Dunstan Hill Farm, Embleton, Northumberland 28th August 1988
Craster harbour. Two sides are formed by natural rocks; piers have been added to create a protected harbour, uncommon among villages on the Northumbrian coast. The south pier ends in a gloomy, rough concrete tower, the remains of a much taller structure built for loading whinstone (dolerite) from the local quarry onto boats. The hard igneous rock was used for road surfacing and London kerbstones. Locals fish for whiting, coley and codling from under the arch.
A memorial plaque on the harbour wall reads:
Hodie. Felixi. Cras. Ter
Craster memorial harbour constructed in memory of Capt. John Charles Pulleine Craster 46th Punjabis, who fell in action during the Thibetan expedition June 1904. He took a deep interest in the provision of a harbour at Craster and his brother and sister chose this way of perpetuating his memory, AD 1906.
Fishing boats and eider ducks ride on the sheltered water. Fulmars, common terns and herring gulls circle overhead; redshanks, oystercatchers and turnstones forage along the shore. Out to sea waves surge against rocky outcrops dotted white with gulls. In the distance the jagged, moving remains of the early 14th century Dunstanburgh Castle are a reminder of ancient border conflicts
Stone storage sheds packed with fish boxes face the water and stacks of lobster pots form mesh walls round quay. Fishermen in faded blue and waders repair pots and tend their boats, flat bottomed, high bowed cobbles. The RNLI Reserve boat is housed next to the gear for winding boats onto the hard. Cottages round the harbour are a mix of coloured render and local sandstone, a mottling of red, brown and black. On the north side a road severs the cottages from their front gardens, which spill in wild profusions of flowers towards the water.
Haven Hill leads up to the Jolly Fishermen. The curing shed of L. Robson & Sons, vents glistening with tar rising from the red pantile roof, occupies a nearby corner. Kipper smoking started here around 1856. A fishy-smoky smell suffuses the harbour.