Entry was free; Northumbria Wildlife Trust were in evidence selling postcards from their small hut. The base of the new Visitors Centre has been erected- upon completion the café will be manned by Azure.
The afternoon was that of typical northern December; blue sky, cold wind and sunshine; the cloud formations were magnificent- like sand ripples left on the beach by a departing tide.
We climbed first to the viewing points, placed like trigonometrical points at the top of circular paths.
Oh Lady of the North what will you look like from a plane above you?
We clambered up the breasts of this female figure and took the gravel paths most carefully on the way down! Erosion was evident. So where was the Angel of the North that was directed to on the pointer at the top? Next time we will choose a crystal clear day in order to see Lindisfarne and the Angel. We identified other landmarks- we think! Urban lights began to switch on below us like the lighting up of a Christmas tree.
Ye Gods and little fishes! Circling up the approaches to the face, the temperature dropped; agh! it was so bitterly chilly. Gloved hands pulled my hat further on to stop earache... I hugged myself to keep warm while viewing....
From her forehead we were taken aback by how large the opencast site below is. H1 took off in descent before D3 and I- like a cat on hot bricks- to get back to the car, courtesy of the cold and to get to a Newcastle United football match; the Toon has this effect on us Geordies! the stoic pair left uptop took in the 360 degree panorama (First to see the sea!) then we too scuttled back to the warmth of our car.
The photographer was illdressed for the cold but I could see why he was waiting patiently for the sun to set behind Northumberlandia. We left him to it and viewed the winter evening from a snug kitchen.
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