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After a very good breakfast and a nice chat with with some Irish people staying at the Inn for the horse fair, I set off on a nice day, a bit cold, but warmed by the sun. I walked along the South Tyneside railway track now used by steam trains which run three times a day, although unfortunately not while I passed by. It was a pleasant walk with hills, fields and woods on either side and soon I arrived at Slaggyford.

Everything was going well. It was a nice day with only a few showers forecast. I was in fine fettle and one of my walking sticks which had malfunctioned on the way into Alston was now in good working order as well. My rest day was the one day in the month when Alston ran a repair café. They fixed my stick in no time. I wish them luck with the old lamps and toasters, many of which looked 20 years or more old, that the locals hoped would live for several decades more.

I left Slaggyford passing a pretty old chapel and then through a wood and out into pasture on the South Tyne Trail. I chatted for 20 minutes or so to an interesting guy who had moved into the area five years ago, having previously lived in a commune in Wales. The commune hadn’t worked out as two of its members wanted to make all the decisions. Not very communal. He told me to watch out for adders. An adder bite wouldn’t be terminal for me, but would for his sheepdog. He was trying and failing to tire the dog out. He’d walked 10 miles already that day, but the dog showed no signs of slowing down. He’d bought an electric mountain bike to take the dog up into the hills to see if that would give him the exercise he needed.

After this, I climbed onto the old Roman road which took me along a ridge with great views of the valley below. The sun was out properly now. I was having a wonderful time and stopped to rest behind a dry stone wall on the grassy turf next to the bracken.

A couple of miles later, having left the ridge,   I crossed an expanse of quite swampy moorland seeing various birds, strangely shaped trees and old derelict barns and outbuildings. 

I then climbed gradually for about an hour over farm land and then out onto open moors, featureless but still beautiful with white flowers blowing in the wind. On the way up passing through a garden as the path sometimes does I met Tim Draycott and Rasta Ralph. Ralph is yet another supporter of the Spine Race. As the runners typically pass him in the middle of the night, he stays up to offer food before collapsing into bed the following morning. Tim was well travelled and had a knack for bumping into VIPs, including the queen who he bowed to and Donald Trump who snubbed him.

A couple of hours later, I arrived in the pretty village of Greenhead  and stopped for some refreshments in the Greenhead Hotel. I also arranged to spend the night at a campsite at Twice Brewed, very near Hadrian’s wall. Everyone raves about this walkers’ campsite, and Malcolm who runs it. It’s another 7 1/2 miles but will mean a short day tomorrow. I might beat the forecast rain to Bellingham.

I had a lovely evening’s walk along Hadrian’s Wall. From the wall you could see for miles across Scotland. Any Scotsman attempting to attack the wall would have been seen miles before they arrived and had to climb up to the seemingly  impregnable defence in the face of the Roman soldiers. Amazingly, the Picts managed to breach the wall on several occasions.

I arrived at Winfield campsite at 8 o’clock and met Malcolm who was as lovely as everyone said he was. I then headed off to the pub at Twice Brewed with little expectation of being fed but looking forward to a pint. Although it was 8:45, they took pity on a hungry walker and fed me roast beef. A fabulous end to a memorable day.

Day Summary

Roman roads, Hadrian’s wall. The friendliest people on the walk so far.