Life Begins at Retirement!: Heddon on the Wall

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Day Two: Heddon on the Wall to WALL

On the second day of hiking Annie and I walked from a part of a wall in Heddon on the Wall to a village called Wall via Chollerford which also had some bits and pieces of wall! Confused much? Must have something to do with Hadrian's Wall - yup, I figured that out all by myself!

It was a misty start to the day, rained a little off and on.

Annie not paying attention to the road instructions! Hey, slow down there!

In between cloudy skies and rain the sun would pop out allowing us to get some lovely photos of the landscape.

Some of the hills we climbed were pretty steep as you can see! There are some tiny people in the lower right hand corner of the photo.

Annie - the cow whisperer! We encountered lots and lots of lovely cows, sheep, chickens, a rabbit and several horses.

We climbed over about 500 of these styles - there was also a stone version. I liked the wooden ones because the handles gave us something to pull ourselves up with.

Poor sheep...

but this one is okay :)

Our destination was the Hadrian Hotel in Wall. The views from the dining room were gorgeous.

On the way we passed through Chollerford and crossed Chester's Bridge - dating back to Roman times and still in great shape!

I don't remember if this was a turret of a mile castle.

This Roman temple has a fairly intact altar and various carvings. Over the centuries farmers and builders helped themselves to the stones from the wall and various buildings as they were ready to use! It's a wonder there is as much left as there is.

Some of our more challenging hills coming into view.

I see you bunny!

Yes, I love sheep. (Have you seen Shaun the Sheep movie?? Go if you can!)

From above we watched a farmer on his 4 wheeler along with his border collie rustle up some sheep.

The hills we went up and down and up and down were called shields or crags as in Halton Shields or Carr Crags. Every time I would crest one hill and see several more in front of me I would swear a little bit (quietly)...but eventually it didn't matter anymore as we got used to them. Our feet and legs protested for awhile but it did seem to get a bit easier the more we climbed.

There was a photographer racing ahead of us from time to time, with a huge lens, and occasionally we would catch up to him. He took a couple shots of Annie and I. It must have been cold as we're all bundled up.

Annie, wait up! We took turns leading and following - it all worked out fine. One of us was always stopping to take photos and then we'd catch up.

This is what the landscape looks like when it's raining! I missed some good shots due to the off and on rain but between the two of us we have more than enough!

I love this one as it shows a tiny person cresting the hill and you can see many more hills in the distance. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

Now...is this a crag or a shield?

Such a dreamy shot.

Here's our lovely hotel - IT HAD AN AMAZING BATHTUB!!!!!

Annie's sister said putting our feet up would help :) I think it did!

Coming soon: Day 3 - The mother of all days!!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Hiking Day One: Newcastle to Heddon on the Wall (25 or so kms)

The order of the photos is a bit out of whack due to uploading photos from my iPhone and my camera but that just makes the day that much more interesting....at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Here's Annie and I waiting at the station early on Day 1. We have to get to Wallsend where our journey across England begins. We both look like we could use a few more hours of sleep!

And.....here's dinner....see what I mean about the order? Fish and chips, of course, but thankfully the peas weren't mushy :)

Heddon on the Wall is the location of the first remnants of Hadrian's Wall. See Annie in her blue coat way down there?

Back to the beginning again...Annie and I at the very beginning of Hadrian's Way. It rained and rained and rained.

My one and only (you're welcome) boat and reflection photo - but it's a good one!

An interesting roof top vignette - a cat trying to catch a seagull!

We had a loooong walk beside the River Tyne as we travelled from one end of Newcastle to the other end and out into the countryside.

We took a little side trip to take a few photos of a Norman castle which gave "Newcastle" its name.

Old as the hills!

One of the many great things about Annie is her ability to spot a good hot cuppa just when one was dearly needed. We were a little (a lot) soggy at this point, especially me so we fortified ourselves for the next leg of our journey.

My raincoat and rainpants repelled the rain but the impermeable material caused another problem - SEVERE SWEATING!! You may be able to notice that my shoulders and front (and back) of my green shirt are completely soaked. Not from rain but from sweat. My pants were equally soaked. It's a wonder I was smiling!

One of the more elaborate signposts we saw along the way.

The roses enjoyed the rain :)

Now, this is more like it!

Follow the acorn! Only 1.5 miles to Heddon on the Wall.

Thankfully the rain let up later in the day...

Though the sky still threatened...

Some of the unusual flowers in the Memorial Garden near the pub where we dried out a bit.

A couple more shots from the wall...

Yes, we touched the wall, leaned on the wall, sat on the wall, sheltered by the wall to eat our lunch one day and walked on a short portion of the wall!