One Week Hiking Hadrian’s Wall
At least we can laugh about it now… Here we are sharing the trials and tribulations of our East-to-West hike along the ancient Roman Wall that we can no longer stand to look at.
Warning: the blog you’re about to read is in no way a recommendation as to how to hike Hadrian’s Wall. Mainly due to the weather, the hike we did and the order we did it in, was what can only be described as chaotic. Instead, sit back and enjoy our tales of the trials and tribulations we went through during that week of torture, laughs, beers and almost tears.
Day One
Starting off 5 miles from the beginning of the traditional hike, we got ourselves set up for the day with a classic ‘spoons breakfast in Newcastle city center before sprinting to Sports Direct in the rain for a jacket for Tora as they’d not only not packed a raincoat, but they hadn’t bothered packing a jumper either, or any other top-layer than some t-shirts. For context, we started the hike in the North of England, mid-September and it was around 13 degrees celsius and raining… heavily. Non-waterproof jacket purchased, we headed down Grey Street to Newcastle Quayside and set off towards Bowness-on-Solway. We’d decided to start in Newcastle because we weren’t too bothered about walking through the likes of Wallsend and would rather get to the more interesting parts of the hike quicker. Already off to a non-conventional start, but fear not, it does get even less conventional over the days that follow!
A few miles in, we found the first “pub” that was listed in the guide book, and as we were already soaking, we thought it’d be sensible to call in and have a swifty. It turns out this pub is now quite a fancy Italian restaurant, and the three of us bowling in with our wet clothes and whopper backpacks on asking for a beer was a shock to the poor staff. They advised us to either sit in the beer garden (in the very non-beer garden weather), or go to the sailing club just down the road as it’s open to the public. We went for the latter. We didn’t really fit in at the sailing club either, but there was a friendly atmosphere and actual craft beer which we didn’t expect! We had a couple of pints in there then continued our hike to our final destination for the day: Heddon-on-the-Wall. You’d think the name would be pretty apt, but there was no wall to be seen this early on in the hike! Heddon-used-to-be-on-the-Wall would be a bit of a mouthful, though.
We were absolutely starving by the time we reached Heddon-on-the-Wall and the sight of the Three Tuns Pub with food being served was a welcome one. It was absolutely packed in there because Newcastle United were playing but everyone was in high spirits and we tucked into our dinner. By the time we left, it was starting to get dark and we needed to find somewhere to sleep. We continued on the route until we came across a field that seemed appropriate (at this point, we were hiking through boggy fields in the rain using our phone torches for light, so we didn’t fancy walking too far like this). We pitched our tents and I must have taken all of 45 seconds to fall asleep, I was so tired!
Day one stats: 20.8km | 4 hours 19 minutes moving time | 257m elevation
Day Two
After a pretty decent sleep right under the flight path to Newcastle Airport, we were up and back on the road just before 9am. We started in quite high spirits, but then by about the 5th time my feet had sunken into a muddy puddle and the rain relentlessly poured down on us, my mood took a turn. It was weird, because I’m usually not bothered and would embrace all the conditions mother nature throws at me, but on that day, I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to end the hike right there! I was thinking I was probably just a bit tired after the previous day’s hike, and starting to get hangry, so when we saw The Robin Hood Inn was just up the road, I was eager to get there, eat something and have a bit of a rest. Upon arrival, I popped to the loo and the morning’s tantrum all became clear. Mother nature wasn’t just throwing the weather at us, but she also decided to present me with my period 4 days early as well!
We were only 3 miles into the 13 mile hike that day and my pains were just getting worse as time went on. My mood was pretty low, the weather was bleak and I couldn’t wait to make it to the campsite we’d be staying at for the following two nights. 7 miles later, I came across a cafe and thought it would be a perfect time to get changed out of my wet clothes, get some comfy tracksuit bottoms on and chill out while I organise a taxi to come and take me to the campsite that was 3 miles further down the road… Sitting comfortably with a drink ordered, I got online and began my taxi search. No luck. Only two taxi companies were displaying; one was temporarily closed and the other had both cars out taking people from Newcastle to Edinburgh and wouldn’t be available for 5 hours!! I thought I’d lower my standards a bit and check the bus timetable… No buses on a Sunday. And so, I accepted my fate, saddled back up and hiked the final few miles back to the campsite.
Day two stats: 20.1km | 4 hours 42 minutes moving time | 282m elevation
Day Three
Thankfully, day three was a rest day. We spent it wandering around Hexham, having a look in a few shops, going out for dinner and having a few drinks. It was great not to be carrying our huge bags for the day. My hiking boots that I’d bragged about how comfortable they were previously, had turned both of my little toes into blisters, and I couldn’t bare to hike another day with my toes being nipped in my sodden, stinking boots, so I went to Mountain Warehouse and bought a pair of the most disgustingly ugly hiking sandals I’ve ever seen, but they were so so comfortable and absolutely necessary! They have a lot of lilac on them and that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Day Four
If I thought day two was bad, I was in for a shock with day four. This day has to have been one of the most challenging days hiking I’ve ever done, but also an interesting and hilarious days to look back on. We started hiking from Chollerford, a name we all loved and a place we were eager to see - turns out, there’s a petrol station there and that’s about it. But anyway, in the abysmal rain and wind, we set off towards Once Brewed (me, sporting my ugly sandals but regaining feeling in my little toes with every step). It was this section of the hike we got to see the wall for the first time and see some of the ancient forts that have stood there for hundreds of years. Almost 2000 in fact! I so wish that on this day, the rain could have held off a little bit, because it would have been so much more enjoyable to take our time to sit by the wall, or these ancient forts, and imagine the changes the land around has experienced, while they’ve stood proudly for all that time. But no, we had rain and wind in our faces for the duration of this day. Even my waterproof coat couldn’t handle it and I was soaked right through by the end. There were some fun hills to hike up and down - very steep and quite high, but again, with the wind and rain in our faces, we couldn’t fully enjoy it.
We walked the entire thing without stopping because there was no shelter and for the majority of the day, we were up high on the wide open plains unprotected from the elements. The only time I stopped, was to put more blister plasters on my feet, because my sandals ended up getting soaked and there was bits of grit between the strap and my heels, so they were rubbing quite badly. In the end, I had to put socks on with my sandals to keep the plasters in place because it was so wet that they just kept slipping off. So as if my fashion sense was already not bad enough, I was now wearing socks with sandals!
The final significant sight of the hike, was the famous tree at Sycamore Gap. I’m so sad to be writing this but today, 28th September 2023, it has been reported that someone has gone to this tree through the night and felled it without permission. The tree has stood there for ~300 years, and has been the focal point for many photographers over the years due to its unique location, and the fact it stands within a dark skies area. Only last week, it was photographed under the northern lights! When we were there, we saw lots of tributes to peoples’ lost relatives - flowers, and messages, etc. so it’s been more than just a tree to so many people, and for someone to go and mindlessly cut it down, is incomprehensible to me.
Finally, we got to the pub named Twice Brewed, which is situated in the village of Once Brewed. We enjoyed some well deserved food and beers, before thinking about where to bed down for the night. The thought of sleeping in the tent that night simply didn’t appeal to me. I checked the pub we were in for rooms, and it was fully booked, but we managed to get booked in at a local hotel only 2.5 miles away from where we were. Taking it in turns to go outside to make phone calls to taxi companies due to there being no phone signal in the pub, we were unsuccessful. Panic set in, and I had flashbacks to the second day of our hike where I couldn’t get a taxi and had to walk. Only, this time, we’d already done 13 miles and we were so cold and wet, I don’t think my body would have carried me another 2.5 miles to the hotel. That would have been another hour and a half walking… in the dark, and in the wind and rain. I rang the hotel to see if they offer any pick-up services but they didn’t. In a last desperate attempt to secure some transport that wasn’t our feet, I went to the bar and asked the young man, Joe, working there whether he knew anyone that’d be going to Haltwhistle that night. Amazingly, he said he would be driving there after work and could give us a lift! What a life-saver!! I rang the hotel back to let them know our ETA of 22:30, but the reception was due to close at 21:30. Luck was on my side again, when the lovely receptionist, Christine said she only lives around the corner and would come and meet us when we got there. In the space of 15 minutes, all my worries were washed away and through the sheer kindness of the people I spoke to, we had somewhere warm to sleep and a ride to get there.
As it happened, Joe was a keen boy-racer and bundled us into the back of his Ford Fiesta ST along with the one backpack that wouldn’t fit in the boot, and we darted out of the car park. Grateful as I was, I saw my life flash before my eyes as we reached 100 mph in the space of about 30 seconds down the single carriageway. He’d even had his exhaust “upgraded” to make the god-awful popping sound as he sped down the road. We could hardly lift our heads up as we stared at the back of the head-rest trying not to be sick, and the backpack on our laps was being thrown from left to right and back again, with every corner we went around on two wheels. In record time, we were finally at the hotel. Christine had decided to leave our keys in the room at this point and just direct us over the phone which we were so grateful for. In at last. A warm bed, clean bedding and a comfortable night’s sleep.
Day four stats: 20.44km | 5 hours 28 minutes moving time | 557m elevation
Day Five
Day five is where our unconventional way of hiking the East to West direction of Hadrian’s Wall continued and plans were further altered. It wasn’t part of the plan, but we decided to have another rest day to recover from the previous day. We were already in Haltwhistle and 2.5 miles off the hiking trail, so we decided to just hang out in Haltwhistle for the first part of the day, then get the train to Carlisle because that’s where the van was parked. We’d then change it up a bit and walk East from Carlisle to Brampton the following day, bus back to Carlisle and stay there again. Carlisle became a bit of a haven because of the van. Having it there meant we had somewhere cosy to sit and relax on an evening and just having a dry base.
Day Six
Day six brought the first glimmer of sunshine we’d seen all week and we were so happy to see it shining in the blue sky. We were also very happy to have the luxury of leaving our bags in the van, relieving our backs from the burden of carrying them. This would be my (Jess’) last day of hiking as I was heading back to spend time with family over the weekend before we go travelling. The hike was so pleasant compared to previous days, and we passed corn fields, walked along the river banks, through small villages full of massive houses and generally just enjoyed the ease of the entire day. Overall, there wasn’t much to report on this day because of how simple it was. We found ourselves in a pub in Brampton and there was a 14 year old pub dog there who took it upon himself to waddle over to where we were sitting and pee on the table behind us. We turned a blind eye to it and carried on our evening.
We got the bus back to Carlisle and decided to celebrate the end of my part of the hike with an Indian meal. We got into the restaurant at 21:20 and were told they’d be closing at 22:00. I didn’t think they meant we’d have to be finished our meal and paid up by then, because it isn’t possible to sit down to a meal, look at the menu, order, eat, and pay in 40 minutes… surely? But that’s exactly what was expected. The waiters were quite rude and kept standing by our table reminding us of the time as it approached 22:00. At one point the waiter even told Tora to “drink up”. I decided to give them some constructive feedback on their customer service skills and suggest they perhaps have a cut-off point for letting people into the restaurant if they don’t want this to happen in future, but just as we weren’t welcomed, neither was my feedback.
Day six stats: 20.94km | 4 hours 15 minutes | 154m elevation
Day Seven
On Day seven, Tora completed the rest of the hike by getting the bus out to Bowness-on-Solway then hiked the remaining 15 miles. They said “it was very flat and relaxed, and an easy way to end the hike. Oh, and the bar-lady was real nice real nice”... Take from that what you will.
Final Thoughts
All in all, we had a fantastic week full of ups and downs (and I’m not just talking about the hills)! It was a hike full of history and would be full of amazing views on clear days. The people we met were welcoming and friendly, interested in our progress and overall extremely helpful. The walk itself wasn’t a tough one in terms of elevation or distance, but the weather definitely added the challenge-factor.