HWP Day 5: Twice Brewed to Greenhead / Haltwhistle

Posted byPeter IrelandPosted inHadrian's WallTags:, , , ,

Today was full of unexpected pleasures. The weather forecast had been a depressing amount of mist and heavy rain but the weather set a great mood. While there was plenty of climbing, our feet did not ache much at the end of the day and we enjoyed plenty of solitude hiking along a ridge. A quarry brought back fifteen year old memories (with the help of some old photos), emphasizing how some things don’t change. And a mix up about our room led to an unplanned, exciting and interesting stay at the geometric centre of Britain! There were too many fun themes today so here is the day chronologically.

Starting the day’s hike from Twice Brewed after a fine breakfast with lots of other walkers, with many of them older than us!
Why can’t I see anything in the distance?
We can just see Peel Crags in the mist from Twice Brewed
The crags had lots of character in the mist. It helped that there were few people around. We saw a lot less people than yesterday which helped, though listening to a French tour group was interesting.
“Whether you make a mountain out of a mole hill is all about perspective,” said the ant.
This one’s for you, David!!
We followed the wall which was often a drystone wall. This photo shows how the dry stone wall has been built on the foundation of Hadrian’s Wall.
At the highest point of the trail. About 1100 ft. Look at that view! We were OK with the lack of view as it made it all quite solemn. We could hear Baabaarians calling out in the fog.
Is the mist lifting (to let the rain come in) or did we drop below the clouds?
It was still pleasantly cool and dry.
Some pretty daisies that the sheep had not eaten.
The drystone wall had this interesting hole. I assume it’s for sheep. However, another hiker crawled through it, and back again. You meet interesting people on the trail!
We enjoyed the terrain for walking
A view of the wall from across a “gap.” I started thinking about what it took to build a wall this thick and plenty high, for 84 miles, with the well proportioned square stones, not to mention the huge ditch that we follow most of the time. This wall was truly an amazing feat!
Another turret.
Modern farming boundaries need to work with the wall, and provide access with stiles to us walkers!
Looking south from the wall, we see evidence of the old military road.
Over a short distance, we saw several of these mushrooms. At first, they looked like orange peel. I’m sure little fairies were living inside but I did not want to disturb them.
Cawfields milecastle
A reflection in Canfield Quarry

While I was walking past this quarry, I had the memory of a prior visit. Previous geocache logs proved we had been here 15 years ago, and I found the pictures below from that visit. With much in the world changing so rapidly, it was nice to see that some things don’t!

The view of the quarry in 2009
Samuel is now a lot taller then momma
The wall is pretty much the same!
We are now more careful to avoid sitting/standing on the wall!
Kara and Cullen 😎
So this is where curlews come from!
It was fun listening to them at https://curlewlife.org/listen-to-a-curlew/
“I hope you are not having beef for dinner!”
Well, we did enjoy a fine roast dinner…
Milk as it should be drunk – nice and fresh!
A cute calf, but we ensured momma wasn’t looking stressed.
I have not seen this advice before. I’m unsure what’s supposed to happen after you let go of your dog!
It was the simplicity of walking across land like this that made the day special.
There were plenty of ups and downs too.
With steep cliffs like these, I wonder whether the Romans built a wall here.
It seemed they were telling me that this was their path. We found a different one!
They obediently followed each other down the sheep trail. Perhaps Shaun had been training them!
Another turret. The mist had cleared and it had not started raining yet.
It was cool to see how the wall worked its way around rocky outcrops.
We see Walltown Quarry!
A very welcome sign when walking. We enjoyed our lunch at one of their picnic tables.
The Baabaarians have invaded the ditch.
Close to Greenhead are the remains of Thirlwell Castle which dates from 1300.
We crossed over the Tipalt Burn in Greenhead and realized we had not passed over rivers while on the ridge.
An old church in Greenhead is used as a hostel.
We had to cross a railway, but there was a red/green light to help us avoid trains!
It’s a bit depressing after four days of walking to see that our start point is a mere 40 miles away!
We were excited when we reached our destination after a relatively short 9.5 miles.

However…. When we went to check in, our reservation was for tomorrow and they were full tonight. There had been a mixup but they took full ownership of sorting things out for us. After free drinks while we waited, they took us to a hotel about five miles away and will pick us up again tomorrow. They were great!

So we ended up in a hotel with a very appropriate name in Haltwhistle which is the geographic centre of Britain.
Our room was lavish in a hotel that dates back to the 15th century. Our bathroom even had a sauna!
We checked out the town and were glad of our little umbrella.
There is a reference to a church in Haltwhistle in 1178. It has a font from Hadrian’s Wall and a chalice from the 7th century. Below is more info that was in a pamphlet in our room.
We passed through Heavenfield earlier on the walk but did not know about its significance. The timing of St Patrick’s birth in 400 is significant as the Romans left Britannia in 410.
Back at the hotel for dinner, we had the dining room all to ourselves for a while.
As it was Sunday, we could enjoy a fine roast dinner with all the trimmings.
One advantage of hiking is the hearty appetite!

And that was our day 5! It was a fine walk which the weather helped, even though it wasn’t sunny. A mixup with the room led to a resolution that we could not have dreamed of. The legs don’t feel as stiff as other days, which is probably a combination of the shorter day and us getting our trail legs. Tomorrow is about 12 miles and the forecast is faint and sunny, but will probably have changed by the morning!

This blog post is linked to from my Hadrian’s Wall Path page, where you can find the accounts of the other days in this adventure.

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Published by Peter Ireland

"Cajunlimeys" combines Lousiana (Janet) and England (Peter). For "limeys," check out scurvy in the English navy. We love adventures and use blogging to write a photo diary to preserve our memories. Some crazy friends enjoy following us and my notes might help others plan.

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