Goswick Sands

Set between the border with Scotland and Holy Island are the vast sands of Goswick. When the tide is out the sand appears to stretch forever in all directions.

This is the perfect place to take a bracing walk to blow out the cobwebs. In the winter you are almost guaranteed some solitude and in the summer this a place of beauty - golden sands, aquamarine water and a patchwork of green behind. Whatever the season, there is so much space here you may find yourself unsure to do with it all!

The beach at Goswick Sands is home to not one, but two shipwrecks. The most impressive is that of the German cargo ship, the SSR Werner Kunstmann that went down in 1913. At low tide a considerable section of hull is revealed. More easily spotted is the boiler of an old paddle steamer that went down in the 1880s.

A word of warning; if you do decide to go exploring at low tide, be aware the sea can come in very quickly. There are also the odd patches of quicksand around the low tide mark.

As well as shipwrecks Goswick Sands have some other hidden, and somewhat more dangerous, object. Back towards the beginning of World War II the RAF used the beach and dunes to practice bombing runs. Whilst there have been numerous cleanups of unexploded ordnance they were still finding 500lb bombs in the sand as recently as 2005.

Beyond the dunes is the Goswick Golf Club, one of the top-rated courses in the north east.