The one with the Lego jail full of criminals, class A drug spillages and the life-like gnome!
DISTANCE: 15.5 miles
LOCATION: Wallsend to Heddon-on-the-Wall
WEATHER: Today’s weather was misleading! Cloudy with a splattering of rain but also extremely hot.
HOW’S EVERYONE FEELING: Two cases of mild heat stroke and one case of sunburn! 
no blisters and no injuries, so all good.
SUMMARY
I’d forgotten how long today’s walk can feel as it’s very flat (until the last 1.5 miles which is super steep). 12 started and 12 finished so a good start to the trip. Everyone has met Keith the mini bus driver for the week, and we also had a few health issues. A much needed beer at the end of the walk!
THE BLOG:
6 am – So last night I was all cosy in my hotel room and needed to charge my phone. As I delve into my electronics bag I realised that I had packed a euro plug (from a recent Camino trip), but no UK plug. Oops. After a quick Google search, I found a big Tescos Extra that opened at 6 am and was only 0.7 miles away. So guess what I was doing at silly o clock this morning! Doh!
8.30 – Keith! I’ve never been so excited to see a taxi driver before! I gave Keith a huge hug. He was our driver last year and he’s great! He is an ex-Newcastle policeman so you can imagine the stories he told us! We all piled into the minibus and everyone is quiet and reserved. “Are they nerves?” I wonder to myself? In his broad Geordie accent, Keith breaks the silence and starts with the stories. “Tuh yor reet ladies an’ gentlemen is the famous bikor waal buildin. It cost millions an’ is neeo full iv criminals”. So I translate for the group. “You see the blue & red building on your right? The one that looks like it’s made of Lego? Well it was expensive to build and now tends to house lots of unruly people”.
A few mins later Keith turns to me and in a low voice, he says “This street brings back bad memories for me” Ah wes stabbed heor an’ the knife missed me heart by an inch. ah wes in hospital fo’ a month” he shivers at the memory and continues driving.
9 am – We reach Segedunum Roman Fort, the start of our Hadrians Wall adventure. There is a box at the front of the building that houses our first stamp (as the shop does not open until 10am). Stamps done 
. Obligatory group photo done (thanks Keith) and 12 of us are off!
This part of Newcastle is not pretty. It’s full of graffiti, very industrial and lots of dog walkers! This is the reason why I always lead this trail from East to West. The other end is so much more attractive and a better place to celebrate such an achievement of walking across a whole country!
10.15 am – We are only 3 miles in but how can you ignore a sign that claims “the best coffee in Newcastle”? Thanks, Gabriele for the flat white. It was a fantastic cup of coffee.
We are now starting to split into little pockets of groups. Everyone has their check-in points and no one is on their own. “Ping” the WhatsApp goes and it’s Pat & Dawn telling the group that they are in the Slug & Lettuce. This is the cocktail bar that we visited last night. Glancing at my watch I think to myself “it’s a bit early for cocktails”!
11.18 – I pass the CatPawCino bar and something caught my eye. Yep, this was a coffee bar that had loads of cats (real-life cats!) roaming around inside. There were two cats walking in the window and a big queue of humans outside. It takes all sorts I suppose!
I marched on until I got to The Slug & Lettuce. Dawn & Pat were just leaving, so I nipped to the loo and they held my backpack for me. I squeaked across the floor with each step! I do wonder what sort of cocktails makes a floor so sticky. Back on the trail… we take photos of the Millennium Bridge and iconic buildings such as The Baltic Flour Mill, The Sage & Great North Run bridge (it has a proper name but I’ve forgotten!).
I’m walking with Pat & Dawn and we see a lady ahead of us wearing a green Osprey backpack. “Let’s play a game” I declare! “See that woman ahead of us, what do you think her name is?”. From behind the lady looked in her early 40s and had long brown hair. Dawn suggested Sarah, Pat went for Julie and I guessed Emma. We caught up with the lady and we got chatting. She was walking for a breast cancer charity and had an interesting story (as so many people do on the trail). Her mum had passed away unexpectedly due to Covid and the shock took this lady’s life in a completely different direction. She no longer drinks and loves walking, cut ties with friends who just liked sitting in a pub getting drunk and she has a fascination with butterflies. I spent some time with her adjusting her pack as it was riding halfway down her back. I finally remembered our little game so I said “I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Julia” and she swiftly replied, “I’m Kath, it’s lovely to meet you”. Yep, none of us won that game but we have a new lady to our walking pack. Kath from Mansfield.
12.40 – People had been checking in at the horse statue on the roundabout near Newburn. When we arrived at the statue Kath & I posed for a selfie and checked in together. Kath was enjoying being part of the group.,I spot Pat (new trail name = PatNav) Dawn and Alison and it looked like they were taking a break (but it was next to a busy road). This heat is crazy! Alison decided it was time to chew some glucose tablets but the white powder went absolutely everywhere! It looked like a bag of dodgy-looking class A drug had exploded all over her black trousers!
1 pm – Glucose tablets consumed and we set off in search of somewhere for a proper sit down and some lunch. Ah! A cafe sign! Perfect. Ok, perhaps the sign saying “cafe” was false advertising as a man popped his head out of a serving hatch and announced “Ah hev neet got mich left. just bacon or sausage baps. ah hev hot drinks but nar na milk.”
Drinks (without milk) and baps were ordered then we camped out at the picnic table for a well-deserved break. Dawn vanished to the loo then two mins later came back “I need my phone!”. Puzzled, we looked at her and asked why did she need her phone to go to the loo? “The lights don’t work”. We each took it in turn to use the facilities, phone in hand!
I must admit, a bacon sarnie (with butter and ketchup) and a cup of tea (no milk, in a proper mug) at £3 was a rather good deal.
Alison had forgotten her sun hat so was sporting a very nice red AG buff on her head. When she sat on a boulder with her poles outstretched she looked like a garden gnome! “Snap” – that’s the perfect picture for our gnome photo challenge this month!
2.20 pm – Im now walking with Alison as the others are ahead of us. I briefly walked with a lovely lady called Catherine from Norfolk who is completing the trail in 6 days. We will see her on and off throughout the week. We reach a fabulous country park and pass an ice cream van. I just fancied an ice cream but it was all closed up. Disappointed, Alison & I walked over a little wooden bridge and then we spotted two familiar faces sitting on the ground with a face full of ice cream. Pat & Dawn were enjoying every mouthful!
3.20 – Eventually after 14.2 miles the trail turns away from the river and heads inland. We have approximately 1.5 miles of uphill, through forest paths before reaching our final destination… The Swan Pub (or Mucky Duck, as Keith calls it!)
4.10 pm – Alison, Gabriele, Len and I were greeted by a round of applause from Cheryl, Mark, Sue & Stephen when we reached the Swann Pub (all hot and sweaty). I got a round of drinks in (including Keith who has now joined us). Not long after us is Pat & Dawn, closely followed by Gwyne and Holly.
What a day! I’m happy that all 12 made it today. It was a hard day and the heat was tough., Tomorrow we see the wall!!