Dunstanburgh Castle Trail

In a rare child-free week,

and on Rachael’s first Wednesday off work as part of her new four-day week until Sept ’25, I also booked the day off to tackle one of the more distant and dangerous walks on the list: Dunstanburgh Castle.

Determined to make use of our renewed English Heritage membership,

we realised 50 miles into the journey that we’d helpfully left our membership cards at home. After assuring Rachael that the staff would be able to look up our details, we drove on to Craster Quarry Car Park, as our guidebook made it clear there was no on-site parking for the castle.

Upon arrival, a kind elderly gentleman offered us his parking ticket, valid for the entire day. This meant I didn’t have to wave my phone around in the air for a signal to connect to the PayByPhone app.

As we exited the car park, we were greeted by 🍔 Piper’s Pitch, which serves a variety of exclusively bread-based delights, including Auchtermuchty, a blend of Haggis, Bacon, and Rothbury Rager (a local variety of Tomato and chilli Relish), and the 🐟 Craster’ Kipper N Bun’, locally caught Oak Smoked Herring in a buttered bap. Rachael opted for the latter, while I went for the sausage (Square, of course) and egg bap.

Properly fueled, we headed into Craster Harbour towards the Dunstanburgh Castle trail.

As we came into Craster, I spotted the most important amenity on the harbour’s edge—an ice cream van! 🍦 We grabbed a Chocolate Sundae and a Flake 99 for dessert despite being 9 degrees out, along with the obligatory selfie. With hands freezing but bellies well and truly full, we honoured tradition at the kissing gate, with Rachael only allowing me through once I’d done the honours.

The walk to the castle begins by crossing a series of lush green fields, with the North Sea providing a stunning backdrop to our right. As we meandered along the trail, we ventured closer to the sea around halfway to the castle and stumbled upon a collection of rock pools full of crystal-clear water. We saw a few small fish darting around in one, but sadly, no crabs. 🦀

On our route around the castle’s perimeter, we explored the breathtaking cliffs, witnessed the bravery of local fishermen, and soaked in the landscape’s natural beauty.

Rachael, however, was more interested in the swarms of snails  🐌 hugging the castle walls for camouflage, regularly calling me back to point out the next group of Gastropods she’d discovered…

As we approached the Castle Circular’s end, we quietly skirted past two young lads who’d set up a tripod and smartphone to film some open-air haircuts and walked towards Constable’s Tower. With multiple accessible levels to explore, this tower can give you a view as far as Bamburgh on a clear day. 

On the second floor, Rachael called me over whilst pointing at the wall. Fearing yet another group of scintillating snails, I was pleasantly surprised to find a painted rock nestled in a peephole directed straight at Lilburn Tower – the oldest remaining part of the castle, constructed in 1322.

After exiting Dunstanburgh Castle and slithering down the outside path towards the golf course – we came across the first of many pillboxes dotted around the local area – concrete wartime relics that once played a defensive role along the coast. I climbed inside, naturally banging my head on the way in.

Shortly after the pillbox, there are many ways to make your way down to the hidden gem of Embleton Bay 🏖️. By the time we arrived, the temperature had improved, and the sun was beating down on the beach, which stretches down to Low Newton-by-the-Sea. We almost felt like we were on a sunny Spanish holiday – so I dubbed it Costa Del Northumberland!

After exiting the bay via DunstanSteads, the second half of the walk became much easier. Long, straight paths were flanked by gorgeous gold fields of wheat, with sheep and cattle mixed in for good measure.

At Owl Cottage 🏡, the guidebook suggests following the base of The Heughs (the big hill-looking thing) opposite Scrog Hill – but opting to limit the amount of sheep crap and cow pats we’re likely to step in – we snuck through The Shaird which is the path between the two, to the summit of the hill we’d walked the coastline side of on approach to Dunstanburgh Castle.