On the coast of Northumberland just to the north of Warkworth, Amble and Druridge Bay sits the village of Alnmouth. Located on an isolated natural harbour spanning out to the sea surrounded by the river it is named after, the Aln, Alnmouth is the stereotype of what you might image to be a “traditional fishing village” and has remained as such for its entire history, its riverside littered with little boats.
During the Great North Walk, the village of Alnmouth was the destination for the end our 2nd day (starting in Ashington). Having made it 16 miles north up the coast, passing the aforementioned locations, we had to enter Alnmouth via a small bridge crossing the river which surrounds it. This bridge is in fact the only entrance in and out of the village by road.
Once into the village, you will find the entirety of Alnmouth is situated around one long winding street going downhill towards the sea, which is known as Northumberland Street. This layout sustains its original medieval shape and has not changed at all since its creation. In fact, one can even look at photos from Alnmouth dated to the 19th century and see even the buildings have scarcely changed. Alnmouth is effectively frozen in time, making it a pleasurable and romanticised experience.
While staying the night in Alnmouth, we slept at the Schooner Hotel. The Schooner hotel is a 17th century coaching inn roughly around 400 years old, and is purported to be haunted (we did not encounter any ghosts!). While this sounds like a great place to stay, do not expect much as unfortunately the new ownership of the property are somewhat neglecting it and running it at a bare minimum, although it did the job for what we needed.
The owners of the hotel have also transformed its bar into an Indian restaurant, and capitalise on the fact that most things in Alnmouth (bar perhaps one other pub) have closed by evening. Essentially, its the only game and restaurant in town.
Because our legs were completely worn out from all the walking, and the walking yet to be done, we were too tired on the evening to truly explore the beach. However, we did get great some great drone footage of the village and its surroundings.
In summary, Alnmouth is a beautiful English traditional fishing village that maintains its historical character. It is small and charming, although we ultimately only spent the night there out of a necessity as part of a larger journey and there is otherwise no need to if you can visit it as part of a day trip.