Week 11 - High Pennines to Hadrian’s Wall
Not a full week’s walking this week, in fact only three days of actual walking and now we’re home for a couple of days rest and sorting out the van before what we hope will be the final push north across Scotland. Although it was only three days, it was a pretty gruelling 45 miles, from Dufton to Housesteads Fort on Hadrian’s Wall; 45 miles of walking in three days is pretty good going for me, especially when one day was a monster 20 miler over the top of the Pennines from Dufton to Alston taking in Knock Old Man. Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell and the monster Cross Fell. That’s the biggest four hills in the Pennines in one day.
Sandra on the start of the climb up Knock Old Man, the Vale of Eden is behind her with the Lake District in the distance, partially hidden by rain.
Unfortunately Sandra has been plagued by a cold for most of the week, not ideal when you’re trying to walk in these conditions.
Great Dun Fell with its radar dome and Cross Fell in the distance.
I had been looking forward to the Dufton-Alston walk, I knew it was going to be long and hard but was excited by the challenge of what Wainwright calls it the “only true fell walking day on the Pennine Way”, unfortunately what should have been an exhilarating challenge was a bit of a cold blustery slog due to the poor conditions.
This trip was always going to be heavily dependent on the weather and the first couple of months were unseasonably warm and dry, albeit often accompanied by cold northly winds. However, it couldn’t last and my arrival in the Pennines coincided with a shift to wetter and colder weather but it hasn’t been nearly as bad as it can be in the Pennines and although better weather would have made the walking nicer, most of the walking was still quite enjoyable.
Even the big day over Cross Fell could have been a lot worse; the valley temperature was about eight degrees, at nearly 3000 feet high the lapse rate (a drop of 1 degree for every 500 feet ascended) meant the tops would always be about two to three degrees but with the rain and northerly wind it felt about freezing (confirmed by the occasional swathe of hail). But it could have been much worse, the rain came in big, heavy lumps but wasn’t continuous, the cloud cover brushed the tops but wasn’t thick hill fog and winds could have been a lot more awful, Cross Fell has recorded the highest wind in England at about 100 mph! All in all it added an extra degree of difficulty without making the day dangerous or miserable.
Looking towards the lake District from the summit of Cross fell
After the minor epic over Cross Fell we felt in need of something a little gentler, so at Alston we left the Pennine Way and took the South Tyne Trail. This is a lovely path, mostly following the route of the old Alston branch line of the Newcastle and Carlisle railway along the South Tyne valley as it flows northwards to joint the North Tyne River flowing southwards to become the River Tyne that flows through Newcastle. Being an old railway it was almost flat provided an easy 15 mile stroll from Alston all the way to Greenhead on Hadrian’s Wall, it also included some notable Victorian engineering, particularly the massive Lambley viaduct.
The huge Lambley Viaduct rising above the trees as it crosses the South Tyne.
For the first five miles, from Alston to Slaggyford, the South Tyne Trail follows a section of narrow gauge heritage railway, the Slaggyford station has been beautifully restored and is almost a station in miniature, including a particularly fine buffet car.
Slaggyford Station, very pretty and great cakes
The beautiful Featherstone Bridge (built 1775) over the South Tyne
As I’ve frequently mentioned the Pennines run north to south for about 200 miles and are crossed by a number of major road and rail arteries linking the cities on either side, these have to be crossed and the engineers have come up with a variety of solution, the M62 has it’s spectacular foot bridge, the A66 a farm tunnel both of which convey the walker safely from one side of the traffic flow to the other. The Northumbrians however have a more sporting attitude to their roads.
Just before Greenhead the route crosses both the A69 and the Carlisle-Newcastle railway in the space of about 50 meters. Signposts and space in the railway fence indicate where they expect you to cross but then you’re left to your own devices. The result is a sprint across an interestingly busy section of the A69, which is useful to get up speed to leap the crash barrier in front of the gap in the railway fence, after vaulting the barrier a set of steps drop down to the railway line so speed is maintained for the final dash over the railway.
The A69 steeplechase, across the road, vault the crash barrier, down the steps and over the railway
After the easy Alston to Greehead stroll the final day’s walking was a ten mile section of Hadrian’s Wall from Greenhead to Housesteads, it’s the most spectacular section of Hadrian’s Wall, running along the top of the Great Whin Sill, a sequence of dolerite hills and outcrops which effectively form the northern end of the Pennines.
My father first brought me here sometime in the mid sixties and I remember being amazed by the castles and camps and “Roman Stuff” that was just lying around. Over the subsequent fifty odd years it’s all been tied up, sign posted and organised, almost to the point of banality but when a band of rain sweeps in on a freezing wind and the wall plays hide and seek through the mist the land and the wall still have the power to inspire a sense of wonder.
And as I followed the line of the wall eastwards with the wind and rain pushing me onwards I found myself wondering about the men of the Roman Empire who were stationed here nearly two thousand years ago. The wall itself was built by Roman Legionaries but was actually manned by auxiliary troops; these were free men but not Citizens who volunteered as soldiers and after twenty five years service were granted full citizenship for themselves and their families and a plot of land. The only downside for the volunteers was they had no say in where they served their twenty five years and the Romans seem to have had a policy of making the auxiliaries serve as far from their own lands as possible. There are several monuments and inscriptions along the wall that record soldiers and units from as far afield as Spain, Morocco and Iran and I can’t help thinking that for someone from those areas twenty odd years in Northumberland was a steep price to pay for citizenship.
Hadrian’s Wall in all its soggy glory.
Despite the weather it’s one of my favourite walks and one I’ve done many times in both directions, it was just a shame that on this occasion, as part of my epic route from Land’s End to John O’Groats the conditions were less that ideal.
After finishing at Housesteads we drove home for a couple of days; this is our last chance to relax and sort things out before starting on the final third of the walk; northwards across Scotland. We’ve learnt a lot about what we actually need as opposed to what we think we might need, the van is a lot less cluttered, feels roomier and our lives are simpler as a result.
Here’s the week and trip totals.
Week’s Total :- 45 Miles 5,528 Feet of Ascent, 100,263 Paces, 21.25 Hours of Walking.
Walk Total to date:- 772 Miles 85,151 Feet of Ascent, 1,735,831 Paces, 354 Hours of Walking.
Land’s End to John O’Groats walk 60% completed.