Category Archives: UK

August 21: Portsmouth

We took the train to London from Newcastle, and then another to Plymouth. Since we missed today’s ferry to Cherbourg, France, we had to find lodging for the evening. All the hotels near the ferry port were filled. We took a bus to Portsmouth South Sea, an old district of the city. On the bus,…

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August 20: Newcastle and Wallsend

Yesterday we waited at the B & B for FedEx to deliver our credit cards. They arrived around 3 PM and we almost ran a mile with our backpacks to the bus stop to catch a ride to Hexham. We got there with just a minute to spare. From Hexham, we took the train to…

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August 18: Heddon-on-the-Wall

Sandra, the B & B proprietor expressed a local axiom, “Rain by seven, clear by eleven.” Since it poured this morning, I was hoping the adage was accurate. Though we had a cloud burst at 11:30, when we ducked into a tea shop, the rest of the day was sunny, though windy. Since the predominant…

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August 17: Greencarts

Dennis felt well enough today to walk, so we took the bus to Housesteads to resume walking where we had last stopped. Because this section of Hadrian’s Wall Path does not have sufficient and convenient hiker accommodations, trekkers tend to stay in one place several nights and leapfrog to various trailheads: walking forwards, and then…

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August 15: Greencarts

This morning I tried to pay my bill at the B & B, but the credit card was denied—twice. After contacting the Visa, I discovered that the credit card had been hacked and that someone had tried to purchase $10,000 worth of games on it. I was lucky that my the credit card company watches…

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August 14: Housesteads

Starting from Once Brewed and heading East is a steep ascent that gets the heart pumping. At the top of this climb, we took a 20-minute rest. Dennis awoke unwell this morning, but insisted on continuing the walk. The climb up the hill exhausted him; the break allowed him to continue forward. He is such…

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August 13: Once Brewed

We slackpacked today, a hiking term for carrying only a small pack. Since I did not sleep well last night, I was happy to travel lightly. We took the bus to Once Brewed, so named if going eastward, but named Twice Brewed if coming from the west. From the visitor center, we clopped on tarmac…

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August 12: Greenhead

The clouds touched the Pennines Mountains in the background and  scattered showers on us throughout the day. We managed to walk 7 miles to Greenhead, stopping along the way to visit historical sites and museums. Even though the weather was gloomy, we were in high spirits. For the past two days, I have been trying…

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August 11: Banks

The day started out cool and remained that way with afternoon showers. We got a late start (10:30 A.M.) because, based on misinformation, we went in search of a pharmacy that was supposed to be a half mile away, but turned out to be 1.5 miles. This 24-hour store has limited hours on Sunday and…

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August 10: Carlisle

Took the 9:35 A.M. bus to Bowness-On-Solway to the start of the Hadrian’s Wall Footpath. Bowness is the person who started the village on the Solway Bay. Hikers with a map lead us down a narrow, overgrown single track towards the water. We had to climb down a metal ladder to get to the beach,…

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