Warkworth Beach and Castle

Warkworth pairs a long, dune-backed sandy beach with one of the most complete medieval castles in the North East, set on a loop of the River Coquet just inland. From the beach and the surrounding links you get sweeping, uncluttered coastline with the castle keep breaking the skyline behind the village, which makes for varied compositions in a single outing. The beach itself is broad and quiet compared with the honeypot spots further up the coast, so you can usually find plenty of open sand to launch and land on with few people around. Take off from the beach or the dune track rather than the castle grounds, which are English Heritage land and not a place to be lifting off from without permission. Keep a respectful height and distance from the keep and do not fly over crowds in the village. Newcastle Airport's restriction zone is nearly forty kilometres to the south, so you are comfortably clear of it, though Coquet Island's RSPB seabird colony lies offshore to the north east and deserves a wide berth in the nesting season. Come at low tide for the widest firm sand, and shoot the castle with morning light on its eastern face.