Hadrians Wall Way Day 2 - Silloth to Haltwhistle
After pulling it round in the afternoon yesterday, and providing us with quite the most magnificent Air B&B in Silloth, No 4 Marine Terrace with our own rooms and our own grand sitting room where I was able to write the blog late into the night, Frankie was out of the doghouse! Waking to the sunshine streaming in through the window at about 8, I was first one down stairs to be met by Shaun our host to a simple breakfast of toast tea and cereals, shortly to be followed by Andy, Frankie and Maggie their bearded collie who I had become firm friends with sat by my side waiting for a scrap or 2!
Breakfast polished off and it was time for ablutions and a quick pack of the bags to get down to Dec’s hotel for 9am and the 70ish mile route Frankie had planned (oh god…) following the official Hadrians Wall way to near Haltwhistle. Mark Noble is joining us today at some point, so it’ll be lovely to see his skinny bony arse sheltering me and the others for at least some of the day!
With the town filling up with classic cars and bikes for the vintage transport show, I was in danger of whiplash as a particularly lovely 60’s beetle cruised past us as we waited for Declan to stop messing around. Quick photo of Frankie in Neptunes chair and it was back along the cobbled high street and left onto the route. We have been really lucky with the weather, bright sunshine but without the heat of the last few weeks, and even Declan, hater of “The Grim North” managed a complimentary comment about it.
As we headed inland, I had a chance to catch up with Dec as I hadn’t seen him in a while and he’s had quite the time cycling across the States ( not all of it, but 1100 mile of it) with his son Cameron and a load of very inspirational people suffering from Parkinson’s from San Francisco to Phoenix. Obviously the chat was mostly about how amazing he’d been marshalling those at the back and his selfless turns at the front…😁 but we did manage to catch up about family, flying lessons, politics, latest juju he’s ingesting to aid his elite cycling performance (coconut water if your interested, you shouldn’t be…) and of course his fucking Brookes saddle! I know he is the brunt of the blog, but as I explained later to Andy who was somewhat puzzled by our apparent hate/hate relationship, I’ve shared more dark moments with Dec than probably anyone else but Andi my wife, and we love each other really! It was great to catch up!
With us gossiping, while Frankie and Andy did much the same up front 2 abreast across some lovely quiet roads, we headed back out to the Solway firth and the start of the Hadrian’s Wall path. We were around 80 miles into the trip and 15 miles into the day and we still hadn’t seen the bloody thing! Lots of hikers with back packs and walking poles were passed on the road to Bowness on Solway until we came round a corner to find a herd of cows in the Firth! Not since the Hebridean Way had I seen cows in the sea! It became apparent that they were not meant to be in the sea as the farmer was in there with them shooing them to the shore! Reaching Bowness, the hunt was on for something to add to the breakfast we’d had and a Mark Langdon type “Bridge” between breakfast and lunch was found at the Fort Maia visitors centre.
It was 11am and we’d done 22 miles! Boom! After fried egg sandwiches for me and Frankie, a full breakfast one for Dec (better value apparently…) and a double espresso for Andy (no wonder he’s in such good shape!) some chat about what may happen 5 miles down the road should the rest of us have had a double espresso, we had a little time to check out the small museum featuring models of Fort Maia the second largest on Hadrian’s Wall (Maia meaning larger in Latin) and the frankly astounding fact that brothel coins existed in Roman times, lewed images of the things to be purchased as the brothel slaves didn’t speak Latin but could understand pictures…😳
45 minutes later we were out onto the route, through Port Carlisle trying to take a detour to see the statue of Edward the first, but then deciding it was too far off the route and would involve more hike a bike and retracing our steps and onto the outskirts of Carlisle. Filtering through the traffic we turned right at the castle walls to follow the river Eden through the substantial parks that surround it, over a lovely bridge and out the other side. I’ve failed to mention that the reason we were making good time is that the route so far was almost completely flat. We had 4000 ft of climbing to do, but it was all back loaded into the last 20 miles, so we know we needed to stop somewhere for lunch before we hit the climbs. Frankie had spotted a place on the river in Carlisle, but we thought it was too soon after our sarnies in Bowness ( we were 33 miles in) so decided to press onto Brampton at about 50 miles and after the first couple of climbs.
Crossing the M6 we went through a small town, and over the crossroads only for both Dec and Frankie to spot a sign saying Brampton medical centre. I’d been a few times before, and it didn’t look like Brampton, but we decided at 42 miles it was as good a place as any. Stopping at the BP garage to replenish dwindling bottles, Andy googled nearby cafes and there was one just down the bank, result! Pulling up outside of Sallys at Warwick Bridge, for that is where we were not Brampton, I enquired if they did cheese scones, to be met with an emphatic yes! Double result! Some leek and potato soup and 2 (TWO) cheese scones later, with the others having more restrained sandwiches, the decision was made to leave the lovely looking cakes behind ( I know!!!) and head to the first climb of the day.
We had 20 miles left it was about 3.30 pm, we knew Mark would be coming at us from the opposite direction at some point and had around 2,500 feet to climb so the toughest part of the day lay ahead. Despite a little trash talk from Dec, the condition I’m currently in (I’d describe it as my “Sumo” phase) against his (1,100 miles across the USA) meant I wouldn’t even know which way he went never mind beat him up a climb! I could of course hear him from miles away as his latest gadget is his Bluetooth speaker blaring out Heart FM as “motivation” for us on the climbs…With Andy tanning Frankie’s arse into shape over the past year in their weekend rides in Manchester I was happy with my position of lantern rouge as I crawled up the first 2 relatively easy climbs. It was the next one I was worried about!
Stopping at Brampton to field a call from Mark to say he was 7 miles away and would meet us at Banks Hill Fort at the top of what we thought was the steepest climb of the day at 7% over just under a mile, there was time for Dec to broadcast to the entire town which way he was going as he’d turned the music off but still had his Garmin blaring out directions at top volume! At the foot of the climb there was a village cricket match going on with a big sign saying “bar open, have a pint while watching the cricket” Me and Frankie later confessed we’d both thought of stopping, watching a bit of cricket and having said pint…
Despite it being steep, and me firmly at the back, it was dispensed with as they always are, and the most amazing site emerged as we crested the top of the climb, the first view we’ve had of Hadrian’s w…no never mind that Mark had arrived!!! Despite him doing 44 miles from his home in Ponteland to get here, he looked liked he just pottered in from around the corner! A quick hug and photo and we could concentrate on the first actual physical view we’d had of the wall after 110 miles! With some lovely views of the valley we lingered for a good 20 minutes, before setting off along the ridge.
With me and Mark riding 2 abreast along the very quiet roads the next 5 miles passed very pleasantly as we caught up with friends, family and work and we were down into Greenhead crossing into Northumberland from Cumbria and starting the Greenhead climb. This looked straightforward on the Garmin, 2 miles at 4%. The only thing was the first half a mile was at 15%! It was horrific! Obviously Mark, Dec and Andy were quickly out of site with Frankie trapped behind me on the busier road. There was a cycle path next to the road but it looked a bit sketchy, but with the gradient getting steeper I pulled the escape cord and moved onto the path so I could tack across the gradient making it less steep without having to worry about the traffic. On and on it went until finally I was up it and facing the last 4 miles along a busy fast A road to the campsite we were staying at.
I was cooked, I’ll not lie, but then I heard the magic words I’d waited a while to hear, Mark saying get in my wheel and I’ll tow you home! What a joy it was to stare at his non existent arse as he wound that massive engine he keeps somewhere as I sheltered best I could behind him (not helped by the fact that my bike and me are twice the width of him and his bike!) and we (he) pulled away from the rest of the group. At the final little climb in the last mile, the elastic snapped, the lights went out and I literally grovelled my way to the turning as the others cam past, but we’d done it and it was just gone 6 as we turned into Winshields camp site, nearly 70 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing, tired but happy!
Once again Frankie had knocked it out the park, with a rustic but lovely room with separate sitting room where could just wheel the bikes in. We would be sharing tonight, me Andy and Frankie in one room Mark and Dec in the other. Of course we put Andy in the middle bed so he could be fully baptised by having stereo snoring from each side! A quick shower and then the half mile walk up the road to the Twice Brewed Inn, complete with its own micro brewery to get our table we booked for 7pm and just as well as it was heaving! The pub was as lovely as the accommodation and their own brewed blonde IPA was equally as good! Lots a total bollocks talked and we were walking back along the road in the twilight at just after 10 back to Winshields campsite.
Just to top the day off, as I was writing the blog at the table by the window Frankie wondered what had flashed past the window. Probably an owl I said, half joking, only to see a Barn owl sitting on the fence post not 10 yards away! Calling Andy over who’s a bit of a twitcher there followed 20 minutes watching as another Barn Owl joined in with some bats flying across our view! There’s no WiFi or phone signal here, so hopefully I’ll get the blog posted later on in the day. 52 miles to Tynemouth to finish the ride tomorrow, the catastrophe of the first afternoon feeling like a long, long time ago! Old thunder thighs, Michael Timmins joins us for the last leg tomorrow to make us 6 strong, even more wheels to hide behind, excellent!
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