We were all packed and ready to go before we went down for our last breakfast in the Courtyard Garden. During breakfast we realised that there had been a bit of a mix up over the number of nights that we were staying, our hosts were expecting us to stay another night. Before we set off on our travels I had thought we had booked the extra night but on reading the confirmation letter to see we had only booked four nights, so I cancelled my extra days leave.  I mentioned on several occasions to Mr C that perhaps we could book the extra night… But he said he needed to get back to work, he he had booked one less day than needed at the beginning of our holiday so that had to be sorted in favour of less days off at the end of our break.

Our hosts were sad to see us go and when I got home checked the booking acknowledgement letter I could see how the confusion had arisen and I regretted not noticing it before we went away.

After breakfast we loaded up the car with our luggage, paid our bill and chatted with our hosts before paying one last visit to Barter Books to see if we could locate the book on rock carvings that I had first seen when we arrived in Alnwick. After having a quick search for the book ourselves we took the details to the desk and a helpful young lady went into the back room to check the catalogue. The book was still listed and we were directed to the appropriate section where we found that the owner of the shop had followed us. He told me the author of the book and asked a lady to assist us. She found a version of the book within two minutes and went to check elsewhere if the other version of the book was still available. It was only the binding that was different but she thought the other book may have a better binding.  She couldn’t find the other copy but I didn’t mind, it was the content of the book that I was interested in. I thanked her for her help and went to purchase the elusive book.

After this brief diversion we headed to Ripon so that Mr C could explore the Royal Green Jackets museum. The museum was excellent although there was one off putting moment when we heard a building alarm going off and we didn’t know if we should evacuate the premises and the museum staff were unsure because the fire alarm panel wasn’t showing a problem. It turned out to be the lift alarm where two people were stuck in the lift. Eventually the museum staff were able to rescue the two people. We had been told on arrival that the lift was slow but that was taking it a bit far…

When we left the museum Mr C realised he had parked in the wrong zone so we decided not to leave our chances to fate and travelled on to Brough and a lovely tea shop situated next to the ruined castle there before continuing on our homeward journey.

We packed our bags, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel before setting off for Tynemouth in glorious sunshine.  We enjoyed a short walk around the Spanish Battery and the towering Collingwood monument before visiting Tynemouth Priory & Castle.  The site contains interesting history including gun batteries that were used in the first and second world wars and a former coast guard station (not open to the public).  It was all very photogenic.

After the visit we strolled into town and had lunch in a bakery tea room which was sadly due to close down the following week and be turned into a Fish and Chip shop.  After lunch we left Tynemouth, following the coastal route towards Alnwick where we stopped briefly to visit Barter Books.  Some things just have to be done

After a purchase or two we resumed our journey to the Coach House at Crookham.  It was lovely to see Leona again and the place still feels like home from home.  We dined in as we always do when we visit; the food is so good and there are always interesting people to talk to so there is no reason to look elsewhere.