Captain's Log

Sycamore Gap

It was a tough start to day 4 of the Hadrian's Wall Path with a haul back up to the top of Green Slack, the trail's highest point, from Winshields Farm campsite. It felt like the highest point too, when I reached the trig point, with fine views in all direction. It also felt like the midpoint of the Hadrian's Wall Path. I was leaving Cumbria behind and heading off into Northumberland. My target for the day was the imaginatively named village of Wall.

In the past I'd found the trail from Green Slack to Sewingshields the hardest section of the Hadrian's Wall Path and today was no exception. It was relentless in the way that it went up and down. It provided an interesting walk though, with the Wall, milecastles, turrets, crags and loughs to keep me entertained. Less pretty was the absence of the Sycamore Tree at Sycamore Gap. On the 28th of September 2023 somebody took a chainsaw to the 300 year old tree, cutting it down which then damaged the Wall as well. A man from Carlisle and another from Wigton have been charged with the offence and have a court case scheduled for the 12th of June 2024. The tree was much loved by those that saw it and it does make you reflect on whether hanging, drawing and quartering may actually be a reasonable and humane punishment for such offences.

End Of The Hills

I had to dip into my dwindling supply of Paradise Flapjack a few times to fuel me over those eastern hills to flatter ground. For those who still may have reserves of remaining energy it would be possible at this point to make a diversion to view the remains of the Housesteads fort (English Heritage site). I would leave that for another day, since I still had a long walk ahead of me. It was with some relief that I reached the trig on Sewingshields Crags. I touched it and knew that I'd cracked the Hadrian's Wall Path. It was all downhill to Wallsend from here.

I started meeting other east-west thru-hikers as I progressed beyond Sewingshields. Near to its milecastle a couple asked my why I was doing it in the direction west to east. That was an interesting question. During my planning I'd viewed the decision purely from a logistical point of view; it was easier to get home from Newcastle than it would have been from Bowness-on-Solway, after the last day's walk. A secondary reason was that my last day between Newcastle and Wallsend was really only a half day and so gave me plenty of time to visit the museum at Segedunum. Going east to west, there would always be the temptation to get cracking on the walk, rather than have a proper tour of the museum. Another significant reason though, I informed the couple, was that you generally had a westerly or south-westerly wind on your back which provided assistance as you trudged up those bloody hills on the central section of the trail. I wished them the best as they strode off leaning into the strong wind on the first of those slopes.

The Most Miserable Man In Europe

'Have you been busy today?' I asked the man serving at the coffee van at Brocolitia carpark. 'If it was busier, I'd be the most miserable man in Europe' came the reply from the dour Scot. I wanted to ask him if this implied that there could potentially be more miserable men beyond Europe's boundaries, but I got the impression he wasn't up for a conversation. I'd approached the carpark through a gate in the fence. The people who had just been through the gate had shut it and so I attempted to do the same. 'Leave it open. Leave it open' I'd heard from the approaching coffee vendor. 'We need it open for the sheep to get through' he shouted.  I swung it back open to prop it open with a stone. 'No leave it to me. Leave it to me' he'd shouted. And so I'd left it to him. I bought a coffee and a coke and sat on one of the chairs he'd made available, while he sat in the driver's seat of the van waiting for somebody else to close the gate. I thought about suggesting that he might erect a sign for people to leave the gate open rather than worrying himself unnecessarily about it. Once I'd finished my coffee and coke I went to my rucksack to pack away the cup and tin in my rubbish bag. 'No. Give it to me. Give it to me' the Scot said as he got out of the van, and he placed them in his own rubbish bag. So ended my encounter with the Most Miserable Man In Europe.

Before meeting him I'd visited the Brocolitia Roman temple near to the carpark. Perhaps not surprisingly, the artefacts in the temple are actually replicas of the real items that now reside safely in the Great North Museum in Newcastle. The Temple of Mithras was dedicated to the god beloved by Roman soldiers. It must have been handy for the soldiers based in the neighbouring fort. Apart from the raised ground, there wasn't much evidence of the fort that I could see.

Chollerford

A mile or so beyond Brocolitia and I came to a corner in the Wall where the direction shifted from north-easterly to south-easterly. This was Limestone Corner and was actually the most northerly point of the Roman Empire when the Wall was completed. After the preceding open moorland feel of the trail, it now became more rural and there was quite a bit of field hopping to do on the gradual slope down towards Chollerford. It was still very pretty though. On the outskirts of Chollerford was Chesters fort and Roman baths (another English Heritage site). My sights were set on the Riverside Kitchen though, a café next to the bridge over the River North Tyne. I ordered my staple of a bake spud and cheesy beans and sat at a patio table outside. I chatted with a Dutch couple. They'd come across to Newcastle on the ferry and were cycling the trail east to west. They'd got electric bikes which would come in handy for those hills over the Pennines.

There is a campsite next to the café, but there had been a sign up at the counter saying that it was closed. I'd mooted the idea of staying there in order to get a shower, since the queues had been too long at Winshields Farm campsite last night.  That was actually my plan 'B'. My plan 'A' was to camp on the village green in the nearby village of Wall.

Wall

I'd read in my trail guide that the Wall village council allowed people to camp on their village green, gratis as long as you emailed them in advance. I'd been a bit sceptical about this, but I'd pinged an email to wallparishclerk@gmail.com saying I wouldn't mind camping on today's date. Within a day I'd received a positive reply, warning me that the area does get boggy on the lower part of the green, but that...'..there was usually a dry patch near the pigs.' I didn't quite know what to make of that. The email also informed me that there was some public toilets and this had a potable water supply. It seemed too good to be true and I was still wondering whether it was a set up as I wandered on to Wall's village green. The lower 'potentially boggy' area was the flattest, but was completely dry and so I pitched my tent there. I therefore didn't have to disturb the pigs (apparently their nightly noises can unsettle some campers who don't realise that they are there). The toilets could have done with a bit of a clean, but were serviceable and I have to admit that I did filter the water from the tap. Apart from somebody wandering across the green to the toilet block, I wasn't disturbed at all during my stay. I wish other village councils were as enlightened as that one at Wall.