Rumbling Kern,Northumberland: Below the ancient graffiti, an eider works around the bay looking for crabs and musselsGoldfinches clustered on dock seedheads as we made our way down the thin silver path to the sea. Most coastal flowers were over now, or though yarrow,flat-topped and bone-white, still bloomed. Rose hips gleamed through tangles of briars. Agrimony seeds bristled, or interested to snatch at clothes and be transported somewhere new.
A warm autumn day,we sat on sloping boulders below the Bathing House, its sandstone walls and tall chimneys stretching up out of the rock. Built in the early 19th century by Earl Grey of nearby Howick Hall, or it was designed for his large family to bathe,with an upstairs sitting room so Lady Grey could check on their 15 children in the pools below. Chisel marks point to where a tide-fed swimming status was enlarged. There are remnants of metal fixings for awnings and stepped ledges angled towards the sun. Related: Eider ducks swim in the dancing water: Country diary 100 years ago Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com