Yoga and WalkWise Walking Weekend Alnmouth and The Northumbrian Coast
Friday 24 July 16:00 - Monday 27 July
(3 nights)
From £559.00
Listed by Spice National
Overview
Northumberland is one of the finest, wildest, quietest and most beautiful counties in the country. There is a wealth of variety in the area, from the miles and miles of empty sandy beaches, the coastal villages of Craster and Seahouses, to the heather moors and grit stone escarpments of Simonside around Rothbury, plus the wide-open hills of the Cheviots near Wooler. This is a truly wild landscape littered with historic houses, churches, fortified peel towers, priories, abbeys, follies and more castles per mile than anywhere else, including the impressive Bamburgh Castle and Alnwick Castle itself (or more famously now Harry Potters’ Hogwarts). Our base for the exploration of this wonderful region will be the very popular HF Nether Grange in Alnmouth. This centre overlooks the golf course and down to the coast. It’s a lovely location, tailored to walkers’ needs and has a great reputation for food.
Includes
- 3 Night’s accommodation in twin or double share room
- 3 Evening meals
- 3 Breakfasts
- 3 Picnic lunches
- 3 Guided walks
- 6 Yoga Sessions
Extras
- Transport to walks. Local transport to walks if used or alternatively you can use your own cars may be used to get to the start of the walk.
- Guests & Non Members who are new to Spice are welcome to book at a £36 supplement though they may prefer to join to obtain the member rate and any deals that may be available at the time of booking/joining. Please call your local office/group to enquire about booking as a guest.
Location & Itinerary
Yoga
We will offer six yoga sessions over the three-night break. There is no requirement to attend all sessions, you can do as many or as few as you wish. We usually have a pre breakfast wake up yoga session and a cool down post walk pre-dinner yoga session each day.
This venue has a lovely terrace and it’s a 5-minute walk to the beach. Therefore, it is sometimes possible to take our yoga classes outside at this venue, if weather permits!
All classes will be suitable for all abilities, with equipment and props provided.
The WalkWise Walking Programme
The Northumbrian Coast has such an array of landscapes, history and wildlife that we can only scratch the surface of this forgotten land over the weekend. To provide an interesting programme that reflects the diversity and interest of the county we have collated a few highlights of Northumbria, and we can use these to form the basis of the trip.
The amazing coastline of Northumberland is a great attraction with miles of empty sandy beaches overlooked by many a fairy-tale castle! Small fishing villages have grown up along the coast like Craster or Seahouses, where you can catch a boat to the Farne islands to view the wildlife. Of course though all this coastline is best accessed on foot and this is some of the best coastal walking in the country. One lovely walk can be made between Seahouses and Bamburgh Castle. This walk may be curtailed to allow the group to catch a boat out to the Farnes where it’s possible to enjoy a David Attenborough style encounter with puffins! Another lovely coastal walk begins at Newton by the Sea, crosses the bay to Dunstanburgh Castle, then continues on to Craster with its famous ‘Kipper Smoke’. The coast can then be followed all the way down to Alnmouth.
Just inland from Alnmouth lies the beautiful market town of Alnwick where one may find the ancient parklands of Alnwick Castle. Set away from the coast this area hoped to avoid the marauding Vikings, the savage Scots and the Border Rievers. So, under the protection of the mighty castle a town, an Abbey and a Priory were established. There are miles of footpaths through these parklands, and we can follow the wandering River Aln in front of Alnwick Castle, then stroll through the mature woodlands, complete with red squirrels up onto the open hills beyond. Ancient drovers’ tracks criss-cross the moorlands and strange follies mark the best viewpoints of the vast panoramas beyond. Finally, we can return to the valley where peaceful riverside paths eventually reveal the priory before returning us back to Alnwick.
The coastal bus runs once an hour along the coast so it’s possible curtail many of the coastal walks in the villages that we pass through which provides further flexibility to your walks.
WalkWise UK will provide a guided walk on each day, The walks may be up to 7-10 miles but there is some flexibility, and it is possible to curtail the walks at certain points. All walks are weather dependent and own transport may be taken to the start of the walk.
You will be supplied with a ‘what you must bring’ list - it is your responsibility to ensure you have these items.
To allow you to choose a walk that suits you best, we will provide a minimum of two walks on each day, led by professional and knowledgeable walking guides. On both days there will be a harder walk of 10-12 miles with 1000+ft of ascent, and a gentler walk of 6-9 miles with less ascent. All walks are weather dependent and own transport may be taken to the walk starts. You will be supplied with a ‘what you must bring’ list - it is your responsibility to ensure you have these items.
Travel & Stay
Standing in the centre of the quiet harbour village of Alnmouth, Nether Grange has excellent views over the dramatic North Sea coastline. Starting life as a granary in the 18th century Nether Grange was converted into a family home in the 19th century by the High Sheriff of Northumberland. The house was acquired by HF Holidays in 1947. It has 36 bedrooms, a number of which enjoy views across to the sea, a large lounge and dining room. The conservatory and adjacent bar are a pleasant place to relax after your day's walk or activities. Nether Grange has an attractive elevated terrace garden and croquet lawn which enjoy superb views out to the sea. Like all of HFs Country Houses, Nether Grange is tailored for walkers and outdoor enthusiasts with boot room, drying room and a ‘Discovery Point’ which contains valuable local area information.
Around the Hotel
• Alnwick itself is a charming town, with much to be gained from simply strolling around.
• There is also the famous Alnwick Castle of Harry Potter fame and the superb new Alnwick Gardens complete with the largest tree house in the world that is actually a tree restaurant!
• Cragside at Rothbuty is a National Trust house and is certainly worth a visit. There are extensive grounds and it was the first place to be lit by the electric light bulb and hydroelectric power.
• The Farne Islands are spectacular and well worth a visit if you like wildlife.
• Then only a short drive away is Hulne Park and Priory. Slightly more distant are numerous castles, abbeys and historic houses, the lovely villages of Alnmouth, Seahouses and Craster famed for their kippers!
| Type | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Member Double Share - (Must be 2) | £559.00 | Available |
| Member Twin Share | £559.00 | Sold Out |
| Member Single Room | £619.00 | Sold Out |
| Member Premium Single Room | £649.00 | Sold Out |
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Host & Everything Else
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