http://connect.garmin.com/activity/632356268 (day 1)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/632356346 (day 2)
Hadrian’s Wall stretches from 15 miles West of Carlisle at Bowness on Solway
across Northern England to Newcastle. It is now a 84 miles long National
Path walking route nearly making a coast to coast route normally walked over
5 days and therefore fair game for a wee run. An adventure sports company
charges nearly £200 as an event over a shorter version from Carlisle to
Newcastle in the summer. Five Carnethies figured a more economic and longer
challenge was to do it over 2 days in November requiring consecutive ~40
mile days.
Logistics require a train to Carlisle, cab to the start of the Wall, run to
the middle staying a bunkhouse at Twice Brewed, beer-meal-sleep, run on to
Newcastle and train home. Graham Nash, Matt Davis and Mark Hartree got the
train from Haymarket meeting Gregor Heron and Steve Yule off the train from
Lanark. A five seater cab found and off to the start. The first 15 miles
to Carlisle are flat and apart from an old fort remains in the estuary and
some nice old churches, there is no sign of a Wall. Quick refreshment at
the sports centre in Carlisle and it was another 15 miles across some nice
countryside till we saw our first Wall remains in the growing dusk. Plans
for café stops or a pub were scuppered as time and pub closures were against
us to get to the bunkhouse and pub before last meal orders at 2000. As it
got dark, the turret remains and Wall pieces passed in the shadows of our
head torches, and a wee navigation error split the group with three of us
losing the Wall path hitting a road before the bunkhouse before we should
have, 43 miles from our start point.
Don’t go to Twice Brewed late expecting culinary excellence although food
was ok, the beer was fine and the Winshields bunkhouse good value and
comfortable. A big breakfast and off for the remaining ~40 odd miles. This
is the most interesting part of the Wall with lots of Wall, turrets,
guardhouses, spa and wee temples evident with a bit of imagination. It was
tough and slow first 10 miles on tired legs but the views were great across
pretty bleak moors making you respect the guards that must have had a tough
living up here. There is a lot of up and down wee hills on sometimes
extremely slippery flagstone steps which required care in the drizzle.
There was not many people about, one school party and a couple of walkers.
We met two rangers who told us off for running in single file, path erosion
by people being their bug bear, although sheep and cows seemed to be let off
for walking in single file.
After the hills, the Wall follows an endlessly straight road along lovely
green paths up and down long hills between 150-270m. Not big, but energy
sapping. After one downpour, a café, a pub and a garage gave us much
needed refreshment and at Heddon-on-the-Wall we dropped steeply to the river
Tyne and as darkness fell we ran into Gotham city of Newcastle. Wallsend is
about 5 miles on tarmac beyond the station requiring a train back to the
main station. With 1hr 15mins till our train and having ran 38 miles we
decided beer and chips were needed more than seeing the official end of the
Wall and we called it a day.
A nice route on not too much tarmac, lots of historical interest in the
middle section, and interesting to do long back-to-back days. 81 miles were
ran in 18hrs 45mins running time.
Mark Hartree