Three generations boys adventure trip III: Northumberland & Cliff Diving

Somewhere between the Brexit Referendum and the election of Donald Trump, I took the boys to jump off a cliff. In the spirit of collective populism, we got 4 of our friends to plunge down into the sea below with us.  What a great summer! 

 

Like many British National Parks, the scenery of Northumberland is spectacularly beautiful. The slopes of the mountains, at times rolling, at other times harsh; the attractive stone-built towns, the wide sandy beaches, and of course the jagged cliffs plunging dramatically from the mountains to the sea.  But unlike many British National Parks, hardly anyone goes there. We enjoyed vast swathes of mountains and beaches to ourselves. And even more handily, there is a direct train to Alnmouth from London, by far the easiest way to travel with 4 boys and 3 drinking adults. 

 

As with Boys Adventure Trip II, we had booked activities with professional guides for most of the weekend. That left a reasonably amount of time amusing ourselves in the mountains and on the beach. Whilst Northumberland has nothing like the number of mountains that the Lake District has, there are a couple of chunky ones in the Cheviots, including the Cheviot itself. Due to time constraints, we climbed its neighbour, the prettily named Hedgehope Hill, close to the Scottish Border. This made it sound like a molehill, but in fact soars to 714 metres - just into mountain territory. The climb is a variety of grass paths, trudging though streams, and the obligatory battling through heather and scrambling over rocks to the top. It was a stunningly bright clear day, as it often is on the East Coast. We were rewarded with spectacular views to the Scottish Highlands one way, and over the rolling hills of Northumberland to the sea in the other direction. After that, we spent the rest of the day having simple fun on the beach. We improvised a version of rounders, there being enough space to really hit and run quite a distance. As the adults became exhausted, the boys buried one another up to the neck in sand. Frankly, there is nothing like a sandy beach in sunshine to amuse children of any age.

 

We stayed in the Sun Inn in Alnmouth, taking over 3 of their 4 bedrooms. This was a marvellous choice. The en-suite rooms were large and clean, the service was friendly, and the food was fantastic. Every morning several pigs were sacrificed for a wholesome breakfast to start the day. Our evening meals varied between the Sun Inn and an Italian across the road within the Hope & Anchor, both of which were excellent. One evening we ventured into Alnwick, shimmying up another hill first for some more incredible views up and down the coast, before descending back down into the town for a look at the castle and welcome selection of Indian food.

 

The next morning was a wet one, but it didn't matter too much as we were canoeing along the River Coquet. We had arranged a trip with Adventure Northumberland, who provided us (and another family) with 2 instructors, canoes and wetsuits. We met in the attractive town of Warkworth, close to its castle made famous by being used as the Quiddich pitch in Harry Potter films. After a brief introduction, we were tasked with paddling up over the weir (very hard) and sliding down it again (much easier) before paddling along the scenic river towards the sea. The reaction of our cityish boys was a real surprise. As with our previous canoeing trips, it’s a sport that we can all be equally good or bad at. The changing scenery around each corner and the wild birds flying past and wading in the shallows were all quite fascinating to them. However, just before boredom replaced curiosity, the waterfight began. This is where the instructors really helped, demonstrating a remarkable launch and bat technique with the paddles that thoroughly soaks your opponent!

 

However the next day we found that there is soaking, and absolute drenching. We met our Adventure Northumberland friends again for a session of “coasteering”, which simply involves making your way along the coast. However the coastal cliffs on this part are rather more dramatic than the beach. The waves really do smash over the rocks, repeatedly washing us into the sea where it's force was concentrated between the rocks. We’d scramble along cliff ledges, before leaping into the water where the ledge expired. Numerous times we paused to sit on what appeared to be a safe rock in the sea, only to get shoved back into the water by another enormous wave! Then bizarrely, we'd crawl through a tunnel in the cliff and find ourselves in a completed secluded lagoon in utter peace. 

 

Whilst each battle against the waves was adrenalin-lifting in itself, it was the cliff-jumping that was truly terrifying. We began slowly – initially just off a small rock, and gradually jumped off higher ledges as our confidence grew. By the end of the day, the more foolish amongst us were jumping off cliffs taller than a townhouse into jellyfish infested waves below. This took a certain amount of bravado, and I am proud to say that this was the one event where adults did better than the boys. Although as they pointed out – we have less to live for.  A welcoming optimistic view of life from the youth of today!

 

 

Three generations boys trip I: Peak District

Multi-generational holidays are apparently one of the biggest growth sectors in the travel industry. I can't really see the appeal of travelling with extended family. Too many people to involve in the detail of eating, sleeping, travelling and days out. However we tried it on a small scale by eliminating women from our trip, and it was so much fun that we repeated it twice more.

The formula was simple, I would drive with to my parents home with all the children, swap my daughter for my father, and carry on the journey into the Peak District. We rented a marvellous B&B in the turret of a house close to Edale, with a room on each of the 4 floors - one for the men, one for the boys, one sitting room, and one dining room.  Wholesome English breakfasts were thus sorted, with the landlord additionally making enormous packed lunches for our daily striding over the mountains.

Grandad time is marvellous for boys of any age, even with me in the party. We trekked over Mam Tor in the early evening, seeing the where the road had plunged down the hill with a few cottages, killing the occupants. As darkness and mist descended, my father terrified the boys with the ghost stories of the victims, and those that had met the ghosts when lost on the hillside. We staggered on through the mist.....

Next day was rather clearer, and seemed ideal to tackle Jacobs Ladder and cross the bizarre peaty landscape of Kinder Scout. I was expecting Jacobs Ladder to be a hearty climb for all of us, but small boys have infinite energy of course. They kindly carried our bags up the steps at quite a pace, waiting smugly for the old men at the top. The enormous lunch then vanished inside us as we looked down on Manchester. For reasons not entirely clear, boys listen to Grandfather's telling of the great Kinder Scout Trespass above my more interesting stories, and on that stunningly clear afternoon you could see what a marvellous day out that must have been.

Then it's compass time across the featureless landscape at the top of Kinder Scout.  The peat bogs sucked down the heavier amongst us, while my youngest son seemed to float confidently over the top.... until he didn't, and sank down like the rest of us. Eventually we could see down into the valley of Edale again, and carefully descended the steeper side of the mountain, not terrifically aided by bifocal lenses. A magnificent pub dinner topped off the day.

And so it continued over the next few days - another day - another mountain - and another view of the others side. We looked down on the beautiful views above the forest across Derwentwater, another opportunity for a Grandad story, this time about the Dambusters. We strode along Stanage Edge viewing the spectacular views of the valley below. We ate very well, 3 times a day. We played wholesome board games in the evening, like scrabble, draughts, and monopoly. We had lots of fresh air, and we all slept very very well!

Most of all though, we talked to each other. We learnt lots about each other and from each other, solving most of the world's problems. This is the positive of a multi-generational holiday, it was a lovely celebration of each other's company.