Distance 22.9 Km  (14.2 miles)     Ascent – Negligible       Average moving speed  2.79 mph    Start  9.22 am   Finish  3.30 pm     

 My first walk following the Covid shutdown of organised coach based walks.  Four of us left the coach at Ellington, Richard, two new members, Allison and Caroline, and myself.  We initially headed east along the road and intent on introducing and explaining the walks to the new members,  I passed my turn off resulting in a backtrack of about 300 m – a great introduction.  Anyhow, after the backtrack and joining the correct route, we headed NE along another road and then left the road to head NNW on a footpath.  We then turned N on another path before heading E through Blakemoor Farm and onto the minor road alongside the dunes.  Taking the first path through the dunes we headed to the beach and began walking NNW on the hard sand.  Just before the hamlet of Druridge we took our morning coffee stop.  On our way again, we continued northwards up the beach under a mainly blue sky with the low sun glinting off the sea to the south.  The sand was quite wet in places so we had to watch where we were walking.  Approaching Druridge Bay Country Park we left the beach and headed for Ladyburn Lake.  As it was a little early for lunch we decided to walk around the lake and headed NW to the stepping stones.  Checking that everyone was OK on stepping stones, we made our way across although it was noticeable that Richard was quite slow having said earlier that he didn’t feel great.  Anyhow, we all made it across and made our way down the NE side of the Lake and back to the picnic tables beside the cafe.  Through the dunes and back onto the beach we again made our way northwards with the sun shining in a fairly clear sky.  A few hundred metres before Bondi Carrs we left the sands to avoid the rocks and continued northwards on a track above the sands.   At Low Hauxley we dropped back onto the sand but it was noticeable that Richard was struggling which was unusual as he is normally a strong walker.  We continued on the beach until level with Amble caravan site at which point we took a path through the dunes.   Due to concern re Richard, I omitted the route via the pier and we took a short cut through the town and around the marina.  This brought us to the main road up to Warkworth so we made our way along the pavement up into the town and straight to the pub where after a rest and a drink Richard seemed to be improving.  A visit to the doc the next day confirmed he had suffered no ill effects.  An enjoyable, if eventful, walk in excellent weather for October.