LEJOG
Distance walked – 37km (23.1miles)
Total Distance – 1206.6km (754.1miles)
All in all
It’s just another brick in the wall
Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall
Today was another really long but enjoyable walk. We followed the course of Hadrian’s Wall for the first half of the day, before venturing beyond the wall to cross some wild, isolated Northumbrian countryside. The section along the wall was stunning and I’m sure we will remember it as one of the highlights of our LEJOG.
We left the Greenhead Hostel early, (the Hostel was excellent, food at the village pub was very good) and were soon back on the Pennine Way (PW). It wasn’t long until we got our first glimpse of the remains of the wall. It truly must have been an awe-inspiring construction. At117kms in length, it ran from coast to coast, and would have been three metres tall and nearly as wide. Spaced along it were regular large forts and smaller milecastles (every Roman mile), with two turrets between each milecastle. It is thought that it was plastered and white-washed, so it would have glistened in the sun and dominated the landscape for miles around. The section we followed today contains some of the best preserved segments of the wall, although some of the tallest remains are modern reconstructions.
The Pennine Way runs simultaneous with Hadrian’s Wall National Trail for this 15 km section. Hadrian’s Wall path is a very popular walk, (at 135km it can be completed in a week), and we were soon being passed by a steady stream of walkers, mainly headed in the other direction.
Walltown Crags
The course of this section of the wall frequently takes advantage of natural high points and subsequently the walk today was a rollercoaster of ups and downs. The first major climb was at Walltown Crags where the wall ran along a cliff edge with expansive views over the wild Northumbrian countryside to the North.
At Cawfield Quarry we stopped for some excellent coffee and cake from a coffee van, before ascending Cawfield Crags to walk along a well preserved segment of the wall. Here the path ran right alongside the wall, stretching ahead as far as the eye could see. It’s amazing to think that the entire 117km of wall took only 8 years to build. The council is building a small road flyover near us in Brisbane that has been going for three years and still isn’t finished!
The purpose of the construction of the wall was mainly as a defensive structure against the unconquered barbarians to the North but was also an enormous propaganda statement about the might of the Roman Empire. As we walked along the wall we contemplated its relation to our modern world where problems with migration and national borders have led to the desire for the building of walls both physical and metaphorical. (Problems about which I have no easy solution).
Winshield Crags (345m)
At Winshield Crags we reached the highpoint of the day at 345m. Looking out over the flat countryside beyond, it was amazing to think that at one time this was the extent of the civilised world and was also the northern most edge of an empire that stretched as far as Northern Africa and Western Asia.
Steel Rigg Viewpoint
At Steel Rigg we went north of the wall for the first time, giving us a great viewpoint of Peel Crags, with the wall stretching along this natural cliff edge. For such an ancient monument, it is amazing that the access is free (most of the land is owned by the National Trust) however there were frequent signs asking us not to damage the wall. (We certainly saw no ROMANES EUNT DOMUS graffiti).
Milecastle 39
The scenery was quite spectacular now as we passed what is probably the most famous view of the wall from the top of Peel Crags. We paused to enjoy the vista before descending to pass the remains of Milecastle 39, and then climbing up again along the edge of Highshield Crags with the blue waters of Crag Lough far below.
Sycamore Gap
Looking back at Sycamore Gap
Soon we reached another iconic landmark, the Sycamore Gap. A much photographed, tall mature Sycamore tree that grows in a gap in the wall, that featured prominently in a scene from Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (although what Robin was doing on Hadrian’s Wall while journeying from Dover to Nottingham is a mystery – maybe an early attempt at LEJOG??)
Beyond the Wall . . ..
We walked alongside a final amazing stretch of wall at Hotbank Crags before dropping down to Rapishaw Gap, where the Pennine Way leaves the wall to head north. We could see the well defined path of the PW stretching ahead as far as the eye could see across the flat green farmland. We climbed the stile and went beyond the wall . . . .
No more Forest
Our guidebook warned that it was isolated, largely deserted countryside that we would cross after leaving the wall, and that we would be unlikely to encounter anyone, however almost straight away we passed a group of about 30 ramblers who cheerily greeted us as they filed past us in the opposite direction.
The undulating farmland continued for some time before the path took us up into a forest. Except it wasn’t a forest anymore as the trees had all been harvested in the recent past. The Pennine Way was a tiny green strip that wound through a devastated landscape of tree stumps and scattered branches.
The path took us over some moorland and another harvested forest before returning to rolling green farmland. We started seeing some intriguing signs on some fences advertising a pit-stop ahead.
Fancy a lie down?
We arrived at the pit stop at Horneystead Farm to be warmly welcomed by the owners who were just finishing a Sunday Lunch in their garden with friends. They showed us through to their barn where they have set up a wonderful area for Pennine Wayfarers with drinks, food, chairs and even a bed! It is very much in the functional style favoured by farming folk (I would have to be pretty tired to get in the bed!), but we really appreciated it, nonetheless. We both had a cold drink, signed the guestbook, and left a donation before departing back onto the trail.
Despite the long day and some foot pain, the countryside after the pit stop was lovely with a mixture of field and road walking, and we were enjoying the walking in the brilliant sunshine. As promised, we didn’t see a single person and it was very isolated with only sporadic houses/farms. We had a good laugh as we walked past Shitlington Hall, adding it to our list of amusing place names in the UK.
After the Hall, we crossed a ploughed field (our first on the PW) before fording a stream and scrambling up the wild rugged Shitlington Crags. At the top we passed a large radio mast before turning across grassy moorland with wonderful views all around. The path slowly took us down to join a road which we followed all the way into the village of Bellingham.
St Cuthbert’s Holy Well
As we entered the village we passed Cuddy’s Well (St Cuthbert’s Well), an ancient holy well adjacent to the church of St Cuthbert associated with some miracles of dubious quality in medieval times. These include a woman cured from a paralysed hand by drinking the waters, a cow spared after a house is struck by lightning, and thieves that are attacked by the axe that they have stolen. I have to confess we had some doubts about the miracles, (particularly the fortuitous cow), but we stopped anyway to splash some water on our shoes, hoping that St Cuthbert would look favourably on our pilgrimage and our aching near paralysed feet.
The Demesne Farm Campsite, our destination for tonight, is right in the village on the Pennine Way, and we were lucky to arrive just as the farmer was opening the gate. He showed us straight in and in no time we were set up on the camping field.
Footsore but happy, we will definitely remember today as one of the great days of this walk. The Pennine Way continues to deliver. What will the final three days bring us?
