Pennine Way 22 Bellingham to Byrness

Today we awoke to beautiful sunshine but still a chilly wind. Those of us staying at the hostel who were ready really early managed to sneak on to the coach and have a ride to Haltwhistle to pick up the B&B folk. Haltwhistle is the centre of Britain which comes as a bit of a surprise really and although it is quite a small place it is on the main line from Carlisle to Newcastle which one member of the group took advantage of and went for some retail therapy in Newcastle!
















The main group were dropped off in Bellingham and were soon climbing out of the North Tyne valley and up on to the moors.




I think most of us agreed that one of the worst parts of the Pennine Way was a steep climb between the edge of Redesdale Forest and a broken down stone wall. You could balance on the wall and risk spraining an ankle or get your boots wet in the bog! However the marshy ground at the edge of the forest was filled with beautiful bright green mosses.




At last we entered the vast expanse of Keilder Forest which stretched out in front of us but the track was stony and hard to walk on so we were very pleased to reach the end of it. After a
quick game of 'Pooh Sticks' at Blakehopeburnhaugh bridge we walked alongside the River Rede the last 2 miles to Byrness arriving just 10 minutes before the coach was due to depart.

It had been a hard weekend's walking for the 'B' party, getting on for 40 miles in total and plenty of ups and downs to contend with. It will be next year now before we can complete the task and we'll all be another year older by then, but I'm sure we'll tackle it with energy and good humour. Watch out Kirk Yetholm here we come!

Thanks again to Peter for his valiant efforts at getting from the back to the front of the group and taking lots of photos, with and without boots on, and almost minus a sock!!

Pennine Way 21 Housesteads to Bellingham

We thought we were in for an easier walk today, 11 miles and all day to do it in, no problems. All I can say is that these must have been Roman miles as in English miles it was much nearer to 14 than 11. Fortunately the weather was dry but still cold and overcast.
We were dropped off on the road and made our way to Rapishaw Gap where the Pennine Way leaves Hadrian's Wall and turns north to the forests and distant views of the Cheviots, our journey's end....but not just yet!

Today we had marshy areas, forest, fields and moors and plenty of uphill, or so it seemed to me. The group split into two after lunch as some were ready to move on before others. A lone Pennine Way walker caught up with us with 6 miles left to go and put us to shame as he had walked all the way from Greenhead with a 12 kilo pack on his back and he was 70 years old. Mind you he was nearly done for but he stayed with us to the end and had plenty to talk about as he had married a Bradford girl many years ago.




I was in the breakaway group and Margaret had a map that went most of the way to Bellingham so apart from one or two places where the path wasn't too well marked we didn't have any problems finding the way.







One last climb up to the radio mast on Shitlington Crag and then at last Bellingham could be seen in the distance and thoughts of a nice cup of tea kept us going till the end.

Pennine Way 20 Greenhead to Housesteads

We set off from Bradford at 9.00 am and after quite a long journey we started our walk about 12.15. The weather was cold and overcast with rain in the air but this cleared away as the afternoon wore on. It certainly didn't feel like Spring but I heard my first cuckoo of the year just before lunch which was a welcome sound.

After turning left...or was it right....at Thirlwall Castle we made our way to the visitor centre and lunch before setting off along Hadrian's Wall. Only 10 miles today but a very strenuous 10 miles along the best preserved part of the wall with frequent ups and downs rather like walking on a coastal path. A few who had done this part before opted to shorten the walk and drop down to Once Brewed. The rest of us carried on a mile or so beyond the point where the Pennine Way branched off to the left and finished at Housesteads where William was waiting patiently with the coach to take us to the hostel or on to Haltwhistle. We arrived at the hostel just as dinner was about to be served.















Once Brewed YHA in the sunshine........looks good, better than I remember it!!

Pennine Way 19 Knarsdale to Greenhead

Sunday dawned bright but a bit cooler and breezier as we went by coach back to the viaduct.



A short climb uphill and then we made our way along the Maiden Way which is an old Roman Road.















The books had led us to believe that this was a boring bit of the Pennine Way and we would see nothing but bog all day long. Well yes we did go through some boggy places and one or two people did get water in their boots but there was at least one person who kept his boots dry all day long! Barefoot hiking might catch on.











The walking seemed easier today and we had plenty of time for tea stops and lunch but the views weren't quite as good as yesterday so I haven't as many photos.

We picked our way carefully over Blenkinsop Common up to the highest point Black Hill where we got our first sighting of the Cheviots in the not too far distance. Journey's end doesn't seem too far away but we've a few hard days walking yet before we get there.

The 'A' party had a run in with some cows protecting their calves but thankfully they didn't bother with the 'B' party and we passed them by without a problem.





After a brief stop at a ruined barn we made our way towards the A69 and civilisation. Our first sight of civilisation was a deep gorge filled with rubbish and old cookers and washing machines that had been illegally dumped! Rather a depressing sight after all the beautiful countryside we had walked through.



As we approached Greenhead alongside the golf course we came to the Vallum, a defensive ditch which runs south of Hadrian's Wall. Our walk today finished at Greenhead in the tea room or the pub.
Next time we will be on Hadrian's Wall and if you want to find out more about the history of the wall and have a few minutes to spare follow this link and Neil Oliver will tell you all you need to know!

Thanks to Peter for his photographic contributions to the blog. I did manage to get a few of my own in this time!

Pennine Way 18 Garrigill to Knarsdale

After the coldest winter for many years we were all looking forward to resuming our trek along the Pennine Way starting with a lovely weekend away staying in Alston.

This is the YHA directly on the Pennine Way. A very comfortable hostel with a nice friendly atmosphere and red squirrels playing in the trees right outside the windows. The hostel is privately owned by a lovely couple Val and David, and the food was of a very high standard. One to visit again I'm sure. Although the facilities may not be as good as staying in a B&B, the shared experience of the group staying in the hostel adds greatly to the enjoyment of the occasion and I can highly recommend it especially if you are on your own.

I had a quick look around Alston before the walk started on Saturday morning. It is England's highest market town with many 18th century buildings and cobbled streets.






















Our walk started in Garrigill and followed a pleasant track alongside the South Tyne river.





The weather was fine but a bit cold in the breeze and out of the sun. After passsing through Alston we made our way uphill and down dale to Slaggyford which didn't really live up to it's name.

The scenery was beautiful but I think we were all feeling a bit weary by the time we arrived at the viaduct at Burnstones Only a short hop from there and William was waiting for us conveniently parked outside the Kirkstyle Inn at Knarsdale where the 'A' party had been filling in time waiting for us to arrive!

As an extra bonus to our Pennine Way adventure we had managed to hit on the only weekend when there was to be a celebration of the Romans leaving Hadrian's Wall 1600 years ago! Beacons were lit at 200 metre intervals all along the wall from Wallsend to Carlisle. We were advised by Val at the YHA of a suitable viewing point where we could park the coach and William volunteered to take us up there before dinner.

We were quite a way from the wall but it was possible to see several of the beacons and I did manage to capture this on camera but the quality of the photo isn't brilliant.




Back at the hostel we had time for a quick shower before a splendid meal of homemade chicken pie and sticky toffee pudding. Some went down to the town for a drink but many of us were too contented to bother and were looking forward to another good walk the following day.

Just a little reminder to those who may not have visited the blog before, if you click on the green highlighted words this will take you to further pictures or information about the places we have visited and if you click on 'beacons' you can see a short clip on Youtube showing an aerial view of the beacons.