Five years ago we were in England and spent a morning exploring Birdoswold Fort along Hadrian's Wall. It was a beautiful day, location, and I started looking into walking the entire wall path.
The idea was planted & took root. This past birthday was a large milestone for me, and the boys had put my idea into motion for this summer.
So halfway through our vacation we took a train from Edinburgh to Carlisle England, then a taxi out to Bowness on Solway for the next part of our adventure:
Walking the 84 miles to Wallsend ourselves!
Hadrian's Wall was begun by the Emperor Hadrian way back in 122 as the border between the Roman Empire and the unconquered Celts to the North. It stretches across the skinny part of of England from coast to coast. We decided to walk from the West to the East (Bowness on Solway to Newcastle) so we wouldn't be walking into the sun, and hopefully have the wind at our backs. Plus, getting a train back to Edinburgh for our flight home from Newcastle looked much easier. Kevin had lined up a company to organize our stops at B&B's along the walk, and a transport our luggage from one stop to another.
Our 84 mile journey was to begin the next morning & we knew the weather forecast sounded damp. Plus it was going to be one of our longest walks, so we decided to get some photo's out of the way before dinner at the village pub.
Dinner at the pub was lovely, and after walking back to our B&B we took the chance to walk around their beautiful gardens outside.
Our destination was our next B&B in Carlisle.
The Wallsend B&B in Bowness on Solway (if you're ever in the area).
Just lovely. Great rooms, showers, breakfast, and lovely location.
After a Full English, adjusting our daypacks, and leaving our luggage in the vestibule, we set officially began our walk.
Much of our walk that morning was along the Firth (sound). It was a beautiful area, but we knew a coastal low was moving in and going to pass over us.
We knew we were going to get wet at some point & were hoping to get off the "dead flat" section that stretched for a few miles along the road. It was very exposed to the weather.
The driving rain & wind caught us just as we started walking that section.
Ponchos on & hoods pulled tight we kept our heads down & kept walking, and arrived at The Greyhound pub in Burgh on Sands soggy and hungry.
We enjoyed a nice, relaxing lunch then set back off in the drizzle and wind.
We moved away from the Firth, and through quite a few livestock fields.
These ladies were quite curious about Kieran.
By late afternoon we heard the hum of road traffic and knew we were approaching Carlisle.
Good thing since we were tired, had soggy shoes, and needed a bathroom. After a couple wrong turns (I blame being tired from walking), we found our B&B and got settled with hot showers and dry clothes.
Then shuffled over to the restaurant Kieran had picked out for us before getting some sleep.
It had been a busy day.
We had a delicious breakfast the next morning, then got ready to hit the path again.
Our hosts (Norman and Yvette) had been very nice, but it felt like we were in an antique showroom at their B&B.
Because we were.
And they both really liked to talk. A lot.
Remember The Sidler from Elaine's office in Seinfeld? That was Norman every time I went from our room to the boys room.
Our morning took us back along the river, out of Carlisle and across fields.
It began nice and sunny, but we knew rain was forecasted later in the afternoon.
We went from suburbs to rolling farms.
Still no sight of an actual wall, but no surprise. By the time the Romans reached the Western end they used a lot of turf for the wall, and some stones. Over time a lot of the stones have been re-purposed into farm walls, and buildings. Other parts of the wall are just buried under the turf.
The fields were still wet from the rain the day before and it didn't take long for our shoes & feet to get wet and muddy.
We were hoping to time our breaks with a pub in a village for lunch but arrived an hour before it opened. We pushed on planning on stopping by one of the Honesty Box Snack Sheds some families set up along the wall path.
Sadly two of them are no longer open, so we snacked on my stash of protein bars while we walked.
This field was full of young calves that had recently been weaned. They were very curious why we were walking through their field.
Just in time to get a little rest & recharge, we came to a Snack Shed that was open and stocked.
And had a few chairs as well-luxury!
We rested & munched on some snacks until the yellow jackets chased us away. We were only a couple miles from our destination for the evening-a former Rectory now a B&B and microbrewery.
The Old Vicarage in Walton.
We arrived mid-afternoon tired & muddy, but before the rain arrived.
Best part was our dinner was home cooked lasagna above the microbrewery next door.
Lovely.
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