Walk Of The Month: Follow the giant's footsteps to the pub

The Northumbria coast, some argue, is at its best in deep mid-winter, when the wind howls and the elements seem to shake the cliffs and hardy villages to their foundations. Yet visit in summer and the region shows another face, where the landscape's raw beauty is softened by the spectacle of its emerging wildlife.

The walk is a straightforward up-and-down affair, starting in the harbour village of Craster, best known as an important kipper centre. In the village, walk along the harbour, built in memory of a local man, Captain John Craster, who died during the British expedition to Tibet in 1904. The path passes through a gate on to coastal fields, with the gloriously ruined pile of Dunstanburgh Castle on the horizon. The rocky formations that edge into the sea are the result of volcanic activity similar to that which formed the Giant's Causeway.

Dramatic rock features are something of a speciality in this part of Northumbria, which has been designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Dunstanburgh Castle, established in the 14th century, was built to keep marauding Scots at bay and saw heavy fighting during the Wars of the Roses. The path swings around in front of the castle, bringing the sweep of Embleton Bay into view. As you pass the castle, the north-facing cliffs can be seen. Breeding fulmars congregate on the exposed upper cliffs, while kittiwakes settle on the thin ledges, sharing space with razorbills, guillemots and rock doves.

You pass through a gate with the golf course on the left, where the path divides, and heading north I took the right-hand route, quickly dropping down to the beach. In June Embleton Bay is teeming with wildlife, and you may see turnstones poking around in the rock pools, swallows perched on fences and kittiwakes swooping down to clip the sea. In the distance you can see the Farne Islands.

At the northern end of the beach, you pass a series of 1930s-style seahouses, made of wood and battened down against the elements, along with rocky outcrops that act as an offshore reef, a natural breakwater that echoes the shape of the Cobb at Lyme Regis. The top of the beach is framed by the village of Low Newton by the Sea. The village, almost entirely owned by the National Trust, is in the shape of an "open square", with cream-washed cottages set around a green, looking out to sea across the beach of Newton Haven. The square is the heart of the old village, a large grass area with a pub in the corner and a beach wall with steps down to the beach. The Ship Inn, in the village square, is an excellent, friendly pub. The public beach at Low Newton plays host to the spectacle of hundreds of common toads feeding on grubs, sandhoppers and flies on summer evenings from June onwards. Warm, humid evenings after thunderstorms are best, and the toads become active at dusk.

A drink at the Ship Inn has to be one of the most understated highlights of the British outdoors. Afterwards, take the path behind the pub (marked the coastal path) and follow it south and inland through dunes and holiday houses. On the way, pop into the hide overlooking Newton Pools, another wildlife haven.

The path is clearly way-marked for a while, ploughing a furrow between the dunes and the golf course. Eventually, you pass a wooden footbridge to your left opposite a car park, and here keep on the main path as it heads for the dunes, crossing a more substantial footbridge. There follows a short plod uphill to the top of one of the dunes and superb views. After this path drops down, and before it climbs up another steep dune, follow any of the faint trails around the inland side of the dunes, but keeping off the golf course.

After around 400 yards, you cross the golf course and go through a gate to enter a car park. Walk up the track and take the left-hand path, signposted for Dunstan Square and Craster. The track winds through farm buildings and drills a line due south past a barn and a disused quarry. Then, just after a grain tower, take the way-marked path left that leads you into the heughs, (a local word for a rocky escarpment, pronounced "hoofs"), which is carpeted with bright yellow gorse.

Go through a gate and climb through the gap between two outcrops. Then turn right in front of a gate and go through the gate to the heughs. Many small birds breed in the gorse and you are likely to see skylarks launch themselves vertically upwards, like a harrier jet, bursting with song. Follow either of the main tracks through the enclosure and eventually you reach a stile, which leads to a track that drops down to Craster.

DISTANCE: Six miles

TIME: Three hours

OS MAP: OS Explorer 332 Alnwick and Amble

HOW TO GET THERE

Virgin Trains (08457 222333; virgin.com/trains) operates east coast and cross-country services that stop at Alnmouth, seven miles from Craster. For local public transport information visit traveline.org.uk.

Mark Rowe stayed at Fairfield Guest House, Warkworth (01665 714455; fairfield-guesthouse .com), which offers b&b from £37.50 per person per night.