England: bridges, castles and lobster

Off the bike for a week and delighted to stay with my sister and brother-in-law and catch up with parents, nieces and assorted rellies. Newcastle is where I originated (or 'was born' as they say). It is a city that was famous for soccer, ship building, brewing, armaments, rope making, coal and glass - but now is recognized for its nightlife and magnificent architecture. The other big thing about Newcastle is the bridges. 

There are five bridges, the most recognized of which, the Tyne Bridge, is a one third scale version of the Sydney harbour bridge and was constructed to prove that the design was feasible. And the castles. Northumberland has a two thousand year history of invasion by the Vikings from Scandinavia and the Scots from, well, Scotland. To repel this motley crew a series of castles was constructed along the Northumberland coast. They still survive, in various states of disrepair. We walked to Dunstanburgh Castle one fine day.

Dunstanburgh sits on an exposed sill of dolerite - the Whin Sill. There are only three places on the planet where this formation has a significant exposure: Northumberland (where I lived as a child), the Central Plateau of Tasmania (where I live now, more or less) and, I believe, South Africa.

This is the dolerite headland beneath Dunstanburgh Castle. On returning from the walk we called in at the fishing village of Craster for lunch and checked out the local fish shop. Out of curiosity I enquired about the price of lobster, it being a luxury food in the form of crayfish in Tasmania. Turned out they had so many they were selling them at 2.50 pounds each - say $5. We bought four.

Unfortunately the 2011 Chavy Puligny Montrachet to accompany the lobster was considerably less of a bargain but made for a memorable meal.

Back to France tomorrow and some serious bike time required to work it off.