Northumberland Life

There a not very secret bay, known to locals and anyone with Google at their fingertips. Sugar Sands is located down a single lane farm road, past Low Steads in Longhoughton near Alnwick. When you open the gate, do drop a pound into the honesty box and shut the gate afterwards. There is nothing here, except golden sands, blue sea and a long bay. Northumberland has a coast with many excellent beaches, however there are also many that can become a bit of a tourist magnet. Sugar Sands wins by having nothing to offer, except itself - and it is a winner. If you are someone who requires a mobile signal - alas, it will not be the place for you, but a little smarts and use of airplane mode and you can escape from the internet, even for an afternoon.

Amble, for the unitiated is a small fishing harbour town around half way'ish up the Northumberland coast. It has many charms and has been a holiday destination for Shirley since childhood and has remained the same for us both with our own children over the last thirty years. While some of the quay and harbour has been gentrified over time, it retains its full heritage, personality making it a regular haunt for us ... visiting many times for sea, food and fun as well. Why - well there is too much to offer in one post and one suspects that we will return both physically and literarily to this plesant town many times via this site. Today, its late July 2020 and while an overcast with occasional spells of liquid sunshine was worth the effort. We pottered along the jetty, following the Coquet river mouth - watching boats, fishermen, anglers and humanity enjoy the ambiance.  Our ultimate plan was a lunchtime, fishy treat courtesy of Quayside Fish n' Chip shop - which has been there f

Having moved to Northumberland early 2020, we always knew that the area had a unique culinary heritage ... however until we moved, we never fully appreciated the depth and range. My wife, Shirley is a local, coming from an old pit village on the Northumberland / North Tyneside border ... so. you would assume that we should know. But, in such a short time it has become clear that the extent of our knowledge and experience has been a mere splash in a much larger culinary pond.  It is definately a foodies paradise and a hidden English gem underserved by a parochial southern view that the north seems to stop somewhere between Manchester and Leeds. For fresh food, for local food and also for some unique creations this is definately the place to come - in some respects we are loathe to share how good it, keeping the tourismic influx away from our idyll ... however, if we do not share, the artisans do not survive and how will we obtain such great food on our doorstep. Part of our rationale fo