The Rest of Hadrian's Wall

Within twenty minutes of walking on Tuesday the scenery changed. As I crested a hill it changed from small fields and cottages to huge rolling hills, crags, and moorland. I was in Northumberland.

Soon I reached Thirwall Castle which, although not much more than a few ruined walls, was a charming place. Next door was a farmhouse with a farmer urinating in the backyard. He was unaware of his spectator. The stone over the lintel said "1669".

Soon after this I reached Walton Quarry which is now a pond. It was from here that the legions quarried much of the stone used in the construction of the wall. I took the wrong way round the pond and was just finding my way again when I ran into an old Northumbrian man and his dog out for a morning stroll. He told me that it was a "corker" of a morning. I agreed.

Soon after this I began to see the wall in all of its glory. At times it was higher than my head. Several miles after this I reached the town of Once-Brewed which is not more than three or four buildings.

Once-Brewed allegedly got its name name when a famous General came to the town and ordered a beer. It was so bad that he sent back to be brewed again.

Despite his reputation I decided to order a pint of the local brew at Twice-Brewed Inn. It was quite good.

Next door is Once-Brewed Hostel, one of the oldest hostels in the YHA. It is also the hostel where the covenant high school students stay on their way to Scotland. So I had seen this part of the wall before. It was nostalgic. I can see why Mr. B and Han the Man chose this part of the wall to show its--it is the grandest. But for the same reason it is the most touristy, and for the first time I saw other walkers. But they were all day hikers of the asian-with-expensive-electronic-equipment-variety. I soon left then behind.

I ate lunch at the highest point on the wall which was truly a beautiful sight. To the north was the entire expanse of Northumberland National park, huge clumps of pine trees are the forest reserve. Behind me, to the west, is Cumbria, where I came from and the southwest is the Lake District.

A little before 4 PM I once again came across civilization. Housteds, although not quite touristed as Vindolanda, is the best preserved fort on the wall. On this beautiful day there were a good few people wandering the ruins.

I dropped down into the visitors centre hoping to fill my water bottle and feel into conversation with a nice old chap named Roger. He was from Newcastle but was showing his North Carolinan nephew around.

I also met a family from Kennewick Washington! Boy were they surprised to see me.

After chatting for a while I set off again, now hoping to find a nice place to camp. Over the next few hours I descended steadily from the crags into lower lands and a bit more civilization. I set up camp on the ruins of an old Roman mile castle. Pretty cool huh? I went to sleep at 7 PM.

By two AM I was awake and ready to go. There isn't much to do besides sleep and walk.

So I packed up and was walking by 2:30. Of course it was pitch black and I had a bit of difficulty finding my way but I went slowly. It was below freezing and completely gorgeous. Down in the valleys there was fog with only the occasional tree poking through. But up where I was it was perfectly still and clear with the stars shining bright and the moon s shining like the sun. I kept stopping just to glory in it. But then I had to start walking again because it was freezing.

Sarah, thank you for the buff. I've used it not only as a head wrap but also as a hat and a face covering.

At one point I disturbed a herd of about 20 cattle. I didn't see them until I was right on top of them. They might have been scared but I was terrified at the sight of 20 lowing black shaped jumping up and running away.

So I continued to walk in the dark; hour after hour, mile after mile. The moon set and an hour later the sun rose. Slowly the countryside began to wake up. At this point the the trail started to follow the road and it was quite boring. By 10 I had been walking for 7.5 hours and I was starving. I didn't have anything to eat except for homemade cliff bars and kiwis. Nothing was open. At one point I tried to detour to the town of Corbridge, but I turned around when it was apparent that it was too far. So I ate my last kiwi, tightened my belt, and headed on. Finally, at 12,  reached the town of Heddon-on-the-wall. I had walked about 20 miles. After stuffing my face with pita bread from the corner store I headed on to the last 15 miles I'd the walk. Soon I was in the suburbs of Newcastle. By four o'clock I only had 6 miles to go, but I couldn't take another step. I caught a bus to my hostel and checked in a day early. I had backpacked 32 miles in 14 hours. I spent the rest if the day typing up this report only to loose it. :P

On Thursday I slept in, made myself fried eggs and toast and walked the leisurely last 6 miles to Wallsend. After tooling around the remains of the Roman fort there I caught the metro back to the city center and explored the city. Then I stocked up on food from the local grocery store. Next time I'm not gonna be forced to buy food at expensive pubs.