In order to complete a coast to coast crossing of the country, we decided to start 7 miles further east, at the beach at Tynemouth. An opportunity for a mini break should also never be passed by, and although Tynemouth is a mere 2.5 miles for my glamorous hospital accommodation, a B&B sounded a more desirable option for Friday night digs. Tapas, pink fizzy wine (which always reminds me of my Auntie Earrinks*, who I credit with getting me started on multiple marathons/ ultras) and a good view are always a good set-up to a weekend (B&B: No 61 Guesthouse, and restaurant: Lui's = recommend!):
I awoke in the night to stormy sounding weather. My mood darkened darker than the night. When dawn broke, it was raining. At the same time a dilemma was encountered: would a big B&B breakfast interfere with running? After a careful, although swift, deliberation, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon won. Then it was off, and in a rare, but appreciated, reversal of Sod's Law, the rain stopped just as we stepped out the door:
Preparations for The Start began. The North Sea was touched:
The start line drawn:
And it was off:
No wait, no, stop! Running, not swimming! But check out the man on the left HE IS IN THE SEA! The NORTH SEA IN OCTOBER in only a SMALL PAIR OF PANTS!!!!
Set off quickly, then slowed, as we wet up the cliff. Ran for a couple of miles, from Tynemouth, past the castle and pier, and then down the River Tyne along past the promenade and the Fish Quay (fishy) and to the Shields Ferry, where we made a quick detour to South Shields and back, because why not?
Back on the right side of the river, we carried on. It was quite easy to work out where to go, even though the Hadrian's Wall walking path hasn't started yet, if you cycle it, apparently you have to go further, as there is a cycle path out this way. Clearly marked. Can't take credit for not getting lost!
Interesting running along this part of the route - such big contrasts between areas which are very deprived, and other parts where a lot of investment has taken place. Soon enough we made it to Wallsend and the Segedunum, where Rome's Great Frontier begins, with some interesting 60s-esque architecture:
And some reassuringly Roman looking bits:
Apart from this sign, which says this is the eastern end of the Hadrian's Trail, there isn't much fanfare. So we had demure snack of half a scone by a derelict warehouse, and continued on the way.
Soon though we made it to Newcastle! And some more exciting looking signage!
The next part along the river was FULL of fishermen, starting shortly after a signpost that said "do not enter the water, it is polluted by the local tar-works". Fish and chips anyone? Soon made it to the city center - quite a sight coming around the curve of the river to see all of the bridges come into view:
Then it was past the city and through a few miles of business park, which wasn't that exciting to be honest, but for distraction I read a lot of information signs, and it turns out that pretty much tonnes of important people in the engineering/ naval world came from Newcastle - George Stephenson, Robert Stephenson, Lord Armstrong, Lord Collingwood. And Byker Grove was from here.
Things started to get a bit more countrified after that. Although, there was a LOT of dog poo. Cleaning up after your dog is not fashionable here. On the plus side I suppose, there were some very cute dogs. And some which clearly had ASBOs stamped all over them. Bet it was their poo everywhere.
Anyway. We had run out of water, despite running through a city. Survival in the wilderness would be brief for us. Happily, we happened upon a Sri Lankan restaurant, which despite not selling lemonade in bottles, or in glasses, eventually turned out to sell it in cans. Hurrah, we will survive! Three boys rocked up and had a similar conversation. Turned out they were walking the wall too! To raise money for Buddhist monks in China. Bamboozled as to how they were going to get along the whole wall as they only had one small rucksack, which looked suspiciously empty, and apparently no money, between them.
After a couple more miles we reached a rowing club on the river, and all of a sudden, we were in the countryside:
And just one more hop, skip and a jump to the stop-over for the night - a BREWERY!!!!
After 19.35 miles on the road, beer was called for:
I do not like beer. But I like the Big Lamp Brewers Prince Bishop Ale! http://biglampbrewers.co.uk/
Cake followed (there had been a lack of it all day):
The next day was a shorter run, I estimated about 8.5 miles, which turned out to be 10.5, but hey, what's a couple of miles in the grand scheme of things. The route got much prettier. There was only one navigational mishap. And after that things pretty much carried on in a straight line so it was quite easy, although already much hillier! The weather was kind again (bit concerned, like it's saving all the bad stuff up for some thing REALLY bad for the next weekends), only a few drops of rain, which could have been much worse, given that a hurricane is forecast after all.
Lack of wall today. Only some signs where it used to be. Looking forward to seeing some proper wall next time! Got excited when thought saw a sign for a vindaloo in the middle of a field, but closer reading showed this was a defense device, not a spice!
*for those not familiar: Auntie Earrinks is an unusual name, it's true. She was my Auntie who passed away a couple of years ago, and who was the reason that I decided to do '13 in 2013' in memory of, and to raise money for charities she supported. She was a crazy lady, and had crazy earrings to match (think neon parrots kind of thing). Apparently, when I was very small I wasn't able to pronounce 'earrings' properly, and I used to shouts 'earrinks!' whenever I saw her, and it stuck!
That sounds a brilliant weekend – may the reverse law of SOD continue to give us good weather for the November weekend stages!! We are looking forward to joining you both (although we will NOT be running – marching like the Romans maybe but not running!!
ReplyDeleteIt’s good to hear that a dietitian approves of a moderate intake of beer on these expeditions – good for body and soul we say. A B&B in a brewery seems a stroke of genius!
Rest assured you will see wall on the next 2 stages. You will also be in the wilds of Northumbria – very few water and food stops – be prepared take cake – lots of it. You will also notice the terrain is somewhat more undulating. Being clever Romans they built the wall following the line of the Whin Sill – a cliff -like feature that stretches East / West across Northumbria. This may have been useful for keeping the Scots out but makes for some rather steep ups and downs when walking / running.