Having been lucky enough to be awarded a Virtual Reward cache, we quickly decided it should be on Northumberland’s stunning coastline and what better place than one of our favourite walks from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle.
This is a beautiful walk on a sunny day, but on a stormy winter’s day with a high tide and big waves it’s an incredibly atmospheric landscape. From Craster it’s a walk of about 2km on a good path and once the village is behind you there is nothing ‘modern’ to impinge on your walk to the castle. It is possible to walk to the castle from the north, near Embleton.
Dunstanburgh Castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322. Thomas was against the king, Edward II and was captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322. The castle passed to the Crown and then the Duchy of Lancaster. Its defences were expanded by John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster) in the 1380s. It changed hands several times during the Wars of the Roses, but having suffered damage during sieges it was never rebuilt and was sold by James I in 1604.
Today the castle is owned by the National Trust and managed by English Heritage. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the ruins are Grade I listed.
To log this Virtual cache you need to visit the entrance to the castle. You do not need to go inside (there is an admission charge if you wish to). The task can be completed without going inside, so it can be completed outside the castle opening hours. To log this cache there is only one task to complete:
1 Take a photo of yourself at the published co-ordinates with the Great Gatehouse in the background, as shown in the example photograph below. If you don’t want to show your face, a ‘thumbs up’ or similar, or photo of your GPS is fine. Upload this photo to your log.
'Found it' logs that do not include a photo will result in logs being deleted. Long distance photos of the castle are not acceptable, you need to walk to the headline co-ordinates!
Details of the castle opening hours and admission charges can be found here https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dunstanburgh-castle/
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.