Some Favourite Things: Hadrian's Wall Path

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Hadrian's Wall Path - Wallhouses to Newburn

17 Km

The day started out warm but cloudy. The weather forecast was for a thunderstorm later in the day and we were conscious throughout the day to keep pressing on in order to be at our accommodation beforehand.

Struan, from Matfen High House, suggested a better route back to the Path and we navigated it gratefully with no problem, passing horses and coming eventually to a large system of reservoirs that doubles as a nature reserve.

We came across this rather odd sign.

Masses of wildflowers were everywhere.

We arrived at Heddon-on-the-Wall in time for lunch at this small deli. A lovely surprise as we entered town was having Struan on his way out in his car stopping to give us a wave and a thumbs up.

We noticed the iconic Wall photos.

At this point in the Walk, we started to descend towards the River Tyne, getting back to sea level. But which way to go??? It wasn't clear, but in finding our way we spoke to some lovely local people who were generous in sharing their knowledge and interest in our walk

There was rain on the other side of the river and it soon arrived on our side, necessitating the donning of rain gear. Fingers crossed for no thunder and lightening. Fortunately, there wasn't and the rain didn't last long.

This lovely road, thankfully all downhill, was our route to the river.

Below is the riverside path. Can't get lost now, right?

We shared the route with other walkers, dogs, cyclists and horses.

We rested for a wee moment here by the river, contemplating how far we'd come.

We soon passed the Tyne Rowing Club boathouses and clubhouse (blue building)

These are the steps from boathouses to river.

When we first walked past there were people on the upper deck enjoying the afternoon - i.e. not much going on. In order to keep this topic to just one blog post, I'm including some photos and a video we actually took the next morning, a dark and dank day, but no problem for hardy rowers.

Here's a short video: we could actually hear the cox shouting but I don't think it comes through on my iPhone video. Notice that the tide was low.

The rowing club was near this lovely pub, which sad-to-say was NOT our destination, The Keelman Inn. We went inside and they told us we had already walked past it. Whaaaat???

So we retraced our weary steps, headed up a road away from the river and eventually found it and it was charming inside and out.

This restaurant/bar/brewery was in the main part of the Inn. Our rooms were in this separate building a short distance away and we were thankful that we weren't overlooking the large outdoor patio on a busy Saturday night.

There was a nice view from the window. This door was soon opened, even when the promised thunderstorm arrived, feet were put up and drinks were in hand. Good news/Bad news: Only one day of the Walk left.