This is the place where I record and then archive my monthly updates and what's new in our hunt for castles UK.

In July we had a 4 day castle hunt in Northumberland, well it was more of lets find a place to live and visit the castles on the way hunt. We have reached a crossroads and have no wish to stop where we are, so it's a new direction for us. My place of work is closing down next year, that means early retirement for me because the Castle Spotter was retiring next year anyway. Full time castle hunters but its where to live, why not head to the sea and be near lots of castles and bastles, in the big open space that's called Northumberland.
We head up the A1 to Newcastle upon Tyne and go through the Tyne Tunnel, heading for Seaton Delaval Hall, it's near the coast just above Whitley Bay. This is the starting point for our hunt, there was an earthwork castle and a later tower come manor house at Seaton Delaval but it's site is now lost. I wanted to snap the hall, for a site of castle picture but when we got there we found it was National Trust and open, so in we went.
We head to the sea and turn north, Blyth is the first town we want to look over, it's not far but the place is too big so we cross it off the list. Next up is Bothal Castle, it's inland to the north-west down in a valley, Bothal is a place in peace we could live here but it's way out of our league, so we get a look of this fine castle and move on to Cambois but we're not looking for this sort of place. Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is next, it's our red hot favourite and its church tower was defensible, so with high hopes we park up. It's a nice little place with a large sandy bay, we look from the outside, at house for sale and we called in to a pub. There are pints of beer lined up on the bar and the barman says I've just pull them off after clearing the lines, you can have one for a £1, this could be my place to live. We go to the church to get a picture, it's on the northern headland with a great view of the bay, it's a lovely sunny day but the place just doesn't feel right, it's a pity, we cross it off the list.
We go past Lynemouth, which is a no and Cresswell is out of our league but we get a picture of its good looking tower. The castle mound and chapel at Widdington will have to wait until later, with time ticking with head to Amble, we park and have a look around. The little main street is nice but we didn't find the harbour, we left thinking Amble is a maybe and we need to have another look. Warkworth with its castle, a rare bridge tower and a defensible church tower is a mile away, it's a lovely little town but it's another one which is way out of our league, so we move on, it's time to get to Seahouses. Back to the friendly Bamburgh Castle Inn and the room with a balcony overlooking the harbour, with views of the Farne Islands, it's still a hot sunny day and we sit on the balcony with a beer, it's good to be back up north. We look at houses in Seahouses and Alnwick and land on Inner Farne Island to get up close to Prior Castells Tower and them puffins, a bird we've never seen. Our stop in and around Seahouses makes us want to live in Northumberland even more, it's just where and when, we will just have to keep on looking. I've posted pictures of the trip on my CastleUK Facebook page, go take a look.

For more information, click on the pictures.