Day 6

The breakfast room was an intriguing space, in keeping with the style I'd previously mentioned, once again encountering walkers here and there, traveled from near and far. (I assume they traveled by plane from there respective continents rather than walked)

This was my first day back at walking, because the route was nearing towards the Tyne there it was generally more populated than previous days, still mostly countryside but there where more options on the way for commuting back if I where to have to many difficulties with my leg. Once finished this days walk either all three of us or just mum and morph would get the bus back to Corbridge where we'd stay a second night, then commute back to the same spot the following day to finish the journey.

I was happy to have a go at walking again, my knee obviously had reservations which I'd pay the price for during the three weeks afterwards. But all strapped and geared up we made our way into the village centre to take a taxi we'd booked a few miles north to pick up on the official route.

In the two images below you'll observe a Super Nintendo built into a brick wall, I'm afraid that's all the context I have for that one.

The ground ahead was relatively flat and although my knee didn't show very encouraging signs to begin with, the following miles where fairly tame and made for a pleasant pace. With the exception maybe for a few close encounters with curious cows once again. Morph got by well in-spite the cows unwavering curiosity in him.

The weather was overcast but little or no actual rain, quite refreshing really, ideal for walking infact. We pasted further Roman historical sites of one form or another, all pretty much commandeered by sheep and cattle, and I recall the frequent sound of aircraft flying low overhead made a bit jarring by the overcast sky that obscured any visual sign of them. The rain did eventually increase into a heavy drizzle that then varied back and forth but when it neared good time to stop and eat we pushed on to the next nearest village across the A69 and found a convenient little shelter there. While eating we reviewed the option for me to take the bus from there, it had been a good few hours walk by this point and although my leg hadn't made any sort of miraculous recovery, it hadn't got notably worse either. After looking at the map I decided to keep at it, worse case scenario I could find some transportation back nearer the river which was one steep hill and a bit of woodland away.

So we walked through the village coming out on a defending incline into a large valley where the Tyne lay with an impressive row of houses as we edged down the road into the woodland.

Edging down the hill was a bit of a task with the knee but we we're making good time so it was all a pleasant pace really, in-fact this was probably the easiest of the walks factoring all that into account, there was a big change of scenery throughout but perhaps with it ended that day nearing the outskirts of Newcastle, (the overall destination) there was the added scene of satisfaction as well, unlike day 3, walking up and down, up and down, up and bloody down with sod all sign of anything encouraging once the novelty of the views wore off. 

As we neared the bottom of the hill we came through part of the university property and then very briefly skirted around a golf course taking us finally to the rivers edge. The river itself wasn't practically accessible at this point being at the bottom of a long a steep ledge, but the sight of it was enough to put morph into a frenzy, scrambling about in search of a stick. The river did look very nice on a mild misty day like that, and a little further down our path morph finally found a way in. But not via the kind of terrain either of us where going to even consider, so he just kind of waded in and started at us hopefully for a while. (As you'll see in a photo below.) 

The ground eventually became more tarmaced as we approached a recreational park, sooner or later we'd find a bridge taking us over the river towards the town we planed on computing back from. But as we made our way I stopped off at the outdoor gym, it really frustrates me there art more of these, at least in Kent, obviously my legs had more than enough to keep them busy this particular occasion but doing a few pull ups and what have you was quite satisfying, perhaps because it gave me the fleeting chance to occupy myself with limbs that still worked properly. 

We crossed that bridge in the end and with a little help from google maps took the path up into (Can;t remember name of town). It was a steep and long hill but it was the last and the mood was good. As we neared the main road with our bus stop, we made our way through a long and narrow park, full of playground and sports facilities for all ages, for what was generally a general kind of town but coming from Kent, this place along with a few others I've seen while up north just seemed to have more on offer for people, and more to keep people of all ages entertained and busy. The cynicism in me suggests that as more big money trickles in from gigantic financial behemoths like with the expansion of London, more and more of those publicly accessible things that give a little more purpose to this or that person, is just another asset to capitalise on. But then by contrast what seems here as a not particularly wealthily area, doesn't seem to have many people on a loose end. There's defiantly less sense of community where I currently live, and that's down to a bunch of things, but I can't be sure that if there where walks this popular in Kent, the walkers would be met with the same level of casual hospitality, at least not in the lesser known areas.  

And with that we made it to the bus stop with a fairly short wait until we hoped on board back to Corbridge. (Around 5-6pm) I recall seeing an adult women being pushed into the nearby Coop on a trolley, voluntarily it appeared. That's all else I rememberer. When then returned to the same B&B and enjoyed another meal at the same dog friendly pub that evening. I tried enrolling onto my MA with the pubs Wifi, and then saw some weird documentary and isolated GP practises before hitting the sack. 

Day 5

So as I said before I'd begrudgingly agreed not to walk on day 5. So dad and I saw mum and morph off as we took the bus to Chesters. (One of the popular historic roman conservations on the wall route.) We had a brief look around on what was a very sunny day. We didn't intend on walk much distance anyway but did have a good look at the Roman baths, it being such a hot day I felt kind of disappointed the bath and spa rooms where no longer in service. So anyway we went and sat, grabbed a tea and looked around some artefacts when I got word from mum she was near by.

Not much time had elapsed since we left the Half Way House, between 1 and 2 hours maybe. But it was just as well we'd stuck around as we had a brief meet up there.

According to mum the walk was much easier that day than the previous walking day, all besides a very steep hill from Collerford to Heavefield. (If I spelt either of those wrong then I'm sorry, I'm bad at reading hand writing so I may have to correct that later on.)

They ran out of water at one point and so has to ask a a cottage. They later got lost on the route to Corbridge, which is where we we're all meeting and staying that evening. Morph spent as much time in the water as possible that day which was fortunate given the heart.

Myself and dad had taken the bus to Hexham then changed fairly soon after for one to Corbridge, by the time we'd arrived there it was early afternoon and we sort out some shade to eat our lunch. Corbridge is a really nice place, obviously a good tourist attraction but everywhere there has a cosy feel to it and is pleasing to the eye. Me and dad had already had a quick drink in the town and made it (by a compromised detore) to our BnB. And it was around this point I received more word from mum, by this point a little lost, fortunately phone signal was back on the cards and I could use the wifi on the iPad to send over some directions.

Another unique Bnb, with an old fashioned interior and impressive view from our window. When mum and Morph had arrived, and after a quick bit of research/(wash and change etc) headed for a dog friendly pub. Really nice meal, and friendly people, the dog helped.


So by this point I'd had two full days off of walking, knee was all strapped up and I was hopeful I might be able to continue now the rest of the route wasn't quite as horrifically hilly as what had passed. It was quite jaring after 3 full days walking to be immobile so at that point I was fairly driven to go on, had it not been for that circumstance I'd have probably been wise to take it easy a while.But anyway that's day 6s issue.

Day 4 (Day of Rest)

I know (for those reading these as they come out) that it's been a long wait, life has been fairly non stop since the walk ended, still with a little more structured time at my disposal now, it's just as well I pick up on day 4, which was our allocated rest day.

I was not in great condition for walking anyway, infact as I write this nearly a month has past and I've only just started walking without the knee strap. But besides have a decent night sleep my problems seemed to reach further than my knee, I just wasn't feeling to good in general, in a word: fatigued. Still I'm not complaining, I was of course frustrated with myself as it compromised my odds of finishing the walk but that was that and we had a day off.

The half way house was an interesting place to have a day off in, it being quite isolated by UK standards. An interesting place though, with a small number of patrons from all over the country and the world. The guy who ran it is an excentric type, quite chatty with an interest for any and all trivia from around the world judging by what I saw along with the different books and items around the place. Which is appropriate given the people who stay at the place, particularly given the struck off location of this place. There was no phone signal or wifi which I don't have a problem with, but seeing as walking is the primary activity to occupy most people around those parts and that was the one thing I could no longer do.. I did long for social media a little. (that is of course my own problematic doing.)

We had breakfast there and like the dinner we eat the previous night I eat and eat and eat, drank way to much coffee for someone who can't really move much at that point and made myself feel a bit ill by midday, we got the bus to the nearest small town  (Haltwistle) to pick up a few things (like my knee strap), but after taking some flu pills to alleviate my grogginess the extra caffeine sent me off the wrong way and by the time we took a second bus to get some lunch I had a big spell of nausea come over me, the sun then came out, and so we arrived at the pub (Twice Brewed, which I think is a play on the name of the area Once Brewed)  Once there I was feeling rough and unpleasant in the hot weather so ended up lying down on a shaded bit of gravel in the beer garden.

I mean, I shan't go on about it any more, needless to say I felt generally quite rough. I'm sure out was a culmination of issues but better preparation is an absolutely certainty in the future to avoid getting in that mess.

Its all a bit blurry there after again I'm afraid, I recall loitering briefly inside using the wifi to download a few podcasts. Once back at the Half way house mum qualified the policy that I really should not partake in the following days walk. Eventually I begrudgingly excepted that. The rest of the evening was quite pleasant though, we at some nice salads and breads picked up from Haltwistle earlier on and enjoyed a few local ales the guy sold there, sat in-front of some BBC 4 documentaries. I haven't watch conventional TV much for years, but sometimes it's bloody nice to stare in a sedated state at whatever being dished out. (If it's not to awful.)

It was interesting at least to see Haltwistle for the sake of the train station, identifying it from when we'd commuted across the country to Carlisle. The only other memory that springs to mind was an advert for learning Latin that peaked my interest, and a documentary about the Bowing 747 which  just perplexed me a little.

Day 3

We left Willowford farm in the morning, weather overcast and damp with threat of brief impending downpoor from my weather app. We had another great breakfast, got our lunches handed over and after a 5 minute delay from me I grabbed my stuff (besides a jumper I accidentally left there which they kindly posted over to me) and caught up with mum and dad on there way towards the village.

We waited at the village bus stop to see dad off and meet him later on at our next stop over. (much much later on than my body would feel inclined to entirely put up with but needless to say at this point everything was ok.

The rain came quite heavy as well made our way out of the village on our path, with enough faith in my phones forecast stay put for 5 minutes under a tree and things gradually eased off above as we then continued. We then encountered one of many sheep on our journey, only this one was in closer proximity to Morph (dog) and just looked a little more perplexed than most sheep, and sheep always look like that to a degree.

Up and down a few hilly fields: we neared a stream where I captured an image of morph in the water, almost obscured if not for the tongue. We almost took a wrong turn at that point when some other walkers who'd just made that mistake lead the way the correct direction up a notably higher hill than before where by the top the general viewing distance was considerably further. Infact only a little further on from that we past a little stop off touristy point with more traces of Roman remnants laying about and rocky hill tops.

Traversing the first few hills reminded me of the final scene of The Force Awakens anticipating I'll find what Rey did at the top. I shan't say anymore for fear or spoilers but if you haven't seen The Force Awakens yet then you really ought to fix that. The next section of the journey was more or less the same again, big mound hill after big mound hill, enough so that the Star Wars comparison in my head eventually out wore itself. But even with the inset of minor feet and knee pains the views became more and more dramamtric at the peaks as we screamed over rocks, past random cows and sheep and finally reached the highest one.

 Hitting the point where feet went numb and parts of the body slowly lost there element we had a strategic eye for off shoot paths that went around the bulk of the coming peaks and troughs, particularly compromised at one section where upon debating so and so path over a stepping gate, this sinister guy stood right in-front of the damn thing. 

(This one however was far less sinister)

At this point I naively anticipated seeing our destination over the next peak... maybe the next one then.. or beyond that lake in the distance... No chance. So I mislead and miss paced myself internally, and by the time we'd past this postcard luring big tree the "just gotta push a little further" drive started burning out being replaced with, "screw this, my knees hate me and I want to lie down." What cognitive ability I had left was distributed entirely on the basic act of putting one leg infront of the other with some seemingly insane assumption the bloody BnB even exists. Although the primary issue on faces value here was with my knee giving way, I still hold out it was a broader problem mentally and physically, and inspite getting as much rest in as I could since the returning from the festival a week earlier, I hadn't allocated a full day to myself prior the walk to just chill and gather myself. A little more walking practise may have helped to granted, but I'd clocked nearly 30 miles off my pedometer during that festival, so my legs and my subtle internalised relationship with them may have accomplished more if I hadn't been generally scrambling about so much durning the intervening days. Lesson learn now, but hindsight out the way: by this point enthusiasm shut down like a tone of bricks, I bypassed the general frustration and impatience and went into a mindless zombie like demeana and honestly memory from that point is a bit of a blur.

We reached another museum beyond a sheep field where my spirits lifter ever so slightly upon the impression more civilisation followed, past to sheep having a fight and bought a sugary drink at the shop just before it closed. I then layed outside somewhat entirely unwilling to ever get up. Mum asked one of the staff about the Half Way house and it's whereabouts ad we where told it was only "a mile" up the road. Apparently this member of staff slept through the most entry level stages of geography at her school because that final beacon of false hope planted in my mind turned out to be the most inaccurate estimate of distance I've ever been subjected to.

So anyway we obviously got there in the end but it wasn't for lack of me not trying, determined to just lay in the grass for an hour besides this long road that we eventually walk cautiously besides to eliminate doubt this damn place may allude us more. I was worried about me knee by this stage as it had gotten beyond the point of what you might hope a solid nights sleep would do. We did at least have a day off tomorrow though, by the time day met up with us over the last ridge of the road towards this building it must have been 7-8pm. I was also feeling quite groggy and generally unpleasant but upon actually getting indoors, getting changed, having a drink and dinner everything there was perfectly fine. The beer and food numbed my fatigue and mood for the rest of that evening. But beyond that it's all a blur.

The following day was a blur to, it clearly took me a while to unravel all that, but it was very much more straight forward so it shan't be a problem to recall.

Besides all that trouble, day 3 was certainly a fine day for views. But maybe bring a Yak if your not 100% on your feet.