Lindisfarne Castle

My brother wanted to go to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) today as apparently he’d never visited before.  So we, along with many hundreds of others duly arrived in the car-park and proceeded to troop, like Lemmings from a Cruise Ship, towards the castle.  It actually is open at the moment while the National Trust are waiting for the lime-plaster to dry and I loved the simplicity of the building without those awful Edwardian furnishings.  It reminded me of Haddon Hall in the northern end of the Peak District; simple rooms where the natural feel of the building could show through, with just a touch added here and there by early medieval/ Tudor furniture.  I thought it might be packed inside, but fortunately it wasn’t and there were few enough people to navigate the awkward doorways and narrow passages.  I suspect most people who were in there were visitors from overseas, though there were probably a few like me with National Trust membership.  Nic and Ann went off to visit the Gertrude Jekyll garden which proved to be a great disappointment (both too early in the season and from the sound of their comments, too few gardeners working on the site). I think the house is open for the next 5 weeks before they start work again on the interior, though by all accounts they’ve still not decided how they will refurbish the building.

Lunch in Bamburgh and back home now for an after lunch breather.  I’m thinking of going for a walk around by Newton Pond shortly and maybe I’ll take my sketching stuff with me.