Amble to Low Hauxley and the nature reserve

A two-mile loop from the Braid car park along the harbour front past the marina pontoons and the Harbour Village huts, out to the Little Shore, then back south along the Coquet estuary edge to the open grass of the Braid, where curlew and redshank feed on the mud at low water. Flat tarmac and gravel path throughout, so it suits an old dog. The county dog control PSPO puts no exclusion on the harbour path or the Braid grass, but the estuary is a bird feeding ground and a dog running the tideline will clear it. The enclosed play area at Paddlers Park is dog-free all year under the same order.

A short mile and a bit out and back along the north breakwater from Amble harbour mouth, straight at Coquet Island and its lighthouse a mile offshore, with roseate terns crossing overhead through May and June and grey seals on the water below. Flat concrete deck with a low parapet. The county dog control PSPO carries no restriction here, but this is the least sheltered ground in Amble: the deck takes green water in any northerly blow and the drop to the rocks on the harbour side is unfenced, so a lead is the sensible call from the pier root outwards. Coquet Island itself is an RSPB reserve with no public landing at all.

Two and a half miles upriver from the Braid car park at Amble harbour, following the north bank of the Coquet past the boatyard and the saltmarsh to Warkworth Bridge, with the castle keep on its mound in front of you for the last mile. Level surfaced path for the first half, then a grass and gravel riverside track. It is the standard way locals move between the two towns on foot and it works as a one-way with the X18 bus back. The county dog control PSPO places no exclusion on the route; the last stretch runs alongside the road into Warkworth, where the 1.5m lead rule for classified roads applies.