Walking Hadrian’s Wall
During the last week in August, my adventuring friend Michelle and I walked Hadrian’s Wall from Newcastle to Bowness-on-Solway, roughly 84 miles from coast to coast. It was an incredible experience and something we had been talking about doing for years. I want to share with you a little of my experience during this walk in today’s post.
Walking East to West
Our main reason for walking West was that we both wanted a beautiful sea view when we finished our walk. We live in different parts of the world, but we thrive on being in the countryside and away from the city. We were lucky because we had relatively good weather for our walk and only had to use our rain gear one day. We booked through Macs Adventure. They booked us into various B&Bs along the way and transported our luggage while we walked, which was so helpful!
Though Macs Adventures made it easy with luggage transfers and lovely places to stay, I must say that their daily walking schedule for us was gruelling, and I don’t think I’d give them high marks for that. We booked for their 8-day walk along the wall, but in actuality, we walked several 15-mile walks and achieved this in 6 days, but at a breakneck pace that I regret a bit, as I would have liked more time to visit the Roman ruins along the way.
Our experience seeing Newcastle for the first time was a mixture of being shocked by the amount of homelessness as well as no police presence and many, many middle-aged persons staggering around or passed out in drug-induced stupors while being intrigued by the bridges along the Tyne and equally revulsed by the dirty, smelly water.
We enjoyed our visit to Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend and had fun being there for a re-enactment that took place as we began our walk along the Tyne. We split that first walk up, and instead of walking 17 miles in one go, we walked 7 miles that first day and then, the following day, achieved ten as we left Newcastle.
That first full day of walking felt like our legs were spurred by our need to leave the city and get into the countryside. Though we spent a great deal of time walking along an ever-widening stretch of the river Tyne, it was quite a relief when our path headed through wheat fields, along a long tree-lined path and then straight up a rocky trail onto the top of a steep hill and at last to Heddon-on-the-Wall. We had a long, much-needed break to view part of Hadrian’s wall and then ate at the delicious pub, The Swan. This gave us more energy to continue to the Ironsign Farmhouse and B&B.
The lovely couple who run Ironsign B&B gave us two very comfy rooms with amazing views and a delicious breakfast the following morning, which fuelled us for our walk the following day. As I have been following regular intermittent fasting practices since overcoming cancer in 2021, I found it challenging to make myself eat breakfast but found I couldn’t walk far without it!
On our third day, we walked a little over 14 miles into increasingly beautiful countryside that became more dramatic the further we went. It was just us in the open for miles and miles. I don’t remember meeting anyone else that day.
On our fourth day walking Hadrian’s Wall, we were fast friends with other hikers as the trail became more populated and the terrain grew wild and rugged. The wind across that landscape tore around us as we climbed further up and up until it felt as if we were close to touching the sky. Standing on those high ridges, I felt like I was on the world’s edge.
It felt raw, wild, wonderful, and terrible to be on the edge of everything.
Strangely, I thought it was a place I had been before and longed to return to. There was just a ragged landscape that undulated through space, straggling clusters of hikers winding their way along, lots of cows and sheep, and wild, crazy wind that tore at us as we climbed and descended and climbed again. It was incredible. That ridge beyond Housesteads Fort still pulls me as I long to stand in that wild place again.
On day five, we could only hobble along, and both of us were nursing blackened toes, so we took a day off while staying in Brampton. Our wonderful taxi driver dropped us off at Vindolanda, where we explored the ruins, listened to a tour guide, and visited the museum and café. I found it very exciting to see the volunteers and archaeologists in the act of digging and decided then and there that I would apply to dig, too, hopefully, the following year.
I felt homesick leaving the wild ridges near Sycamore Gap, and it doesn’t make sense, but that’s still how I feel. I long to return to that wildness and that unrelenting wind-swept land.
As we walked towards the sea, the land became flatter and more boggy, the sparkling river Eden occasionally running along beside us.
Walking to the sea was mainly uneventful, and as the land was flat, I felt flat, too. It was as if the drama had been replaced with anticipation of the approaching end of this adventure.
Not flat in a negative way, but it was not as exciting as the days before.
I enjoyed our walk along the beach at Bowness-on-Solway and the cows that wandered freely onto the sandy shore. We had the most delicious fish and chips at Bowness House Farm, though I wish they’d not modernised the old building we stayed in. My room was full of spiders and felt sterile, with just a cold tile floor. My room was next to the laundry room, so everything was permeated with an intense detergent smell, leaving me with a headache by morning.
We finished our adventure by returning to Carlisle for a night in a worn-out hotel that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone, even though it’s next to the station and quite convenient! It was odd leaving that part of the world and returning to London. Odd and kind of nice to be back in the familiar south! That sounds odd, doesn’t it? I loved our adventure but missed my little flat and reliable graveyard outside my studio window. Silly things.
I’d return to Hadrian’s Wall again, especially to Vindolanda, but perhaps in a warmer month, I could do it by coach to explore the Roman ruins and museums more. It was the most incredible adventure, especially because three years ago, I was fighting breast cancer and couldn’t even walk across a room without being exhausted!
My friend has returned to America, and I’m here in Wheathampstead, looking out into the graveyard and wondering what’s next…..
