The Pennine Way continues

A day off and we decided to visit the nearby market town of Barnard Castle and the magnificent Bowes Museum. The museum, a palatial building set in beautiful landscaped gardens was built by John and Josephine Bowes to house their extensive collection of European artwork, silver, textiles, furniture and fine porcelain. John Bowes was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Strathmore whose brother was the grandfather of the Queen Mother - an interesting connection!!. The highlight of the collection was the musically automated Silver Swan.

The following morning began with a riverside walk along the River Tees - wild flowers everywhere bordered a bubbling stream. Passing the Wynch Bridge, built in 1704 and claimed to be the first suspension bridge in England we moved on to the pleasant waterfall at Low Force and the to its much more spectacular brother High Force which plunged thunderously over the Whin Sill (low dark cliffs of dolerite) into the dark peaty pools below. We were amused by a group of schoolchildren who were being tossed into the river below the falls to freefall the rapids - not always willingly. The area round the falls was part of the large estate belonging to the eccentric hippie Lord Barnard from nearby Raby Castle - which explained the complete lack of safety from our side of the falls. The story goes that Lord Barnard has ordained that all property on his estate is to be limewashed with blue lintels so that he can identify them -apparently resulting from an occasion when he was trying to find a safe haven on his drunken return from a local pub. Our path then switched banks at Forest in Teesdale to continue to Saur Hill Bridge and on to Langton Beck - a solitary hotel (belonging to Lord Barnard) and our destination for the night.

A fairly straightforward section the next morning along a moorland path where we have taken to identifying the various breeds of sheep we meet, of which there are many, and a rocky descent into the small village of Garrigill, the a relatively easy walk alongside the river South Tyne into Alston which claims to be the highest market town in England and which at one point inj the 19th century was the world's biggest lead producer. Alston proved to be a very agrreable stopping place with a number of craft shops and a picturesque railway station which has been restored following the partial re-opening of the narrow gauge steam railway betwwen Alston and Gerenhead.

The following day in beautiful sunshine we commenced with a walk along the footpath at the side of the rail track and the on the site of the track itself all the way into Greenhead. At Lambley we came across an attractive arched viaduct over the South Tyne River which with National Trust assistance has now been restored and with this crossing we continued on to Featherstone and coffee ( a rare opportunity!!) at the Wallace Arms at Featherstone. From there the path took us on to Haltwhistle where we again crossed the South Tyne, before climbing up hill to finish at the Milecastle Inn about 3 km north and our first sighting of Hadrian's Wall - a much anticipated experience. we were collected and taken to Greenhead for the night where we again caught up with Allan and Ingrid Gilbert.

Resuming the following day at Hadrian's Wall we began in beautiful walk along an 8km route of the Wall. It proved to most interesting but also quite demanding with a large number of ups and downs. Commissioned By Emperor Hadrian in AD122 it represented Rome's norther frontier for 250 years. MOst of the Wall we walked was still standing together with evidence of the defensive ditch to its north and another, the Vallum to the south which defined the military zone. At Rapshaw Gap we left the Wall and headed north across the moorland, into the conifer plantations of Wark Forest and then into another vast expanse of solitary moorland. Further woodland led us to undulating farmland around Warks Burn, much need-water and a cheese scone from a local farmer, a steep climb up to Ealingham Rigg where we confronted another large herd of cows, calves and yet another large brown bull. heeding the warning signs and advice from the farmer we dodged the herd and descended into the little grey town of Bellingham.

From Bellingham the next morning it was back to the moorland with more evidence of grouse activity - birds and butts. By now the heather is coming in to bloom and we were surrounded by purple-covered hills before descending into the yet more forested hillsides of the Redesdale Forest. We finally dropped down into Blakehopeburnhaugh and Cottonhopeburnfoot, only memorable for their long names, and ended our stage at Byrness, a forestry village built for workers in the 1930s.

The Pennine Way headed straight up the forested hillside out of Byrness the following day to emerge on the open moorland on the exposed tops of the Cheviot Hills. It was a wet start to the day which only added to the discomfort of a path which the Guidebook aptly described as equal quantities of peat, water and bath sponges. Slow progress took us over Houx Hill and Ravens Knowe to Chew Green and the remains of a Roman army camp where we picked up the old Roman road Dere Street. Dere Street originally ran from York to the Forth near Edinburgh and was built during the governorship of Agricola 79 to 83AD, 40 years before Hadrain built the wall.
Passing through the gates at Black Halls we left England for the last time on the Trail following Dere Street until another navigational error necessitated the use of minor roads and added a further 2km to our journey into Jedburgh. Apart from a much celebrated entry into Scotland we recorded our longest walking day to date - 33km over 9 hours with a 15 minute break for lunch.

As I write we are enjoying a rswt day in Jedburgh. It is one of the main border towns with a long history including the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey founded by King David1 in 1118 for Augustinian canons but destroyed in 1545. We will joined shortly by Chris and Brian Bennett - Chris will be part of the team for the walk tomorrow.