With my bags packed (sorry Barney you can't come this time) ...
... on Sunday 26 April I caught the 09:30 train from Penzance and my Hadrian's Wall adventure began. At around the same time, my friends Anne-Marie and Jackie were arriving at Norwich train station to make their way up to Carlisle to join me.
I decided to upgrade to first-class (for just a few pounds extra) because it meant more space, peace and quiet, power sockets, free Wi-Fi and waiter service with free drinks and snacks. I read and watched a couple of films and the time passed very pleasantly.
I arrived into Carlisle on time and Anne-Marie and Jackie were there waiting for me. They had already checked us into our B&B. We walked to Pizza Express for tea and then on to Marlborough House B&B.
After a reasonable night (I don't think I was tired enough to sleep well, having done nothing very taxing the previous day), we got up for a hearty cooked breakfast at 08:00. The B&B owner gave us a long history lesson, which was very kind of him but I think he enjoyed it more than we did!
Me, Jackie and Anne-Marie.
We set off at 09:00 bound for the bus station where we caught the number 93 bus out to Bowness-on-Solway for the start of our trek.
At 10:30 we started to follow the wall, or the trail following where the wall used to be anyway.
There is none of the wall remaining in this section of the walk but the landscape went from coastal marshland ...
... (that's Braveheart country on the horizon) ...
... to fields ...
... and woodland.
There were lots of very long straight stretches of road to follow ...
... loads of gates, ...
... too many stiles, ...
... (that's Braveheart country on the horizon) ...
... to fields ...
... and woodland.
There were lots of very long straight stretches of road to follow ...
... loads of gates, ...
... too many stiles, ...
and lots of cute lambs to say 'arrrrrr' to whenever we saw them.
The weather was mostly dry and sunny so we had a lovely time catching up and admiring the changing view.
We saw interesting houses ...
... (both old ...
... and new) ...
... in the 12th century St Michael's church.
We passed a handful of other people walking the trail in the opposite direction who told us we should expect to see our first bit of actual wall on Day 3.
As we neared Carlisle the trail followed the river and the landscape changed.
We arrived back into Carlisle about 17:00. The Endomomdo phone app that I use to chart my activities said we had walked 18.5 miles, Anne-Marie's said 15 and Jackie's said 14. The B&B owner said the part of the trail we had walked was between 14 & 15 miles. How my phone could make it so much further I haven't a clue!
We showered, changed and returned to Pizza Express for our tea. As we sat in the restaurant it started to rain and then sleet! Thankfully it didn't last long and had stopped by the time we walked back to the B&B but there was a definite chill in the air. We turned in about 22:00 with our feet a bit sore but feeling pleasantly tired.
If you would like to help me towards my fundraising goal for this year, please visit my fundraising page by clicking here
We showered, changed and returned to Pizza Express for our tea. As we sat in the restaurant it started to rain and then sleet! Thankfully it didn't last long and had stopped by the time we walked back to the B&B but there was a definite chill in the air. We turned in about 22:00 with our feet a bit sore but feeling pleasantly tired.
If you would like to help me towards my fundraising goal for this year, please visit my fundraising page by clicking here
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