These boots are made for walking

Now where was I?
Oh yes, the walk.
The train journey to Newcastle was uneventful. The trains were on time and our reserved seats were comfortable. We were spoken to by a madman at Birmingham New Street, but that happens to me quite often (being spoken to by madmen, not necessarily at Birmingham New Street).
We knew that when we arrived we were going to have to walk 12 miles. So we shrugged our packs on and started. The day was warm and all the walking was on tarmac, not the best of starts. We got to our first stop, (a brewery) and checked in after a couple of pints. Our fireman friend who had promised his wife that he wouldn’t be drinking alcohol was keeping up with us manfully.
The next day we were up early and after breakfast set off. The first stage was to get to Heddon-on-the-Wall. A couple of miles along the river bank, then turn right and straight up a steep hill; while going up here we had our one and only sighting of Red Squirrels. Much effort and sweat got us to Heddon where we saw the remains of Hadrian’s Wall for the first time, a brief rest and photo opportunity and on we went.
We had planned our day with care and much thought. Halfway along today’s walk was a pub (as it turned out the Robin Hood) and about 5 miles further on was another.
Sorted. A long and hot walk ensued, seemingly all uphill. Then there it was - our goal! 2 miles in front were buildings; within those buildings was the first pub. Those 2 miles seemed the longest we had ever walked, but at last we got there. The pub was shut: despair! What were we to do? We had a rest and set off for the alternative pub, 5 miles away. The sun was out, the day was warm, and we were getting tired, but after 1¼ hours the pub was in sight. Hooray went we, it even had tables outside where we could imbibe a few glasses of ale. What did we find? It was shut! Two pubs both shut? I was getting worried - the whole trip seemed to be falling apart. We sat at the tables in the hope that the publican would take pity on us and open up. But he didn’t. What a hard hearted b*****d he is. We only had 4 miles to go and so the packs were shrugged on again and off we toiled.
After 2½ miles we saw a sign for a Tea Room. A cup of tea and a slice of cake would be lovely we thought. Closed Mondays said the sign. Arrrrggh. And to make matters worse, there were two ladies sipping cups of tea and eating cake at a table outside. We asked them how they’d been served, “We’re staying here” they smugly replied.
Still, only 1½ miles to go till we reached our lodging for the night, on we trudged. Turning off the path just outside Wall we walked into the village and found where we were staying, hooray they were open, hooray they were serving, hooray the beer was good, (to be honest we could have drunk anything and been happy). We sat in the bar with our boots off and feet gently steaming and replaced all the liquid that we had sweated out (plus a bit more).
The next morning (Tuesday) was a time of recriminations. I had a wound on my hand from being stabbed by Steve (the blacksmith) while I was trying to steal one of his chips. He was unhappy that as we were going to bed I told him “You’re in that room Steve” at which point he said goodnight and walked into the room (through a locked door) and disturbed a couple that were also staying at the Hotel. We met these very nice people at breakfast and had a little laugh about it, (the man said “Hey you’re the one that broke our door”. Steve shrugged his shoulders and said “I thought it was my room mate, sorry”) Ho ho ho, how we did laugh.
After breakfast, on with packs and away. Up the hill out of Wall, over the bridge, and then up the hill out of Chollerford. After 3 miles we saw the wall again (the first time since Heddon) and still we climbed, up and up we went. We left the arable fields behind and went higher onto heathland, and the landscape became more craggy and wilder.
Standing on the edge and looking towards the north you couldn’t help but wonder, Why? The wall when in use was a lot larger than it is now (according to the reconstructions that archaeologists have done). The remains of the wall and the ditches are still very substantial, and the amount of effort required must have been enormous. We came to the conclusion that as most of the construction was done by the Roman Army it was a method to keep them occupied, whilst making the statement that Rome was big and powerful. It wasn’t a wall just for keeping people out, there were too many gateways for that, one at most mile castles. Perhaps it was some form of border control?
At last we could see a white painted building which we hoped was the Twice Brewed Inn. It was. A sharp descent brought us to a road and turning left we headed downhill to the pub. We’d made it, it was 12.30. We were halfway along the walk. Was it too early to start drinking? No!
More next time….