The Hadrian Challenge 2009

The Hadrian Challenge is a sponsored walk following the Hadrian´s Wall Path National Trail over a period of four days. All money raised by the walkers will go to Disability North.  The aim is to use this page as a source of useful links and resources for all team members to draw upon and eventually a record of the whole trip .

Click here for photos from trip

This is just a selection of the photo's. I am currently working on a DVD which will be sent out to you so you can reminded of the joy and pain of those 84 miles.

The Route Schedule

• Bowness-on-Solway to Walton, 25 mile walk
• Walton High Rigg, Low Rigg Farm and Town Head Farm.

• Walton to Once Brewed, 17 mile walk.
• Accommodation is Twice Brewed Inn.

• Once Brewed to Heddon-on-the-Wall, 27 mile walk.
• Accomodation is Houghton North Farm in a range of dormitory-style rooms.

• Heddon-on-the-Wall to Wallsend, 15 mile walk
• Meet any friends or family wishing to join you for the last leg of the journey, or at Wallsend.
• Back to Disability North for celebratory reception.

Diary

Day One - Bowness to Walton

Well, we kicked off at 8.45am in dry bright weather with a very strong tailwind to push us along.  As we walked along to Port Carlisle everyone settled in to a comfortable pace and were all still smiling (early days though).  The members of the group used this first section to quiz us veterans on the things to look out for, especially feet medical related issues.   We battled along to Burgh by Sands following the long straight road alongside the river estuary.  We had a quick stop outside the Greyhound pub for snacks before moving onto Beaumont where we regrouped again for the scenic section along the river.  This part of the walk was lovely with gorse flowers out amongst the bluebells, not that we had time to dwell and have a picnic.  Unfortunately it was here Lorna was starting to suffer with feet problems.  We soon came out into the park at Carlisle and headed for lunch at the Sands Centre and here Lorna decided to bow out (hope to see you on Sunday at the quayside).  So after a swift lunch we got back on the trail and headed off along the river, we were soon reminded walking through the park after a heavily perfumed dog walker went past that 'normal people smell funny'.  When we passed through Linstock we came across a familiar figure, someone had made a scarecrow that was a remarkable likeness of Prince Charles apart from the clothes.   From here to Walton was uneventful compared to previous years in the livestock department, no wild horses, mad cows or bulls! The best I could come up with was a Shetland pony that nibbled and licked my fingers.  We managed to make it to Walton without rain which was a bonus.   This is where we had the second tragedy of the day the 'Centurion Inn' was closed!  All was made good though by the fantastic meal we had at Low Rigg Farm, so a big thank you to Ann and Cliff.  I've been asked to put the following two lines in but at the moment I can't remember why.  What's wrong with trumpets!   'Hit me baby one more time!'; I think it may have something to do with the mini-disco some of us had when we went to bed.

Day Two - Walton to Once Brewed

We woke up to rain this morning, well they said the weather would be mixed.  The team gathered in Walton packed the the trailer and headed off into the rain.  Today is when we start to see good evidence of the wall and then great lines of it snaking along the crags into the distance; so the weather isn't going to put us off.  It wasn't long before we reached Banks and saw our first piece of Wall, time for a Kodak moment.  As the morning went on and we neared Birdoswald the rain started to peter out.  First disappointment of the day came when we got to Birdoswald cafe, no Vicky sponge cake!  I've been waiting all year for this peice of cake; the staff did say they would have made one specially if they had known.  Before we left Birdoswald I saw David trying on a plastic roman soldiers helmet, unfortunately he wasn't wearing it when we set off for Walltown.  The rain had stopped and we all dropped down to the bridge over the River Irthing for what has come to be known as 'The Running of the Stairs'; not quite the grandeur of the Pamplona Bull Run but it has potential to become big on the travel calendars of many.  This is the challenge between Ruth and Terry to see who can be first to the top of the stairs that lead along side the uphill remains of Hadrians Wall to Willowford Farm.  Hate to rub it in but Terry won again!  As we passed through Gilsland we had to cross the railway line, which is an open crossing.  I'm not sure if Tom was still giddy from the 'Running of the Stairs' or had his Ipod plugged in; either way he nearly got an unexpected trip back to Carlisle via a west-bound train!  Thirlwall Castle soon came into sight so we knew we heading towards Walltown, we passed the Castle and headed up the long climb to the visitors centre where we all regrouped.  After a cuppa and more snacks we carried on through Walltown Quarry to start our 6.5 mile trek along the crags.  When we got to the end of the quarry we split into two groups those that would take the low path and those who were going to skip along the top of the crags.  After showing Iaan and Greg the route for the lower path and I got to the top of the first climb onto the crags Dave was just a yellow speck in the distance; he thought a little running was in order at this point (must put more things in that lads rucksack).  The weather had now cleared and we had some of the best visibility I've experienced along the Wall, fantastic views and some great photo moments.  Leading to Cawfields it looks like they've been doing quite a bit of refurbishment work and installing new stiles and gates, we met a few of the group at Cawfields Quarry and after a small break started the last leg of the day.  As we passed the small lake at the quarry you could see the wind was making significant waves on there despite being lovely and sunny now.  On the way to Steel Rigg we had a minor livestock moment (there hasn't been enough) when a bunch of cows were sunbathing across the gate we needed to get through; a few polite excuse me's and we managed to get passed.  We then passed along by the Mona Lisa on the way to the Trig point at Whinshield Crags and we could finally see the pubadarium (Iaan claims this is ancient roman for tavern/alehouse).  We descended from Steel Rigg and entered the Twice Brewed Inn to find some of the team were already imbibing themsleves with the local fare in celebration of their days work.

Day Three - Once Brewed to Heddon

I know we had a good night in the pub last night but it still doesn't explain the crime scene painted out in the car park (see photo) when we set off.  We started by climbing up to Steel Rigg and with it being early we got a rare treat, a deer ran across the hillside in front of us and headed up to Whinshields.  We split into two groups again for crags and low path, it was a little damp and misty this morning so visibility wasn't as good as yesterday.  We stopped for a breather at Sycamore Gap, here we tried a different approach to our usual group photo at the tree.  We didn't stop long and got back up onto the crags where if you look at some of the photo's you can tell it was a little windy in places.  We didn't see many people while walking this first stretch on account of it being early.  We stopped at Sewingshield Crags to have our 'Travel Breakfast'.  I've had some strange breakfasts in my time but sitting on Hadrian's Wall with a hard boiled egg and a croissant beats them all now; I think the scenery had a lot to do with it!  It's downhill for a bit now (not for long) until you get to the Mithraic temple at Brocolitia.  From here you keep criss-crossing the Military road depending on which side the trail path is on.  We kept going until we got to Chollerford, stamping our passports as we passed Chesters Fort and then finally stopping at the cafe for some proper nosebag.  After a hearty meal we started the long climb to the top of Brunton Bank  It sort of flattens out at the top and we settled back into a normal pace.  We got through Stanely Plantation and down to the 'Errington Arms' (didn't go in) and it was here we picked up Jo and lifted her spirits by telling her we would stop at the next pub (just didn't tell her how far it was).  It was along this stretch that the rain came and oh boy it did!  I'm sure there was sleet at some point.  As we got closer to Halton Shields we saw a solitary figure coming towards us from the South; it was Iaan returning from a couple of miles detour.  He picked us up at just the right time as the rain started easing and we homed-in on 'The Robin Hood Inn', we had a quick shandy and stamped passports before carrying on to Heddon-on-the Wall.  The rain had stopped as we came out of the pub and the sun started to shine giving us a lovely evening walk into Heddon  We were greeted back at the farm by Andy and Greg and a lovely cup of tea (two aqctually) from Paula.  No takeaways tonight we all went down to 'The Swan' for a lovely meal, I would thoroughly recommend the carvery there.  We were all pretty subdued by the time we got back to the farm and weren't long in turning in.

Day Four - Heddon to Wallsend

After a fantastic breakfast and gallons of tea we set off down the bank towards the Tyne, we tend to follow the river to Wallsend now.  To stop us being knocked over by golfers they have put in some new pathways to get through and across Close House Golf Course, handy after last year's near miss.  We used the Wylam Waggonway to get to Newburn as the riverside path was closed; the banks were badly eroded the last time I used it.  We had our first snack stop of the day next to the river at Newburn, thought we had better get our strength up before braving Scotswood Road.  You get so far along Scotswood Road and you get to Paradise (yes. it really is called that, not a Bounty girl in sight) you drop back down onto the riverside path to take you into Newcastle.  This is a nice stretch and popular with walkers and runners and it is made better when you near to Newcastle and you sight your first bridge.  In keeping with what now has become tradition we all regrouped at the 'Pitcher & Piano' for a quick celebratory drink before covering the last few miles to Wallsend.  Here we were joined by friends and family to encourage us along this last stretch.  Carolyn Forster and Dianne Cowen from Disability North joined us at this stage for the remainder of the walk using it as preparation for the Great North Run later in the year.  The sun was back out for our last stretch to Segedunum and as I have mentioned before it's not the most scenic section of the Wall; but it has to be done to get the t-shirt.  When we got there we only had our thunder stolen by the army and a bunch of people wanting to abseil off the viewing tower at the museum so we didn't really hang around too long;  All aboard Gus the Bus and straight back to Disability North to our heroes welcome.  As usual a great spread was laid on for everyone and friends and family had the chance to catch up with their heroic walkers.

Thanks to all the walkers, helpers, families and friends for their support.

Steve

Useful Links: - Disability North The Team Route Map References (PDF) Hadrian´s Wall Path National Trail Hadrian´s Wall Country Birdoswald Roman Fort Vindolanda Chesters Roman Fort Segedunum, Wallsend Low Rigg Farm, Walton The Centurion Inn, Walton The Twice Brewed Inn Gibbs Hill Farm, Steel Rigg Houghton North Farm, Heddon on the Wall