Lindisfarne - Barnsley Dearne Valley

 Had a good sleep, but had to be out of the B&B by 10am this morning, so I was up and about reasonably early. Had to do the usual repack... I'm getting into a bit of a system now. It was great getting all my clothes washed at Fiona's... just means I can start again. Thanks Fiona😃

Here's a pic of my B&B

Bamburgh View B&B

So after I had my breakfast, I took my luggage out to the car (which fortunately I was able to park nearby) and set off for a walk around the island, which I did not have time for last night.

The wind was whipping up off the sea and was bitterly cold. My eyes and nose were streaming (is that TMI??) but the sun was out and when you had the wind behind you it was fine.

Here are some pics I took on that walk... still very lucky with the sunshine!

Another view of the ruins

And another....

Good Shepherd Sunday last weekend - the lost sheep!!!

Dry Dock

View looking back to the village

 The destination for my walk was the Lindisfarne Castle, which has just been refurbished to the tune of over £3 million. It has just been re-opened to the public, but it was not opening today until 12 noon, as the tidal path was not open until 11.40am. As you can see from these photos the scaffolding is still well and truly up..

Info about the Castle

View of the castle

View of the castle

One last view of the tidal effect on the road as I drove out..

Shows where the tide has been

Shows where the tide has been

Shows where the tide has been

  One thing I had to do before I left the B&B (because I needed the wifi!) was to plan tonight's accommodation. I just virtually put a pin in the map somewhere between here and Ely (where I want to stay tomorrow night) and I came up with this Premiere Inn in Barnsley Dearne Valley. I was a little bit wary of accommodation on the roadside of the A1 after my last experience with Days Inn, so this one looks a bit off the road and actually has turned out fine!

Lindisfarne - Barnsley Dearne Valley

Tonight's motel

Not a whole lot to say about the journey. The road started off as a two way road and if you get stuck behind a truck, you just wait... nobody overtakes! Actually it was quite busy with traffic coming towards you, but there doesn't seem to be the road rage that is experienced in Australia. Yet!!!!

After a while the road became dual carriageway, and it was just plain boring driving all the way through. I had to ask Fiona and Dave about a few road rules here... for example when you get the de-restricted  zone, what speed is the maximum, and they told me 70 mph... which is 110kmph.
But when I do that people just zoom past me all the time... I've tried very hard to stick to the speed limit whilst I've been driving here.... you wouldn't believe how demure I've been! But there have been times when I was not sure of the speed limit because it's not always obvious, so I hope I don't come home to a heap of speeding tickets... 😟

Anyway, this motel is fine and there's a bar and dining room attached, so I'm right for the night!

Sweet dreams everybody!