Continued from Part 2…
Helen and I needed to split up today to cover more ground and make the most out of the holiday. I dropped her off at the local station after some breakfast so she could get a train up to Edinburgh for some book shopping, while I went off castle-hunting again.
Dunstanburgh Castle
With Helen at the station, I drove round to Craster to do the coastal walk to Dunstanburgh Castle. A van was unloading copious amounts of fish to the fishmonger smokehouse and Jolly Fisherman Inn, walking past it all was quite overpowering! I was there just before 10am so nothing was open yet.
The walk from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle is about 30 minutes according to Google Maps, but it took me about 40 minutes, navigating all the bumps and rocks, sheep poo, cow pats, and stopping frequently to take photos. The view of the castle while walking along the coast was stunning. One of the best castle settings I’ve experienced. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger as I approached!
There were possibly only five people walking around here at this time in the morning. When I was on my way back into Craster village later on nearer midday, I must have passed at least fifty.
As impressive as the castle looked while walking towards it, once I was through the gatehouse it felt a little anticlimactic, as it opened up onto another field with a few scattered ruins here and there. The views all around were beautiful though, I just think I’ve been spoiled over the last couple of days with castle interiors at Alnwick and Bamburgh in particular.
From the opposite end of the castle you could look out onto the rich folk at the golf course.
More beautiful views…
After a little break for some water, I set back off towards Craster again, taking one last picture before I reached the village.
I got to the Jolly Fisherman Inn just after midday and navigated my way between several dogs to the bar. It occurred to me that there were roughly two people for each dog in here, and it was packed. I asked for a seat, but the restaurant was fully booked. I tried to find a seat in the bar, but the only non-reserved free table was surrounded by hikers and dogs, so I decided not to stay.
Warkworth Castle
After briefly debating with myself whether to go back to the flat and have a rest, I decided to press-on to Warkworth which was next on my castle list.
I parked up and had a look around a few pubs for food. One of them looked pretty rough and “locals-early”, one had an AI-generated menu, and one was shut. So I walked up the hill to the Castle Brew House and found my perfect pub! The gammon was one of the best I’d had, really nicely cooked and delicious. The men’s bathroom also had some funny art on the wall above the urinals!
Well-fed, I went up to the castle. Before I went for lunch, the castle had already revealed itself at the top of the hill to me, and I sat eating lunch while looking out onto it (although blinds, a statue, and a tree mostly obscured it). The sun was right behind it, so I had to basically lie down on the pavement to take an acceptable picture!
Around the other side, the car park faced onto the main entrance. I was glad there weren’t more cars around else it would’ve spoilt the view a little, the only bad part of Caernarfon Castle is that it has a huge car park at its feet.
Through the archway, the castle grounds opened up, revealing a large keep and all walls. I was much more impressed with this castle than Dunstanburgh, despite the amazing location of the latter.
And we all know I love a good model!
Oddly, the keep here wasn’t referred to as a keep, but a “Great Tower”, and I couldn’t find any reason why. Possibly because the walls were thicker than a standard keep? It seemed to be much more solid than other keeps I’ve seen, and the ground floor was fully built from stone.
The views from up here were also great onto the surrounding town and countryside.
And the view from the keep or great tower back onto the rest of the castle was also really nice:
And a few more angles, because I really liked the look of this castle…
After this, I had plans to go to another castle, but I was defeated from all the walking and staircases; my calves were burning. I went back to the flat early and relaxed for a couple of hours before picking Helen up from the station in the late afternoon.
We grabbed some bits from M&S for dinner, then settled in for the evening to blog and read.
Tomorrow is spa day, and I can’t wait!
Shame about the Jolly Fisherman being full but it’s very popular. Not much else to Craster though! We’ve done the walk along the golf course a few times – it’s a lovely coastline round by the castle. Warkworth Castle looked well worth a visit and looks like you were really lucky with the sunshine.