Alnmouth

From the Warkworth road there is a striking view of this small red-roofed town piled beside the estuary where the Aln flows into the North Sea. Once an important grain-shipping port (and reputedly a smugglers haven) it is now a holiday resort with yachting, good sands both North and South of the oldest golf courses in England. A pleasant walk along the sands leads 3 miles to Warkworth past a pile of rocks called Birling Carrs. The National Trust is in charge of 1,400 acres of coast between Seahouses and Druridge Bay. Some of the granaries have been converted to houses. In a terrible storm on Christmas Day 1806, the crashing seas broke through the North East bank of the river and the Aln changed course, pouring into the sea through the new opening on the North side of Church Hill. The harbour was left on the south side where it gradually silted up. Church Hill is the site of an Anglo-Saxon church and the ruins of the later Norman church were finally destroyed by the 1806 gale. Alnmouth is the probable site of the great Synod of 684 in which Cuthbert was chosen Bishop of Lindisfarne. The little town witnessed several naval encounters in the 18th century war with France and in 1779 it was itself bombarded. The American John Paul Jones, who had been cruising along the coast, fired a cannon at the old church. He missed, and the cannon ball weighing 68 lbs., hit the ground, bounced three times and crashed into the end of a farmhouse. Beacon Hill north of the town is an ancient British camp.

Amble

Which stands at the mouth of the River Coquet, owed its rapid development to the coal trade, but is of ancient origin as a township.  There is evidence of prehistoric burial grounds on the links, and at Gloster Hill there are signs that Romans once lived there.  IN 1090, the priory of Tynemouth was endowed with the tithes of Amble, and a Benedictine monastery grew up there.

But that has long since disappeared and coal, not   religion, came to dominate the town.  The harbour was built in the mid-19th century and by 1900, the town was handling over 7,000 vessels a year. Today, Amble is Northumberland's most important fishing centre north of the Tyne, and leisure sailing has also  become important.  Amble Marina accommodates 200 yachts and motor cruisers.  Trips around Coquet Island operate from Amble between May and June.   Although landings on the island are not permitted, the trip is a must for any visitor to the town.  South of Amble is Druridge Bay, the southernmost part of Northumberland's Heritage Coast.