A new long walk for us! We set off tomorrow on the Hadrian's Wall national trail, after what seems like years of preparation. Here we are at the Spanish City in Whitley Bay, where we had a glass of champagne and a posh fish and chips.
After a short walk along the Tyne, we were able to walk uphill to join the course of the wall again. At (the appropriately named) Heddon-on-the- Wall we were a able to see a proper bit of Hadrian's Wall, with shiny of the Vallum beyond. We had a coffee break at Bell e Buon in Heddon and bought a newspaper and some snacks nearby. For today's walk, the wall has been built over by the 18th century Military Road, so there's not a great deal to see - but just here and there are signs of it at the roadside. Bits of Vallum and ditch come to light. We have had this trip organised by Contours Walking Holidays , which today meant a pickup from the Robin Hood Inn .Having arrived there nice and early, we had time for both coffee and beer before pickup.
It rained today, a full day of light drizzle. Although still walking on the part of Hadrian's Wall which became the base for the military road, fortunately the poor weather was offset by seeing a little more of the Roman past. This was after stopping off at the Errington Coffe House, a popular stop for walkers, especially on such a rainy day. First were some better remains of the Vallum, which elsewhere had been ploughed out. After this, we had an official diversion of the path, which been in force for a year, to allow for some tree felling. We came out of woods to see foundations of a milecastle. To the north of the wall are remains of its ditch, a little variable in visibility, but from time to time along this stretch, impressive. There was then a short length of the Wall at Planetrees - And even more at Brunton where part of a turret is evident We had our passport stamp at Chesters before our pi...
Today was very rainy at first, which meant not many pictures were taken. Thankfully, we were well prepared with wet weather clothes. Stopping at Birdoswald was a chance for the rain to clear. It also meant a good look round the Roman fort. Afyer also stopping for a coffee, the weather had indeed improved, although not totally dry for the rest of the day. It was generally a gentler walk, mostly downhill and into better agricultural land. All the way along the walk we have met many others doing the same walk, mostly chatty, and there is a great spirit of camaraderie among us. Today included charity walkers, many from Invictus going east. One solitary gentleman was doing the walk the fourth year in succession after a new hip. There are still traces of the Roman archaeology, not quite as frequent as on the crags. We arrived at Walton a little early and took tea at a nice tearoom.
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