Holy Island of Lindisfarne – 12th August 2012

It was an early Sunday morning departure from Melrose as the causeway to  the Holy Island of Lindisfarne closed to traffic at 9.35am. Due to the early closure of the causeway, the island was surprisingly quiet. We visited Lindisfarne Priory, St. Mary’s Parish Church, Lindisfarne Centre and Gospels Garden during the morning then stopped for a lovely lunch at Pilgrims Coffee House. The morning had been overcast, however the afternoon was glorious for our visit to Lindisfarne Castle where we could admire the stunning view to Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands. Gertrude Jeckyll’s Garden was a blaze of colour plus the perfume from the flowers was amazing.

There’s more to Holy Island than it’s religious history, there are some lovely walks around the island. From the castle we walked down to Castle Point then along the coast at Sheldrake Pool then onto The Lough. Entering the Nature Reserve we headed for Emmanuel Head; the 35 feet white pyramid was completed in 1810 as a navigation aid plus to warn shipping away from the rocky coastline. The north coast of the island has several long secluded beaches, we walked along Sandham Bay before returning to Lindisfarne for afternoon refreshments. Several shops worth visiting are Lindisfarne Scriptorium, National Trust Shop and Celtic Crafts.

Lindisfarne Castle from the Harbour

Lindisfarne Castle from Gertrude Jekyll’s Garden

White Pyramid at Emmanuel Head

Sandham Bay from the Nature Reserve at Emmanuel Head

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 3:16 pm. It is filed under Bamburgh Castle, Borders Journeys, Farne Islands, Flora and fauna, Gardens, Gertrude Jeckyll, Group Tours, Guided Tours, History & Culture, Holy Island, Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Individual Tours, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne Castle, Lindisfarne Priory, Linidsfarne Mead, Museum, Northumberland, Northumbrian Coast, Organised Tours, Tours, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.