The smell of kippers in the air and the silhouette of a stunning castle on a headland - it could only be Craster.
The tiny village in the Northumberland Coast AONB is a favourite among locals and tourists alike, who visit in their droves especially in the summer.
It's home to a superb pub, a fast food cabin where you may be serenaded by the bagpipes, and a smokehouse which has been producing kippers, salmon, haddock and cod for almost a century.
Read more: I visited the Northumberland fishing village of Craster to see how they produce their famous kippers
And now, it has been named one of the quirkiest villages by the sea in the UK. However, Craster is far from the only quirky village on the Northumberland Coast.
Alnmouth is home to possibly the smallest museum in the whole of the UK, while Bamburgh holds skeletons from Anglo-Saxon times in the crypt beneath St Aidan's Church. In Warkworth, the peaceful hermitage is a religious building carved out of the rock on the banks of the River Coquet.
Of Craster, the Times wrote: "A sturdy harbour, a gaunt castle and salted sea air fragranced with kippers — it must be Craster. Back in the 19th century this fishing village was jammed with herring boats, and fishermen’s wives were kept busy gutting and kippering.
"These days the tradition is maintained by L Robson & Sons, in the centre of Craster. To the north a grassy shoreline dotted with wildflowers stretches to the craggy ruin of Dunstanburgh Castle, built in 1313 on a clifftop rich with nesting kittiwakes."
To read the full article on the seven quirkiest seaside villages in the UK, visit The Times.
Where do you think is the quirkiest village on the North East coast? Let us know!
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