English villages on North Sea & Northumberland

Two incompatible ideas spring to mind.

Coastal town : Seahouses, a few miles south of Bamburgh Castle and about half way (by time) from Edinburgh to Thirsk.

Scenery : Kielder Forest. Ask Google Maps to plot a route Edinburgh-Saughtree-Thirsk and it will show you the way. South of Kielder Forest it's only a short detour to these places http://www.vindolanda.com/ this is also about half way on this route and there are accomodation options in the villages around.

We walked the Hadrian's Wall Path trail from west to east this June, staying in B&B's along the way, and in a hotel in Newcastle our last night. For Hadrian's wall near the east coast of England, in South Shields, a suburb along the North Sea of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but not exactly a village, there's the Arbeia Roman Fort on the site of an original Roman fort that existed southeast of Hadrian's Wall proper (the waters at the mouth of the Tyne River made a 20 foot high wall unnecessary right there). A tiny but meaningful museum, a reconstructed fort entry gatehouse and reconstructed officer's quarters, along with foundations of original buildings and a well lie within the Arbeia site. For Hadrian's wall itself, in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend, the wall ended (or started, depending on which direction you're coming from) right at the site of the excellent Segedunum museum. From its observation tower you can look out over the remains of the Roman fort that existed there for over 400 years, but only the outlines of former buildings exist now, as it's been thoroughly excavated. There's an interesting herb and flower garden on the site, too, with plants that the Romans would have used. So, unless you're heading much farther west, those two museums are great Hadrian's Wall resources.

The splendid village we stayed in (at the outstanding Heddon Lodge B&B, www.heddonlodge.co.uk ) the next-to-last-night of our trek along Hadrian's Wall was Heddon-on-the-Wall, which has, in the far northeast corner of the village, free to view, the longest intact section of the original Wall, and the only bit you'll see (except for a few tiny, tiny, sections here and there) that far east in England -- you'd have to go several more miles to the west, in the middle of a field west of Halton, to see then next available stretch of original Wall construction, and that one's mush smaller. Heddon is just off the A69.

On the coast there is Bamburgh, Beadnell, Low Newton by the Sea, Craster, Alnmouth and Warkworth. Closer to Newcastle is Tynemouth which is very pleasant. Further south near Middlesbrough is Saltburn by the Sea.

Inland, Rothbury, Ford, Chillingham, Elsdon, Hexham, Blanchland are worth a look. You need to choose either inland or coast for a drive – doing both is not really practicable.

http://www.visitnorthumberland.com/

And now for something completely different.....! Lindisfarne Island (or Holy Isle). Comes complete with priory ruins dating back to the 6th Centuary AD, a castle dating back to the 16th Centuary (currently closed for repairs), a number of interesting sounding B&Bs and pubs offering accommodation. There is also a wildlife sanctuary on nearby island. To top it all off, the island is only accessible for cars and pedestrians by causeway at low tide. Nearest town is Berwick (pronounced Berrick)-on-Tweed. Bamborough Castle is just a few miles away on the mainland. The Islands are protected by English Heritage and the National Trust.

I'll second Alnmouth, Bamburgh, and Saltburn as a wildcard.

It has to be Holy Island if the tides work in your favour on the tidal estuary. A magical place.

Failing that, Bamburgh nearby on the mainland.

Have afternoon tea in the pretty Ford & Etal village shop/cafe and try a singin' hinny, the Northumberland version of a Welsh cake.

Kielder Forest is a nice inland drive and one of the few dark places in England ie dark enough for star spotting without any light pollution.