St Cuthbert’s Way Day 7 – Beal to Lindisfarne

6 August 2021 Sarah

St Cuthbert’s Way Walk Day 7 would see us walking from Beal to Lindisfarne – a distance of about 3.5 miles.

Having staryed overnight at The Lindisfarne Inn, our final day would see us walking from Beal to Lindisfarne. The two Andy’s were doing another longer cycle ride and would rejoin us later (assuming they arrived before being cut off by the tide!).

Having waved the Andy’s off, we drove back to the causeway where our walk from Wooler to Beal had finished the previous day. Neil and I dropped Nicholl and our backpacks off there and then drove over to Lindisfarne. We then ran back to meet Nicholl for our final walk.

Our run back to Nicholl was into a headwind all the way, which made it hard going! When we got back to Nicholl, we all set off for the walk across the causeway onto the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

Thankfully, the wind was behind us for our walk.

The road gets covered when the tide comes in and cuts off the island from the mainland, so you have to time your crossing according to the tide times.

An alternative route is to follow the poles in the sand that mark the Pilgrims Way but we opted for the road route.

Along the causeway there is a safety hut (on stilts) which can be used as a refuge point for any that get stranded (by not taking the tide times into account properly).

We were almost across when the two Andy’s passed us on their bikes.

It would appear that there is no specific finish point for the walk into Lindisfarne. We chose the statue of St Cuthbert which is within Lindisfarne Priory, which is called ‘Cuthbert’s Journey’.

View of Lindisfarne Castle

We had a drink and lunch at the Manor House. We were joined there by Nicholl’s brothers Adam and Wes along with her nephew Ediz. After lunch we went off to check into the various places that we were staying – Neil and Nicholl stayed at the Crown and Anchor pub, and the Andy’s and I stayed at The Ship Inn.

Andy and I then went for a bit of a walk around Lindisfarne.

Gertrude Jekyll Garden

Lindisfarne Castle from Gertrude Jekyll Garden

Whilst we were having a walk, Kath and Mary arrived and had gone for a walk with Nicholl, Wes and Ediz – they also joined up with the other Andy.

After our walk we went back to the Ship Inn and sat in the beer garden for a drink, where we were joined by the other Andy.

Meanwhile, some of the others were still out exploring.

In the evening we all met up at Crown and Anchor or a celebratory meal, primarily to celebrate Nicholl’s birthday. It was great to be able to share the evening with them and enjoy a lovely meal.