Stamfordham

It was a lovely sunny day, and Amr’s birthday!! We had a 17 km walk to Newburn. Carole and John were feeling the wear and tear from walking in the mud and uneven surfaces so they opted to take a bus to Heddon-on-the-Wall which was the first 10 kms, and we all met up there and walked the last 7 together to Newburn, which is a small town but on the outskirts of Newcastle- only 11 miles away - and right on the river Tyne. This was a happy arrangement as it was good for us all. We are staying at a lovely stone pub sort of place, not in the town but in a lovely park like area near the river.

So this morning Amr and I set, after a sustaining breakfast of a feta and mushroom omelette (plus fruit and yogurt) off along paths, not quite as muddy as before, beside this very straight Military road, built on top of the Wall. Occasionally we were routed round farms, but it was quite beautiful, and mostly grain growing fields now, with stubble or ploughed ground. We got to Heddon-on-the-Wall by about 12.30, had a drink at the pub there, a sweet little town on a hill, then resumed with Carole and John, our path leading us down and down to the river, through very pretty woods. Much more civilised now, mainly on paths, no pastures, and virtually no mud!

We got to Newburn and found our instructions to find our lodgings not very clear...luckily ran into an Australian couple from Brisbane who were walking in the other direction, but were staying in the same place, so we followed the instructions they had, which retraced a bit of where we’d walked and found this great place. All cleaned up, and I have ceremoniously cleaned and packed up my sticks as tomorrow will be more or less city walking into Newcastle and Wallsend, the end of the Wall!! We are actually staying tomorrow at a place on the coast - Whitley Bay just to see the other side of England!! But we get a metro from Wallsend to there!! Lots of fun, and only one more day of walking.

Now about to have dinner here - a birthday celebration!Read more