On a classic grey but warm British summers morning we set off from Newburn on the outskirts of Newcastle with our backpacks full of supplies for the next few days. After so much hiking over the last year we feel strangely more at ease in this environment than in a house; there is something very relaxing about stripping life back to the basics.
Returning to the UK after a year of travelling we were without a car and hadn’t yet started working again. So what better way to pass the time than hike from my parent’s house in Newcastle to visit friends in Leeds.
The Hadrian’s Wall Path would take us from Newburn to Carlisle where the Cumbria Way starts and leads through the Lake District to Ulverston. To get east over to Leeds we picked up the Dales Way from Bowness-on-Windermere to where it ends in Ilkley. All in all, about 210 miles.
Hadrian’s Wall Path
“Are ya waakin the Roman Road, like?” came a broad Geordie voice from behind us less then a minute after we set off. Even though Hadrian’s Wall was built over 1,900 years ago and much of it no longer remains, it’s presence is still intertwined into the lives many of those who live around it.
The sounds of traffic accompanied us for the first couple of days on the path; walking by roads was not exactly how we’d envisaged the hike but it did result in stumbling across a few lovely cafes for tea and cake. Soon enough we were immersed in the history of Hadrian’s Wall as we meandered past the remains of the wall, milecastles, forts and the occasional Mithraic Temple. Reading about life for the soldiers on the wall and looking around at the beautiful but rugged and exposed countryside really puts you in their shoes for a moment. No other hike I’ve done has made me feel so connected to a distant period of history. It makes you look at the landscape in a totally different light when you appreciate how we can walk over the same land as those who were here thousands of years ago. If only the earth could tell the stories of those who’ve come and gone in that time.
Cumbria Way
Some people say you can’t appreciate sun without rain… those people almost certainly live in Cumbria. From sunbathing by Derwent Water, picking wild bilberries and wild camping up a mountain to escaping a flooded campsite and being forced to get a bus due to the heavy non-stop rain; The Cumbria Way has it all. One constant is the backdrop of the Lake District mountains which luckily look stunning whatever the weather as we weaved our way through them along the trail.
Dales Way
Dales Way…
