Hadrian's Wall Walk: Reflections

Much of what follows will mean nothing to anyone reading but it's important for me to try and record the mental screenshots of my journey before they're lost.

Images trigger memories.

You know how songs, or smells or other sensory stimuli have the power take you back to a time, a place, a mood? Where you were, how you felt etc? Who you were, even?

Well, Proust had his madeleines; I have my dead rat.

A dead rat? On Day One of my walk, there was a point at which the footpath (up to then following the line of a former railway) dropped down to the River Tyne. Virtually the first thing I saw was a dead, dessicated rat on the path.

In my head, the image triggers the river, a vague smell of tar, the trees on the opposite bank, the light not-quite-drizzle hanging in the air, the possibility of the Newcastle skyline around the next bend etc etc.

All from a dead rat.

The things in the following list trigger more of these thoughts for me. You may choose to skip it:

Segedunum
Swan Hunter
A gas holder
A dead rat
The Marina
Bacon butty at the Cycle Hub
The bridges
The blinking eye
The Sunday market
The quayside
Business park hell
The Newcastle site at Scotswood
Fenced off guard house
Denton Dene
The glass cone
Asda
The Riverside Park
The Warden on the folding bike
Wylam Waggonway
Bistro En Glaze
The Border Reiver
Puffing Billy
Dead voles on the lawn
Heddon Wall
The Military Way
The A69
The Wall ditch
Robin Hood Inn
Carrot and coriander soup
A German looking for Sycamore Gap
The Vallum looking south
The found walking pole
Planetrees Wall
Chesters
Oystercatchers
Black Carts
Limestone corner
Refreshments at the Mithraeum
Sewingshields
Loughs
Housesteads
Twice Brewed
Sticking plasters
The quiz
A quiet early morning sofa
A packed lunch
The highest point
Distant explosions
The view behind along the crags
Swearing at my own feet
The quarry cafe
Shaking a stick at a hostile cow
Willowford Wall
Avoiding bulls
Brampton Co-op nosey man
A taste of Spain
Black pudding and haggis
Honesty boxes
Chickens!
A Magnum at High Crosby Farm
A beautiful headstone
Crossing the M6
An early morning set off
Lost in Beaumont
A view of Scotland
ENERGY DRINKS!
The Marshes
Journey's end
An old man and his dog
The Solway Viaduct

Sorry about that. Back to the job in hand.

I've been asked whether I had any insights or epiphanies on the journey.

I'd have to say I'm unsure yet. Maybe that will come once I've had time to fully absorb the experience?

The point of the trip for me was to fulfil an ambition, to a degree. The Wall is something I'd fancied doing for a long time. Turning 50 last year gave me a reason to do it this year; I've had one or two weird health things start to rear their heads in the last few years. Perhaps I felt it important to do this walk while still able!

I wanted to test myself physically, enjoy the history and the countryside and give the thing a focus and sense of purpose through raising money for Brain Tumour Research. It's very satisfying to have raised in excess of £800 for them. Nearly £10 a mile!

I have my books and my photos and my T shirt. Soon, I'll receive my badge and certificate. 

I tried to approach the walk with open eyes and ears and soak up the experience like a human sponge. I don't know if I entirely succeeded, but that's what the trigger list is for!

As time passes and the memories fade, I hope to use this list to transport me back to the Tyne, the ridges, the hills and the Wall: The Wall, always the Wall; snaking away into the west; over the hills towards the sea and the setting sun.

Hadrian's Wall Walk Day 6: Carlisle to Bowness on Solway

The only bus back from Bowness on Solway to Carlisle in the afternoon is at 14:15. The plan was to do the last stage of the walk, get this bus, collect my case from the hotel and get a teatime train back South.

I now knew I would have to allow myself a window of 7 hours walking time to account for my slowed pace.

I had considered doing the final stretch back to front: getting a morning bus to Bowness and walking back to Carlisle, but this didn't feel right: I wanted to finish this thing PROPERLY, east to west.

Plus, at the pace I was now going at, I wouldn't have got back to Carlisle till six o'clock in the evening.

The upshot of all this was that I needed to set off walking a lot earlier than I'd done on previous days

Luckily, the shooting pains I was getting in my left ankle had gone. I now only had one knackered foot to worry about and even that was bearable once I got moving. I was also popped up to the eyeballs on cheap Asda Red Bull rip-off, Blue Charge.

The pleasant path out of Carlisle follows the banks of the River Eden as it meanders to the Solway Firth, then cuts across to Burgh by Sands where Edward I died. There's a statue by the village green marking this fact, plus a monument a mile out of the village marking the spot where the Hammer of the Scots popped his clogs.

It's also the halfway point of the day's walk. 7.5 miles to Bowness on Solway.

No Wall here though. All I have is my guidebook reassuring me that this hedgerow here, or that muddy trackway there, closely follows the original alignment. But no matter.

Despite the gammy foot, I found myself making good progress. I crossed the Solway Marsh with its ridiculously long straight flat road (of which the Romans would have been proud) and found I had time for a twenty minute refreshment break at the La'al Bite in Drumburgh.

This sort of place had occured quite regularly along the Wall path in the last couple of days: Ad hoc refreshment spots by farms with drinks, ice cream, crisps etc, picnic tables and benches. Little honesty box oases to cheer the footsore traveler. Full respect to the kind people who provide these services.

Realising I only had a couple of miles or so to go, I pressed on. No time to linger at Port Carlisle and the crumbling overgrown remains of the short lived Carlisle canal - journey's end was around the next bend.

It's surprising how close Scotland is across the Solway at this point. Annan is only about a mile away and looks it at low tide. It really does seem like you could just stroll across. Come to think of it, this is probably something the Romans realised when they built their Wall across to this quiet backwater.

I rounded the final bend and walked into the sleepy village and found my way onto Banks Promenade: Up a ginnel between two houses. 

On a tiny terrace overlooking the Solway there sits a little wooden shelter with a bench and a Hadrian's Wall Walk stamping station.

And that's it. The finish line (or start point if you're going East to Wallsend).

No whistles, no razzmatazz. Just a quiet spot to contemplate what you've achieved or what you're about to embark upon.

Which is a nice way to do it, I reckon.

Hadrian's Wall Walk Day 5: Banks to Carlisle

And so today, to all intents and purposes, I say goodbye to the Wall. From Banks onwards, it disappears gradually: From small sections, to occasional crumbling heaps of stones, to barely discernible landscape features, to nothing.

From Walton onwards, there isn't much to see at all of anything recognisable apart from at the rear of Bleatarn Farm where the completely robbed-out Wall foundations are now nothing but a stony trackway. Accompanied by the ever-faithful V of the Wall ditch, it soon fades into the landscape and is lost.

So. On to Carlisle

After relentless trudging through flat Eden countryside, crossing the M6 feels like being back on home turf. The Pennines are well and truly behind me and the Solway coast is only a day's walk away.

It's taking its toll on my feet now, though. Today was the first day I really started to suffer.

I was already experiencing pain in the top of my right foot/ankle/shin area, but today I was getting shooting, burning sensations in my outer left ankle - inflamed or cramping tendons, maybe? It bloody well hurt, anyway.

I was slowed down to a pathetic 2mph hobble at times but I wasn't in any particular hurry today. It was gone 6:00pm by the time I checked in to my hotel in Carlisle.

I knew the last day was going to be tough and I needed to plan what best to do in order to get over the finish line.

Hadrian's Wall Walk Day 4: Once Brewed to Banks

Today began with more of the same, crazy up and down crag action as yesterday.

After a 20 minute trudge from the ace Twice Brewed Inn (Where I came third in the Tuesday Night Quiz: Even though I was Billy No-Mates against teams of 4+ people) I began the ascent to the top of Green Slack, at 345m the highest point of the walk.

Despite the continuing undulations, it really is all downhill from here!

Gradually, the crags lessened in frequency and severity as I continued my journey out of Northumberland and into Cumbria, magnificent stretches of Wall and stunning vistas my companions.

But by crikey it was hot! Unlike the previous days' nigh on perfect walking conditions, today was wearying.

This was exacerbated by the fact that today, I needed to be at Banks by 16:45 to get the last AD122 bus down into Brampton for my hotel; all the more convenient accommodation options along the Wall were all booked up months ago.

As a result, I had to miss out on the Roman Army Museum and Birdoswald due to the need to press on. I'll pop back and do these, and Vindolanda, later in the summer.

Despite the heat, there was still plenty to enjoy as I followed the route westwards; the magnificent Wall at Willowford being particularly thrilling as it swept down the slope towards the River Irthing and the bridge abutments there.

I'll have to get a taxi tomorrow to take me back up to Banks. Due to Cumbria County Council cutbacks, the earliest AD122 bus up to there isn't until nearly 11:00 am. 

Not much use when you want to be setting off at 09:00!

In other news, my perception about people in Brampton being a little odd was borne out in the local Co-op where I caught the bloke behind me in the queue peering into my shopping basket to see what I'd bought. 

Hadrian's Wall Walk Day 3: Chesters to Once Brewed

Wow. Just wow.

After schlepping along the banks of the Tyne and then trudging alongside the interminable Military Road, Planetrees and Chesters proved to be a mere hors d'oeuvre for the archaeological delights ahead on Day 3.

-Stretches of Wall snaking through some of the most spectacular scenery the North has to offer - like a Great Wall of China in miniature, perfect bite-size pieces.
-Two fort sites, the first unexcavated but with a dinky little Mithraeum outside its walls, the second (Housesteads) having some of the most impressive archaeological remains I've seen in this country and certainly the most spectacularly located. I suspect it's survived in such good condition because of the remote location. 

The path was a bit mad: Up and down and up and down and up and down and up and...you catch my drift. The can of Blue Charge sorted me out though!

I stumble into my destination tired but invigorated. Chollerford to Once Brewed lived up to the pre-hike hype. And then some!

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 2. Heddon to Chesters. Part 3

After a long day's trudge away from Newcastle, I finally start to descend towards Chollerford in the North Tyne valley.

The Wall finally makes its reappearance via a wonderful stretch in a field at Planetrees where the transition from 'broad' Wall to 'narrow' Wall on 'broad' Wall foundations can be seen.

From there, it's only a half hour or so walk down to Chollerford and the Roman cavalry fort of Chesters, build to guard the rover crossing.

First photo: Planetrees Wall

Subsequent photos of Chesters.

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 2. Heddon to Chesters. Part 2

The one thing about the Military Road being on top of what was the Wall is the fact that the Wall ditch is your companion for much of the route.
Imagine trying to attack a 20ft Wall only to find that it itself is protected in front by a 20ft deep ditch! Nasty!

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 2. Heddon to Chesters

And so the long slog along the Military Road begins.
The Military Road; built on General Wade's orders to greater facilitate the movement of troops from Newcastle to Carlisle - slap bang on top of the Wall! :-0
(On this stretch anyway).

BUT they missed a bit, and my day starts with a visit to this stretch at Heddon on the Wall, the first I've seen since Wallsend and the only sight I'll get until near Chollerford, a 15 mile slog to the west. 

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 1. Wallsend to Wylam. Part 3

And onwards and onwards and onwards, ever onwards upstream until the river narrows and greenery replaces the urban sprawl.

A 16.5 mile prologue to the main event tomorrow: following the route of Hadrian's Wall itself (even though they built a road on top of it a couple of hundred years ago. Bloody Hanoverians)

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 1. Wallsend to Wylam. Part 2

The walk itself takes you along the post-
industrial Tyne corridor past some slightly dodgy areas where PJ and Duncan are revered as deities.

Eventually, the famous bridges come into view and you pass through the heart of Newcastle; an urban riverside walk with plenty of city sights and sounds.

The Bike Hub on the quayside does an impressive bacon sandwich, btw!

Hadrian's Wall Walk. Day 1. Wallsend to Wylam. Part 1

The day began unexpectedly murky; fine droplets hanging in the air. Not quite rain, but enough to require a light fleece.
To start with, a repeat of yesterday's visit to Segedunum, but this time to start the walk proper!

This is the beginning/end of Hadrian's Wall; remains of the spur that closed off the gap between the fort and the river. 

Hadrian's Wall Walk Day 0

So here I sit, in an anonymous motel room in Wallsend, the riveting spectacle of Colombia v Greece my only company.

It is the eve of my walk, and all that stands between me and Bowness on Solway is the 84 miles of the Hadrian's Wall path and the Pennines: A daunting prospect, but less worrying to me than the thought of having to walk through a couple of rough areas of Newcastle tomorrow for the first couple of miles. I hope the natives aren't hostile; I can't speak the language and do not wish to offend their gods.

To pass the time this afternoon, before my OH drove home, we walked down to the start point of the route, the Roman fort and museum of Segedunum. Here are some photos:

First photo is a view over the excavated Segedunum site taken from the impressive viewing tower.

The second is me showing off my first Hadrian's Wall Walk Passport stamp.

Hadrian's Wall Walk

Sweet holy flipping hell! One week to go before my epic pilgrimage begins.

The boots are worn in, the legs are ready, the waterproofs have been...er...waterproofed.

Now all that remains to do is walk. And walk. And walk: For Brain Tumour Research, for friends who never made it this far, for my own selfish need to achieve something to show for my half century of existence.

Will the Geordies allow me through their demesne unmolested? One week from now, I'll know...

/...To be continued!