Hadrian's Wall - Expediton 3

 

 

 

 Expedition Hadrian's Wall

By Frederick English 

 

 

Whilst I was undertaking my first expedition on the North Downs Way (http://expeditionndw.blogspot.co.uk/) when I was 14 I came up with a list of future expeditions I would undertake, each expedition would differ from the last in terms of difficulty, distance, style etc. Hadrian’s Wall was next on my list and was different because I was going solo and covering the 84 miles all in one go.  However, as can happen I found myself having a sudden urge to cycle the South Downs Way – which I did a few months ago - in one day - not the 3 days advised in the travellers guide (I will make a separate note on this journey – I will let you know once it is written) – but back to Hadrian’s Wall

 



Tuesday 27^th August 2013

 

Like on the North Downs way I was sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor and the Kent Army Cadet Force (KACF) with rations and mapping. This time, I had selected Parkinson’s UK as the charity for which I would be fundraising – partly because my grandmother had suffered from the disease. In the morning of 27 Aug I went to the KACF HQ to pick up the rations and then to Cotswold to get advice on fitting my uncomfortable boots and pick up maps. We then headed North to Lincolnshire for the night where I sorted through my rations and made myself ready so that I would be able to leave and start in Newcastle the following day.

 

Wednesday 28^th August 2013 



During the car journey to Newcastle I argued with my parents about how to undertake the expedition, I was wanting to go unsupported and spend two or three (max) days hard walking, but they said I shouldn’t be trying to break myself and that I should do it supported as I did with the South Downs Way. In the end we met halfway and decided that they would locate a farmer for each night and then pick me up off the path (if necessary) and leave me there for the night and take me back to where I left off the previous day. They would also carry my overnight kit such as sleeping bag and bivi bag so that I could travel fast and light.

            I started in Wallsend by fort Segedunum at midday, joined by my sister Madeleine who wanted to walk the first ten miles out of Newcastle with me. Because such a large chunk of my day’s walking was in Newcastle I wore ordinary running shoes so that I could walk more comfortably on the tarmac footpaths and go quicker than I would have done with boots. The long flat journey was along the river Tyne and became dull, my sister was also slowing me down.  I needed to get on, so we rendezvoused with my parents who collected Madeleine and I was left to complete the 20 mile target for that day. I continued in my trainers; they were comfortable and not as solid as my boots so I decided to test them across country. After following narrow paths along the river I soon walked north up a ridge to a place called Heddon-on-the-wall where the first section of the wall is exposed but at the time I didn’t realise this as it was not visible from the route. A lot of the walk runs parallel to the B6318 (built on top of the wall) either on a pavement or the path ran through ditches that once surrounded the wall.

Soon my First day (actually it was half a day by the time I started off) of walking was over with 20miles complete. My parents directed me to a farm whose farmer was brilliant in allowing me to camp in his sheep field just outside of Wall-houses and I ate my ration pack supper which I had been looking forward to, but what I thought was going to be pasta with meatballs turned out to be meatballs with (a bit of) pasta and the sticky toffee pudding was a block of sugar, how disappointing… I spent the night in a Rab Storm bivi bag with some restless sheep butting the metal gate – I was looking forward to some more dramatic scenery than I had seen that day.

 

 

Thursday 29^th August 2013 



 A Bull stands right in the
middle of the path

Having established that 20 miles took less than half a day I was able to start this day a bit later. At 1100hrs I began after I was dropped back to where I left off. When I started there was a dull long straight path along the road similar to the paths the day before but soon they opened out. I was wearing boots but they dug into the tendon on my ankle and so soon changed back into my trainers which were effective in helping me walk faster and preventing blisters. 



After passing through Chollerford, where I met my parents for tea at Chesters Fort, the hills began to develop on the horizon. Open and rugged land filled with cattle in the ‘access land’ of Northumberland Park was visible for miles to the north and west and eventually it became more undulating. The path goes past Housesteads Fort where 800 Roman soldiers stayed nearly 2000 years ago.  You are allowed to walk on the wall for a small section through some woods just after passing the fort. I was travelling light and wanted to go faster and faster so occasionally I began running. Once I had passed Steel Rig I met with my parents who told me that the farm was near the footpath three miles down the line.  Out of water and dehydrated I pushed on for the last three miles to the farm and was shown to my allocated field.  In the total darkness I slept alongside a cattle field near Cawfields looking up at the amazing clear sky whilst my family crept off to a B&B

looking east leaving the flat landscape
behind

 

Top: The footpath on the wall
 at housesteds is cut off by a fence
(just visible in picture)
Bottom: Looking East towards
Housesteads Fort



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 30^th August 2013  

 

I was near enough to the path to start on my own.  I woke up at 0700hrs and left my kit in a shed for my parents to pick up later and I headed on to Carlisle 27miles away. The morning was good for walking but the dew on the ground made my trainers and feet wet. On the North Downs Way I was chased by cows and ever since then I have been chased by cows. In fact, the previous day cows had chased me and to my dismay I now read a sign that actually warns walkers about charging cattle which meant that these cattle must have a worse temper than on day one and two! And lo and behold - I was chased at full speed down a hill by a cow protective of its calf. After finding my way back onto the path I found the remainder of the journey pleasant with a lot of beautiful scenery (and cows everywhere).

I had to meet with my parents at Walton church to pick up a spare phone, as mine had run out of battery, so that I could contact my parents about pick up locations. The route there took me past the location where a bridge once stood over the river Irthing whose path has since changed. Once I had a new phone I pressed on to Carlisle along grass fields and alongside the River Eden until I arrived in the centre of the city at 1600hrs. I met with my parents and they gave me a lift out of Carlisle to a farmer’s field right on Hadrian’s Wall not too far from Lanercost Priory.

 

Saturday 31^st August 2013   

 

At 0600hrs I was picked up and at 0700hrs I began the last 15 miles to Bowness-on-Solway where the finish line was. The route was almost entirely flat and mainly along the road. Because of a landslide on the river bank, the path was diverted so when I was rejoined with the path I needed to get my baring in order to know which path to take so that I would go west not east, unfortunately the one time I needed my compass on this journey it was pointing south which initially confused me. After walking down a road two miles long along marshland scattered with cattle I made it to the finish line at 1130hrs my parents didn’t expect me there so soon so I sat waiting in the promenade. The Solway is beautiful and desolate - great swathes of sand and mud and Scotland just across the water.  Soon they came…but to my horror my father was wearing a Roman Prefectus’ helmet replica, which he presented to me as the helmet of success. I was terrified that someone might see me wearing it and so didn’t wear it for long but was happy to finish without blisters and with the helmet of success! 

 

 

My next expedition will be a challenge to push me to my limits taking me further north and around the UK – I have a lot of training ahead



A note to sponsors and those who donated:

Thank you very much for you kind and generous support; the total raised for Parkinson's UK was around £300 and I am hugely grateful to the donors for this. Cotswold Outdoor and the Kent Army Cadet Force have agreed to sponsor me each time i approached them and I am greatful for the advice and equipment given to me to make this journey feasable.