We got back home recently after a fortnight at this delightful site set by the River Breamish at the Powburn end of the lovely Breamish Valley. We were made very welcome on arrival by the friendly smiling staff and found a nice pitch near the facilities block, for our camper van. The facilities are excellent and always spotless, despite a few inconsiderate guests not rinsing down and cleaning the sinks after doing their washing up - there's always some. All pitches are hard standing and you do need hard ground pegs to be able to pitch an awning. There's a nice walk loop through woodland that's part of the site, which takes you past the R. Breamish, which if you're a birder like me, has interest in the form of Dipper. We heard Yellowhammers singing most days too, and Siskin and Redpoll flying over. There's a nice walk upstream from the site to Ingram, where there's a nice friendly cafe that does good latte and delicious cakes. The return leg description in the leaflet isn't described too well and we did go wrong, as did another couple we spoke to. You have to make sure you follow as near as poss to the river. The walk at the far end of the valley, to Linhope Spout, is also worth doing. On the coast there's excellent birding at Druridge Bay where some shallow pools have hides and attract waders. Just at the north end of Druridge Bay there's also East Chevington reserve and south of the Druridge Pools is Cresswell Pond, also good for waders. Dunstanburgh Castle is worth a visit [walk from Craster - about a mile, flat], and in the summer the cliffs atop which it sits, have a huge Kittiwake colony [the largest in Northumbs], with nesting Fulmar and Razorbill too. Warkworth Castle is also good. These two castles are English Heritage, of which we are members. We passed on Alnwick and Bamburgh which although impressive, are privately owned and expensive. Be aware that to visit the coastal sites requires some good navigation on minor roads as all the main roads run North>South. As mentioned, I'm a birder and although this was a family holiday [myself, wife Anne and dog Poppy] I still managed to see 113 different species!
