Finn and Susan’s big adventure – Day 4 – Monday 28 June 2010 – Once Brewed to Bellingham – 15 miles

Andy was leaving us today to drive back to work, so he dropped us at Hadrians Wall – the plan was for Finn and I to walk from there back to the campsite, thereby saving more taxi fares and transport nightmares. So, we didn’t actually start walking until eleven thirty this morning – very late for us.

After half an hour’s walking, Andy rang to say he’d meet us for lunch at Stonehaugh – from my map I anticipated I’d get there within two hours, so then we set a cracking pace to make sure we DID get there. I was conscious that Andy needed to be at work tonight, and that he’d need a kip this afternoon at some point.

Not far from the wall, we met a Pennine Wayer who’s walking it the other way – from north to south. He’d been staying on our campsite last night and we had a little chat about where we might cross paths – because I started so late though, and he had started at seven this morning, it was very near the wall, my start point! He explained about a forest fire he’d seen on the way over – he’d contacted a colleague with vague directions and got him to ring the Forestry Commission people. He showed me on the map the location so I could direct the rescue people there if necessary. Blimey, responsibility? I’d forgotten what that was!

As I walked through the forest, I met the rescue people but they were totally in the wrong place according to the map I’d been shown. I redirected them from my map, but wouldn’t let them have the map as I still needed it! They made a note of the location and strode off down a different path to find their van and head back to the clearing where it was all happening. About twenty minutes later, I found the fire myself so waited until they came back with more water and hoses. Absolved of all responsibility – thank God! – Finn and I strode off, now running a bit late to meet Andy. We got to the pre-arranged meeting place but Andy, and the van, were nowhere to be seen. After sitting down for twenty minutes, I suddenly remembered that Andy used to get lost in Woolworths! So Finn and I made the decision to keep walking and, sure enough, Andy had parked in a completely different village altogether! We found this out when we spied him laying beside a ditch, waiting to leap out at us and surprise us! Bless him!

We had lunch overlooking a stream, and then started to head the few miles back towards the van. It then transpired that Andy had ‘phoned in sick to work for this evening, so would meet us back in Bellingham for a pint and dinner – lovely job! So Andy left us to drive back to the campsite and Finn and I had five miles still to go. Our reference point was the radio mast just above Bellingham village and we had it in our sights for the rest of the day.

As we came down into Bellingham, the weather turned and it started raining – but Andy had realised this while sitting outside the tent, so got in the van to come and meet us – luckily we were just the other side of the village – and we headed to the pub for a celebratory beer and dinner.

So, this is the end of this stretch of the Pennine Way – after doing a load of research on my weekend off, I realised I really can’t do the last stage – there is a twenty-five mile walk from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm. However, there are no roads crossing this twenty-five miles at all, so to split it into two, you have to walk off the track three miles to meet a road. Which takes the twenty-five miles to thirty-one miles – a seventeen miler and a fourteen miler. And the corresponding taxi fare tots up to a hundred quid. Andy has very kindly offered to be support crew on this last stint, but I’ve decided to do this next year instead. I now have a ten week coastal walk – hopefully five hundred miles – to concentrate on and I’ve spent too much energy and emotion on the Pennine Way for a little while!