Bring on the Wall!

For those who know me it's not often I'm left speechless, but today I've been left incapable of speech more times than I could shake a centurions sword at! I'm fairly widely travelled and have worn the soles of my walking boots down in many areas around Britain, but today's walk has presented some of the most picturesque, beautiful scenery I've seen-I kid you not. I know the world always looks better in the sunshine, but the stretch of Hadrian's Wall between Chollerford and Once Brewed is absolutely breathtaking.

We set off from Chollerford at 8am, leaving Simon to sleep off his sunstroke, and immediately started to climb steadily. It was a murky start with low cloud losing the battle against an increasingly strong sun. By 8.30 the mist had dispersed and the sun already had enough heat in it to burn the back of my neck. It wasn't long before we met up with wall-a hugely impressive and thought provoking structure. The effort required to build without mechanised equipment is simply unimaginable in our modern Molly-coddled society. In contrast to the first few days, the wall stayed with us for most of the day and snaked its way into the Northumberland National Park. I hope the photos I've sent to Dawn to put on the blog do it and the scenery justice. For a national trail described as 'one of the easiest' it certainly didn't feel like it on this stretch as the wall ascended and descended sharply, so sharply on some occasions that we had to scramble-not the easiest of things to do with a wardrobe on your back!

One of the highlights for me as a movie fan was Sycamore Gap-the spot made famous in Kevin Costner's epic 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' where Robin gets set upon by Guy of Gisbourne and his men whilst trying to protect a young boy who climbs the now famous Sycamore. So excited was I that I mugged a small child for his bow and arrow so that I could have a piccy taken in the pose of my hero!

So, trail weary, but immeasurably happy we arrived at Winshields Farm in Once Brewed and now I sit and write at its only hostelry the Twice Brewed Inn where the free wifi makes amends for its miserly portions of food-certainly not big enough for hungry hikers which is a real shame.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Russ