Day 18 - Twice Brewed to Bellingham

Today is a day of mixed emotions. On the one hand there was much to enjoy in the new landscapes unfolding as we headed north from Hadrian's Wall into Northumberland. On the other hand today would have been my mother's birthday, so this is the first year without some sort of birthday celebration for her. If I had been walking along Hadrian's Wall and the village of mid Northumberland today then at the very least I would have been phoning her right now to tell her exactly where I am and where we had been today. This is the part of the country where we grew up as children, and I have strong memories of being taken on visits to the wall (back then we just called it the Roman Wall) on family weekend outings.

Today's Pennine Way section headed back to the wall from last night's scruffy Twice Brewed Inn then turning eastward, but only for a short distance before breaking away into the Northumberland wilds. Again this section of the wall is one of the best to walk, with some dramatic swoops and drops over crags and gaps. Much of the wall here is well 'consolidated' (ie. reconstructed from original stone) and with one of the best milecastles on the wall, Milecastle 39.

Milecastle 39

Less than a mile east of here the wall rises high above the lake which you can see in the above picture (Crag Lough) and drops to a gap in the wall which seems to be known here as Sycamore Gap, although I think there's more than one Sycamore Gap in the country.

Sycamore Gap

At turret 37A the Pennine Way finally splits from the wall, heading across the typical boggy moorland which has occupied many of my previous rantings. Actually today this sort of boggy land wasn't a problem, only being in relatively short bursts, and since we've now had a couple of dry days it's probably drained down slightly. Plus we're undoubtedly improved our bog-hopping skills over the course of this walk, and can spot a wet dead-end among the tussocks from 20 paces. On leaving the wall the path first crosses a few fields containing hardy cattle and their calves, which have churned up the ground something rotten. However the plus side is that they've left some lovely cow fur balls impaled on the barbed wire where they've scratches themselves.

Executive cow toy

For much of the day the Pennine Way now weaves through alternate coniferous forest and marshy moorland housing a fairly sparse population of sheep. The forests are all Forestry Commission managed, or at least all those we passed through were. This means the usual 'green tarmac' of dense spruce and fir, where as the trees mature very little light makes it to the ground for other plants to benefit from. The forest effectively becomes a monoculture apart from the occasional clearing where we saw one or two small deer with white tails. The below picture from the first forest we entered gives you an idea of how dark the forest interior becomes just a few yards in. Don't get me wrong, this sort of forest looks very attractive from a distance, and I realise it's a crop like any other so aesthetics shouldn't cloud judgement. Also the Forestry Commission is very good about maintaining and signposting paths through the forest.

Forest near East Stonefolds

Wading across the next section of moorland, Haughton Common, we were trying to make for the next block of forest, Haggyshaw plantation, but simply couldn't see it. Without a GPS we would have assumed we were off course, but diligently sticking to the GPS route we soon realised that the landmark had now gone as most of this forest has been harvested, with felling operations ongoing.

Haggyshaw Plantation - forever in our hearths

Briefly the path leaves the forest and follows a local road past Willowbog, which seems to be a bonsai nursery. Let me guess… bonsai firs and spruce ?

The below picture is nothing special, apart from the fact that it shows daffodils in full bloom and good condition in May. By now the daffodils in Cornwall have completely finished, and it was about 2 months ago when they looked like this.

Daffodils in May

As we headed out of the next forest plantation over more boggy moorland towards Warks Burn we kept seeing signs for "Refreshments 1 mile", then "Tea and Pop 1/2 mile", then "Tea and Pop, up the hill".

Warks Burn - it's bigger than it looks

It seemed unlikely that a tea room would be open during the holiday low season, and with so few walkers around. However, the Horneystead refreshments is a self-service oasis, with a farm barn housing home made cakes, scones and jam, a kettle, a microwave and fridge (tins of drink and milk for the tea), and even a collection of Pot Noodles. There's even a sofa in case it's raining outside. Everything is paid for into an honesty box. A wonderful find, and today it meant that we could have hot tea with our packed lunch, followed by home made fruit cake. The farm's ginger cat obligingly jumped onto Jonathan's knee just as I prepared to take a picture.

Horneystead refreshments oasis

For the rest of the day's walk the Pennine Way leaves the bogs and forests behind (briefly, I'm sure they'll return tomorrow), and heads through gently undulating sheep farms and on country lanes. I think this must be a second/holiday home judging from the perfectly maintained 'farms' with large conservatories, and the fact that around three of the houses there were applications posted requesting a diversion to the Pennine Way to 'improve privacy'. Honestly, they must see at most half a dozen walkers a day even in the middle of the summer, and if they're that bothered then they can plant a hawthorn hedge around the boundary. Surely that's an easier option than forcing walkers to enter into some fiddly diversion just so the property owners never have to see anyone.

Near the end of the day the path passes Shitlington Hall and onto Shitlington Hill. Yes, it's pronounced like that. No silent 't' or anything. A local told us so, so it must be true.

The walking guide said that this final ascent was an unwelcome end finale to the day, but really it's only a 120m climb, so nothing to be bothered about at this stage. Also it's the one chance for a view into the distance, looking back across the ground we have covered today.

View from Shitlington Hill

Another couple of miles on moorland and along the busy B6320 and we're into Bellingham (pronounced Belling-jam) and staying at a proper home B&B, which is a welcome change from last night.

Today's new sheep breeds. If anyone can identify them (no guessing please) then I'll update this entry. 
Thank you to Roger and Philippa, and to Noelle and Mark. The consensus is that the grey sheep are Herdwicks, and the shaggy coated, banana headed ones are some sort of Leicester, probably a Mule cross.

The grey bodied sheep seems to be a confident climber. There were two of these sheep running down the road towards this field, and without pausing they simply clambered over the full height wall into the field to join their manger-mates. I wonder if the farmer knows they can do this.

Grey climbing sheep

Sheep and shearful

Today's milage: 15.8 miles. Tomorrow's another long one, and is a return to the hills as we head towards the Cheviot hills.

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