Friday 13 September 2019
Miles: 17.0
Total miles: 69.6
Today went well (take that, Friday 13th!) and exceeded my expectations in several ways. I woke up quite early but the sun was peeping over the horizon already and it stayed there all the morning. As the day wore on it clouded over, but it never rained, the first completely dry day so far.
I had been expecting another tramp through the the pine plantations and there was some of that, but most of the walk went across the wide, rolling hills of Northumberland. It is all very scenic, only close to, you find there is an extraordinary amount of bog and mud. I was so pleased I had decided to take my proper leather boots rather than trail shoes.
For some reason I felt a bit sluggish today, and took my time. I got to Hadrian's Wall about 5.30pm and immediately carried on to Bardon Mill, a pleasant little village about 3 miles south of the Wall. It has a pub, the Bowes Hotel, which I had stayed in five years ago. Since then it has acquired a new owner, and has been gutted and completely refurbished at huge expense. From being a rather old-fashioned (but cheap) hotel it has been transformed into a very modern (but pricy) boutique hotel. I had an excellent meal and did enquire about rooms, but they were fully booked. However the owner got on his phone and soon found me a room, really nice place about a mile outside Bardon Mill. I was very pleased as otherwise I would have had to carry on walking and look for somewhere to put the tent up, and it was starting to get a bit late for that.
Alston tomorrow, and I am already booked in to the youth hostel there.
Health update: I am feeling pretty good and am walking well, if a little slowly today. The soles of my feet are a little bruised, painful after you get up but it soon wears off once you start walking. My knees a little swollen, but not painful. Otherwise all fine.
I should mention that I am deviating from the official route here, which runs along the wall for some miles. I went directly south from the wall to Bardon Mill but I will rejoin the official route tomorrow evening when I get to Alston.
Today went well (take that, Friday 13th!) and exceeded my expectations in several ways. I woke up quite early but the sun was peeping over the horizon already and it stayed there all the morning. As the day wore on it clouded over, but it never rained, the first completely dry day so far.
I had been expecting another tramp through the the pine plantations and there was some of that, but most of the walk went across the wide, rolling hills of Northumberland. It is all very scenic, only close to, you find there is an extraordinary amount of bog and mud. I was so pleased I had decided to take my proper leather boots rather than trail shoes.
For some reason I felt a bit sluggish today, and took my time. I got to Hadrian's Wall about 5.30pm and immediately carried on to Bardon Mill, a pleasant little village about 3 miles south of the Wall. It has a pub, the Bowes Hotel, which I had stayed in five years ago. Since then it has acquired a new owner, and has been gutted and completely refurbished at huge expense. From being a rather old-fashioned (but cheap) hotel it has been transformed into a very modern (but pricy) boutique hotel. I had an excellent meal and did enquire about rooms, but they were fully booked. However the owner got on his phone and soon found me a room, really nice place about a mile outside Bardon Mill. I was very pleased as otherwise I would have had to carry on walking and look for somewhere to put the tent up, and it was starting to get a bit late for that.
Alston tomorrow, and I am already booked in to the youth hostel there.
Health update: I am feeling pretty good and am walking well, if a little slowly today. The soles of my feet are a little bruised, painful after you get up but it soon wears off once you start walking. My knees a little swollen, but not painful. Otherwise all fine.
I should mention that I am deviating from the official route here, which runs along the wall for some miles. I went directly south from the wall to Bardon Mill but I will rejoin the official route tomorrow evening when I get to Alston.
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| Photography doesn't really capture the majesty of Northumberland. Wide spaces that say "I'm bigger than you are" |
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| These are nice crags but I mainly put them in because they are called Shitlington Crags. They are next to Shitlington Hall. |
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| Approaching Hadrian's Wall... |
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| Hadrian's Wall. Sadly neglected. If the Chinese can look after their wall, why can't we look after ours? |
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| A lime kiln |
I stayed at the Twice Brewed Inn a couple of miles from Bardon Mill a few months ago to see Rick Kemp play to a small but enthusiastic audience in the pub's music room. We walked to Sycamore Gap on the Wall next morning. Gorgeous scenery. Glad the weather is picking up for you. john_dun
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