Day Three, The Walk to Twice Brewed

The first couple of nights we stayed at the same B&B/Pub in Newburn which was a bit odd because although we walked a good distance each day, we were backtracked by minivan each night to our accommodations.

On day three we started the day at Brunton Tower, a small section of preserved wall along with the remains of a tower. The towers housed two to four soldiers and there were a couple of towers in between each mile castle which was bigger and housed a dozen or more soldiers.

We then walked down through a pretty little village called Collorford and spend an hour or so looking over the ruin of a cavalry fort called Chester’s. I am not sure where the name comes from.

With a start like that I thought we’d spend most of the day walking through pastoral farm land. An easy day. I kind of miscalculated or perhaps I should have looked at the contours on the map a little closer.

It was through farmland but, up hill for the first few miles. But, bit by bit we began to see more and more evidence of the wall. In places the vallum was very present and in others the vallum the wall and the ditch was very clear.

As we made progress through the early afternoon the first of the crags started getting closer. The first Sewingshields Craig was a tough climb but it clearly was through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. To the south, miles and miles of rolling hills and pasture, to our north a huge cliff dropped down several hundred feet. To the west the undulating hills continued before us. We walked the ridge.

After a very long day we arrived at our hotel/pub and downed that cold welcome beer.

That evening there was pub trivia in the pub but I am finding, after a twenty km walk over rough terrain, I was ready to pack in by 9:30.

Hadrian Day Two

This will be a short post for now since the library has kindly given me limited free access to the internet.

We saw the wall for the first time since Wallsend, first thing this morning. Then not again for some time. Signs of the wall are revealed slowly to walkers. For a while we mostly saw earthworks then more remnants late of the day.

We ended the day in Wall. Another 23 km walked today.

Tomorrow we will see the wall for most of the walk but it is a tough walk with lots of up and down near the end.

Walking the Wall Day One

I know you have to read these posts backwards but did I say 'A piece of cake'? Well perhaps not but we did survive and we arrived at the White Swan Pub more than an hour before the shuttle arrived to bring us to our hotel. Pretty good I thought.

No one told us that the pub was at the top of the Tyne River Valley. A tough, long climb after a 24 km trek. I have to tell you that beer tasted great.

We headed out at 8:15 in the morning, first walking above the River Tyne through what was first an old industrial area then eventually the path moved down to the river's edge.

It was a good path, mostly paved and wide enough that we didn't have to worry too much about cyclists. Eventually we arrived at downtown Newcastle and we walked across the famous millennium bridge to the Baltic Centre of the Arts for a coffee and a rest.

The riverside centre of town is lovely, there are so many bridges. I forgot how many but there are traffic bridges, foot bridges, metro bridges and train bridges. They hold a Sunday market along the path and there were scores of fishermen trying their luck at catching codlins, bass and flounder. I am not sure I'd eat anything coming out of that river but edible or not, there were a lot of fishermen.

Eventually we moved our way through the city, through suburbs and back into agricultural land and after a long climb we ended our day at the Heddon on the Wall

And we are off

We had a good look around the site of the original fort built at the start of the wall. They claim it may have been designed, at least partially by Hadrian himself I think "may" is the key work here. At this point there is very little original remaining as like in so many like this, where a city built up around fortifications, the building materials have been mostly cannibalized to be used in the construction in newer buildings. There are some remnants of the original was here but for the most part the city has been built over it.

We are off in an hour or so. Most of the day is through Newcastle, along the river valley. Interesting but not to "Roman".

Off to Newcastle

We loved Edinburgh and were sorry to move on. It is a city I could easily live it.

We were up early this morning and took the train the Newcastle. It was a great train ride through the country side, a good deal of it along the coast.

We didn't see much of the city but headed out to Walls End where our hotel is located.

I always tell Shelley that I always judge hotels by the information and advice they provide their clientle. For example a hotel with a sign by the tub which says "Please make sure the shower curtain is inside the tub before turning on shower". is usually an indicator that the hotel is on the lower end of the chain. The hotel we are staying is has a notice in the room which asks that guests do not "...set off the fire extinguishers in the room" Do you think that indicates this is a bit of a party hotel?

We met up with the others on this Hadrian Wall walk early afternoon. A couple from Ottawa, a woman from New York City, the guide and his son and us.

We head out after breakfast in the morning. We walk 25 km tomorrow. A piece of cake.

Where Rebus Lives

Ok, OK I am beginning to sound a bit obsessive about those Ian Rankin novels. But my sense is that real fans would like to see what Arden Street looks like.

Rankin was living in a basement flat on Arden Street when he came up with the idea for a police novel with Rebus as the cop. He then figured why not have Rebus live there.

Arden Street was a bit more upscale than we expected. I think Rebus made a good investment when he bought the flat.

Authur's Seat Coffins

In The Falls Ian Rankin weaves the story about the Author's Seat Coffins into DI Rebus' case. A coffin is found near a missing young woman's home and Rebus digs around the idea that there might be some kind of connection between the missing girl and the coffins.

The historical record claims that in 1836 five young boys, hunting for rabbits on Arthur's seat found 17 miniature coffins hidden inside a cave. They were arranged under slates on three tiers, two tiers of eight and one solitary coffin on the top. Each coffin, only four inches in length contained a little wooden figure, expertly carved with painted black boots and custom made clothes. The ones on the bottom tier were more deteriorated suggesting that they had been placed there at different times, the ones on top being the most recent.

The reason the coffins were placed there and who might have been responsible has never been discovered and remains a mystery. We had a bit of a challenge finding them in the museum but we tracked them down. Eight of the coffins remain today and they are housed in the National Museum of Scotland.

The Museum is a stone's throw from Edinburgh City Apartments, Greyfriars flat.