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Middlerigg
3bedrooms
3bathrooms
6guests
Coming Summer 2021
The motherly arms of Craster harbour’s two whinstone piers hold a protective embrace. The resulting small cove shelters from the wild North Sea. It has welcomed Craster’s fishermen and their cobles for generations. Ramshackle stacks of lobster pots mirror the ragged silhouette of tumbledown Dunstanbugh Castle in the distance. Plucky oystercatchers peep support for their industrious colleagues, frantically strutting and prodding in the mud. The orange of their elongated beaks a close match for Middlerigg’s pantile roof that sits in contrast above its dark grey stone walls. Proudly, the house looks down at the boats resting at jaunty angles below, each one decorated with ropes strewn with oversized colourful plastic baubles. If Craster is the harbour, then the harbour is Middlerigg.
Middlerigg perches above the harbour on the aptly named Haven Hill. With its strong stone walls and elevated position, it’s removed enough to observe the activity below but close enough to feel part of it all. It is both homely and elegant—a palette of slate and oak, dressed with Welsh woollen blankets and warmed by a woodburning stove—ready for friends and family to gather. The glazed archway in the well-equipped open-plan kitchen-diner looks out to the immensity of the North Sea and a spellbinding coastline stiff with magic. The dramatic ruins of 14th-century Dunstanburgh Castle loom to the north. The mezzanine floor adds to the airy ambience but also, usefully, provides an additional upstairs lounge area. The main lounge, downstairs, with its woodburning stove, Smart TV, wifi, and Sonos speakers, provides the perfect space for a cosy evening in with loved ones. There’s also a handy utility room with washing machine and tumble dryer.
Upstairs there are three roomy bedrooms, all with luxurious super king-size beds and one with useful zip and link system that converts it into two twin beds. A combination of Egyptian cotton, down duvets and Melin Tregwynt woollen blankets will spoil you for anywhere else. Every bedroom has an ensuite shower room with toasty underfloor heating.
There’s air source central heating throughout Middlerigg; the perfect foil for any chilled winds brought in by the North Sea.
If you’re not a weather watcher already, you will inevitably become one while at Middlerigg. Watch as the seascape constantly repaints itself. When the sun shines, the glazed archway doors of the kitchen-diner lead to a patio seating area, where you can sit and watch not only the weather but turnstones pick through the bladderwrack and linnets, cormorants and eider ducks going about their respective business. Don’t be surprised if the enticing aroma of oak-smoked kippers wafts from the nearby L Robson & Sons – home of the legendary Craster Kippers. Not to be missed. On your doorstep is the wonderfully take-me-as-you-find-me Jolly Fisherman. A simple pub serving well-priced crab sandwiches that are perfect washed down with a pint of Black Sheep ale. There’s even off-road parking for up to two cars—a real coup for the intimate streets of this small village.
Need to know
Interior Features
Dishwasher
Smart TV
Wood Burning Stove
All En-Suite
Tumble Dryer
Sonos
Washing Machine
External Features
Garden/Patio
Off Road Parking
Children
High Chair available
Travel Cot available
Pets
No Pets
Location
Coastal Village
Pub - within 1 mile
Key Features
Internet
Off-Road Parking
Open Fire/Wood burner
Location
Lying six miles northeast of Alnwick, the quiet village of Craster seems to tumble into the sea. Sandy and salty, it was an important fishing harbour in the 17th century. And it’s safe to say that seafood is still Craster’s raison d’ être. There’s a fish restaurant, and the fish shop boasts the best kippers in the world. In the early 20th century, 2,500 herring were smoked here daily, and the kippers produced here today grace some of the finest breakfast tables in the world, including the Queen’s. The Farne Islands, Holy Islands and Hadrian’s Wall are all within easy reach. The Northumberland coast is a birdwatcher’s paradise. Stonehatches are common in the area and look out for wheatear and linnet. The carolling of the skylark overhead fills the fields between Craster and Cullernose. Little auks are occasional visitors when bad weather blows them south from their usual habitats. Snow buntings winter along the shoreline in small flocks, and heron, curlew and redshank reside all year round. The Northumberland Coast—designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty—is abundant with wildlife and is as wild and windswept as it is utterly spellbinding.