A Perfect Day in Bamburgh

There are good days out, great days out, and then there are the kind of days that feel almost unfairly good — the ones where everything just falls into place. Our recent day in Bamburgh with friends was very much the latter. From the moment we dragged ourselves out of bed just after dawn to the moment we reluctantly said goodnight over the last of the wine, it was one of those days you'll be talking about for years.

Dawn Patrol

We hit the beach just as the world was waking up, the castle looming magnificently above us as we waxed our boards and pulled on our wetsuits. The stretch of sand that runs directly behind Bamburgh Castle is one of the most dramatic backdrops you could hope to surf against, and on this particular morning the sea was playing ball. The waves were hitting a sweet spot — not so powerful as to send a group of self-confessed beginners straight to the bottom, but with just enough momentum to give us a genuine fighting chance of getting to our feet. There were moments of triumph, plenty of wipeouts, and a lot of laughing. Honestly, even the failures felt fun with a view like that.

Breakfast at the Walled Garden

Surfing, it turns out, gives you an extraordinary appetite. We peeled off our wetsuits and made our way to the Walled Garden café, which is exactly the kind of place you want to land in after a morning of fresh air and physical exertion. Settled into our seats, slightly salty and very hungry, we worked through a proper breakfast and plenty of coffee. It set us up perfectly for the rest of the day.

Into the Castle

No trip to Bamburgh is complete without a visit to the castle itself, and having spent the morning admiring it from the waves, it felt right to finally go inside. We spent a couple of hours exploring, and it didn't disappoint. Bamburgh Castle has a way of making history feel immediate rather than distant — the sheer scale of it, the layers of different eras all folded into one place, the views from the battlements out across the sea and the dunes. We wandered, we read, we took far too many photographs, and we emerged blinking back into the sunshine feeling suitably awed.

Cricket and Tennis Below the Ramparts

What followed was perhaps the most enjoyably absurd part of the day. The cricket field at the foot of the castle is a proper, well-kept ground, and we commandeered a corner of it for a gloriously chaotic game that operated on its own relaxed interpretation of the rules. There were disputed dismissals, a few heroic catches, and at least one shot that disappeared embarrassingly wide. From there we moved to the tennis courts — and if you haven't played tennis in Bamburgh, you genuinely cannot claim to have found the most scenic court in England. Looking up at the castle walls as you serve is a slightly distracting experience, but we managed.

Sandwiches and Sunshine

By now the sun was well and truly doing its thing, and we picked up sandwiches from the Copper Kettle and found ourselves a good patch of grass to sit on and simply soak it all in. There's something deeply satisfying about sitting in the sun after a day of activity with good company, and we were in no particular hurry to be anywhere. Which, as it turned out, was slightly dangerous.

The Lord Crewe Beer Garden

Because when we wandered into the beer garden at the Lord Crewe Arms, time began to move in a different way. The afternoon stretched out warmly around us, the conversation flowed as easily as the drinks, and we settled in with the comfortable ease of people who have had a very good day and aren't quite ready to admit it's nearly over. We stayed quite a while. Rather a long while, actually. Long enough that our reservation at The Potted Lobster was suddenly a lot closer than we'd realised.

Dinner at The Potted Lobster

But we made it, and we are very glad we did. The Potted Lobster is everything a seaside seafood restaurant should be — the food was outstanding, the wine was excellent, and the atmosphere was warm and unhurried. We stayed right through to closing, finishing the evening in the same spirit it had begun: surrounded by good friends, in no rush, making the most of every last minute.

Bamburgh, what a day. We'll be back.