Currently sitting in the Off the Wall Coffee Shop, Brampton, UK, enjoying coffee and a slice of home-made coconut cake with honey drizzle. The name of the cafe says it all. I (Sharon) am off the wall today because of a very inflamed big toe.
So Barry is hiking, and I bussed to our next stop. Before he shares the hiking day with you, I want to share how much I enjoyed talking with a young guy next to me on the bus. He spent his summer working on a nearby organic farm. We had a lot of fun talking about gardening and growing food. A reminder that travel offers warm connections in unexpected places.
Barry here. Sharon has been doing most of the writing and I have been taking most of the pictures as well as assembling the videos and getting it all online.
Some highlights today:
Cumbria: Leaving the bed and breakfast, I passed about two houses before seeing a sign announcing I had entered Cumbria. That’s the region of northwest England where we will stay for the rest of our walk and for the day we plan to spend in the Lake District after the walk. Until now, our walk has taken us through Northumbria, a beautiful corner of northeast England. (Technically, we were in the County of Tyne and Ware during our first two days in Newcastle and Tynemouth, but that urban area was traditionally identified with Northumbria.)
Ancient fort: I had not walked long before arriving at Birdoswald Roman Fort. The exhibits are geared toward school students, so there were lots of families and youth groups.
Rolling hills: The landscape has changed from rocky crags to gently sloping pastures, many of them lined by uninterrupted sections of Hadrian’s Wall. There were only two ascents today that got the heart pumping. One thing we haven’t mentioned about the pastures: We have dodged more cow and sheep poop over the last eight days than we have in the last 73 years of our lives put together.
Honesty sheds: In today’s short walk of only about seven miles, I passed two honesty sheds: huts filled with treats and drinks where walkers are trusted to leave the right amount of money. Both had picnic tables and nearby port-a-johns. One was conveniently placed in an area where I had started thinking about lunch. It would be great if more of these were placed along the route.
Dogs: A surprising number of dogs walk with their people along the Hadrian’s Wall Path. I am sure a lot of the humans and their pets are out for a family stroll, but we have met several walkers who are taking their dogs with them on the whole 84-mile journey. The pooches are uniformly beautiful, well groomed and well trained. There has scarcely been a meal at a restaurant or pub where there wasn’t at least one canine contentedly resting at the feet of its family members. They are so well-behaved that it makes me wonder why there are signs at many of the pasture gates warning people to control their dogs.
Theme o’ the walk: You have a lot of time to think on a long-distance, multi-day walk. When walking the Camino del Norte in 2023, my thoughts turned to gratitude. Over the last few days, I have been thinking about friendships and reconnecting with people from various stages of my life. Putting the two trips together, the overriding theme is being grateful for friends and family and striving to become intentional about preserving those relationships.
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Love your journey! And yes, gratitude! For so many things. Hope Sharon can be back on the trail with you tomorrow.
Buen camino.
Sharon, I am so sorry about your toe and hope you will be able to start walking again soon! Trip sounds great so far!
Sorry about the toe but the cake sounds amazing!