The Journal

We swapped the Cheviots for a grey morning in Bamburgh. There was a beach almost to ourselves, a Sunday roast worth waiting for, and two people who’d come a very long way for lunch.

I promised Lucy we’d watch it together. Three episodes later, I have a few reservations about the mysteries, an excellent opinion of the scenery, and some explaining to do.

A Friday to-do list takes us from an enormous breakfast in Rothbury to the heights of Simonside, before the last of October’s golden light leads us to Chillingham Castle. Some places stay with you longer than others.

Sunday lunch at The Dirty Bottles in Alnwick, a haunted castle that wasn’t open, and a car alarm that gave Bamburgh’s holiday cottages an afternoon’s entertainment.

One last photograph at Bamburgh Castle turns into a spooky Halloween adventure for Lucy and Tom. Fortunately, Meg is paying attention. A playful fictional tale.

Tom's birthday surprise: a weekend at The Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland, with fire pits on the terrace, dinner in the old abbey and an unforgettable Bakewell tart.

Corbridge, Hexham, a soggy pumpkin patch and a very small fish — an October Saturday that didn't go to plan, rescued by excellent cheesecake in Belsay.

A blustery walk along Bamburgh Beach to Stag Rock and its little lighthouse, a lovely discovery at The Walled Garden — and a moment with Meg we'd rather forget.

An empty causeway, a murder story from a little book hut, a tide that strands us, a black rabbit, singing from the lime kilns, and a missing Meg.

Tom's Cragside was rain and solitude. Lucy's has sunshine, Flynn, the adventure play area, Blueberry Bakewell slices and the house itself.

A lap of the lake at Druridge Bay Country Park, one lost dog lead, a huge beach over the dunes, a second look at Amble and a late lunch at The Tempus.

Wartime pillboxes, a wandering burn, a hundred indignant terns and a pint at The Landing: why Beadnell Bay is the beach we never tire of walking.

A blustery morning on Bamburgh Beach, an 84-year-old Geordie in a black Stetson with a Dire Straits story, and the song Tom couldn’t stop playing afterwards.

A quiet riverside walk in Alnwick became a detour to Charlton Hall, hours in Alnwick Castle’s State Rooms and a hunt for Sunday lunch that ended in a warm corner with Meg asleep beside us.

After years of driving past, we finally slowed down to properly explore Bamburgh Castle — a beach walk with Meg, breakfast at The Lord Crewe, and centuries of history inside the walls.

A proper pie at a new Running Fox, a sneaky peek at a wedding venue, and a gentle Sunday afternoon walking around Bolam Lake with friends, babies and dogs in tow.

Lucy on letting go of summer, finding her autumn wardrobe rhythm, and the small matter of a wedding outfit still to sort.

A quick look at Wallington turned into a whole afternoon — wind, wandering, an accidental garden discovery, cake, and Tom's six-year quest for a fleece Lucy accidentally gave away.

Tom has bought and sold more watches than he can count — and now there's a new one he can't stop thinking about. Getting Lucy to the Metrocentre without arousing suspicion is another matter.

Ponies, giant tortoises, very good coffee and Tom developing an unhealthy interest in bowler hats — a Saturday at the Glendale Show near Wooler.

We finally handed the Journal to someone who actually knows Northumberland's history. Peter takes us from Hadrian's Wall to the Border Reivers, with a detour via a great many stolen cattle.

Tom and Lucy skip the queue at Cook & Barker for Friday lunch at The Northumberland Arms in Felton — a coaching-inn schnitzel regret, a competitive pudding league, and Meg keeping a close eye on proceedings.

An early Coquet-side walk, a proper Northumberland breakfast at Bertram's, Warkworth Show and a castle Tom somehow forgot was this good.

A day trip across the border to Melrose - an easy riverside walk to Abbotsford, coffee with a view, and quite possibly the best sticky toffee pudding yet.

Our EE broadband died for five days, so Tom finally tried Starlink. The satellite connection was brilliant. Getting Wi-Fi to reach the whole house was another story entirely.

A 45-minute drive from the coast, Cragside swaps dunes for pine woods, Victorian ingenuity, and the quiet company of deer once the crowds head home.

Fifteen years, several Barbours, four Flint and Tinders and one Levi's x Filson later, comparing the Filson Tin Cloth and Dry Wax Short Cruiser jackets to find the one that actually gets worn.

The Running Fox and Carnaby's, tried on consecutive mornings after two very different walks — which one comes out on top?

A mile of golden fields and dunes leads to an empty beach between Bamburgh and Holy Island, followed by a second breakfast at Carnaby's.

Wind turbines, moorland sheep, an imaginary rectory purchase and a proper breakfast at The Running Fox — the long way to Ingram.

The history behind Preston Tower's thick walls — three centuries of border raiding, the families who lived by it, and how the word 'blackmail' came to be.

A visit to Preston Tower, a 14th-century pele tower built for a family waiting out the worst of the Anglo-Scottish Border — and what its seven-foot-thick walls were really for.

A very ordinary British house spider, Lucy's dramatic reaction, and the tricks we've picked up for keeping them outdoors as Spider Season approaches.

A market town day out in Morpeth — coffee at The Central Bean, browsing Sanderson Arcade, and a riverside walk through Carlisle Park.

Three cafés we keep coming back to for breakfast in Beadnell — The Landing, The Courtyard and Edgewater — plus a couple still on our list.

An unhurried summer afternoon watching cricket beneath Bamburgh Castle — blankets, coffee, ice cream and nowhere else to be.

A quiet dawn walk from Beadnell to Seahouses — sleepy dunes, racing snails, a kind stranger, and coffee at The Landing before the rest of the coast wakes up.

From Howick Sands to Dunstanburgh Castle, via smoked kippers, sea cliffs and a castle that never looks the same twice.