the field. You should be able to see Holy Island in this view, but the haze meant it only really appeared when we were about half way across

We were pitched right by the path to the shore

First look at the sands

Un-shodding

We crossed the river via the road before setting out on the pilgrims way, marked by wooden posts

The traditional way is barefoot, as it has been walked historically, and as Cuthbert himself would have walked. I wonder what he wore for the rest of his roaming. I wouldn't have liked to have worn sandals, which is my first imagining for a monk!

Many sand wormy piles

And bird feet

One of two refuge shelters for emergency use if caught out by a tide. We didn't climb, lest we caused any damage. As you can see, one rung is missing, but I think in an emergency you'd find a way

Then you'd have to hope and pray this wasn't the day the shelter leaned a little too far!

The early morning light was very atmospheric. We set off over the sand about 8.30

The muddiest section was where the path went through a grassy bit. Maybe because the walkers are all funneled over the same ground?

At least no shoes were ruined! I did spot an abandoned Welly in the midst of the swamp.

There were millions of tiny tiny snails all over the sand- look how many came on a walk with me!

The second refuge

A row of stone waymarkers running parallel for a section of the route

A barnacled post

The official end, outside the priory!

We were just in time for church at St Mary's. The church was full of people, and it was great to hear songs and prayers in a place that has held these traditions for so many centuries . You could tell a lot of the congregation were visitors due to the way that well known hymns were sung with gusto, but less widely used liturgy tunes were only sung with confidence by a handful of people.

You can see some of the Northern Cross pilgrims above with their decorated crosses, which were carried in and out of church at the beginning and end of the service. I said to one of them that we had seen them in Melrose, but alas he said it was not them- the Melrose group had mostly had to go home early due to a covid outbreak! What a shame, but hopefully they can try again next year.

We were marooned on the island (intentionally) for the afternoon, which meant we couldn't get to St Cuthbert's Island (just behind me in the photo- it also gets cut off by the tide). Cuthbert temporarily lived there as a hermit after retiring as prior at Lindisfarne. He later moved to Inner Farne so the monks couldn't bother him so easily, though he was then forced to return by an invitation to be bishop from the king, an unrefusable offer! I was delighted to find some tiny fossils known as St Cuthbert's beads on the shore.

Lindisfarne Priory and St Mary's, from the Heugh

A fun pile of buoys by the harbour.

Emma came to collect us, and spent the afternoon marooned with us. Here she is with Tom photoing the stone stacks on the shore beyond the castle.

We drove back the causeway to watch the tide recede again. Some cars bravely or foolishly went a lot further than us while the road at this end was still wet, but there appeared to be a blockage futher along, so we waited until we were confident that many had safely passed through before making our grand exit.

Happy Easter everyone!
The end