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Contents :: PENNINE WAY :: Day 5                       INTRODUCTION DAY 4 DAY 9 DAY 14   PREPARATION DAY 5 DAY 10 DAY 15   DAY 1 DAY 6 DAY 11 DAY 16   DAY 2 DAY 7 DAY 12 DAY 17   DAY 3 DAY 8 DAY 13 PREP RUNS                     THE PENNINE WAY FOLLOWS A LARGE SECTION OF HADRIAN'S WALL     NATIONAL TRAIL GUIDES UK           Day 5 :: On the Wall :: Steel Rig to Lambley :: 14 miles           Once again I did not sleep well last night.  The bed was too small and I was woken in the middle of the night by a cat calling to its mate for an hour or more.  Its call was discordant, loud and piercing and sounded rather like an animal being eaten alive.  When I arose I did yoga with Carol, then  after eating and packing Ian drove us back to Steel Rig car park to continue running where we left off yesterday. Our route for today would take us west along the remainder of Hadrian’s Wall and across the River South Tyne, north of Greenhead, over the A69 and onto Blenkinsopp Common, across Hartleyburn Common (North Side) and finally to the A689 near Lambley, where our run would terminate for the day. The wind was blustering wildly and the sky was overcast, threatening to rain.  We immediately felt chilled but knew that we would soon warm up after we started running.  We watched Ian drive off and then began to run along Hadrian’s Wall, along Windshield Crags.  Carol experienced difficulties from the outset today.  Both her feet were troubling her and her shin was now hurting.  This became worse as the day progressed and I was quite sure she had shin splints.  There were many more mile castles and turrets on this section of the Wall and I knew Carol would have trouble ascending and descending their sheer steps. As we approached Caw Gap there was quite a preponderance of domestic livestock around;  black cattle, black ponies and sheep.  At Caw Gap there was a steep descent and Carol found it intensely difficult.  I had run ahead and when I looked back there was an elderly American tourist assisting her down the steps.  He was 73 years old and still fit enough to walk up and down the arduous steps at a leisurely pace.  It was no trouble to him to help a damsel in distress even though it meant walking back up the steps again.  I felt rather guilty for not helping Carol, but I did not say anything               Carol on Hadrian's Wall - Phobia 1   Lake at Hole Gap           We continued, making relatively good time considering the difficulties Carol was having.  We found ourselves at Hole Gap where there is a disused quarry now filled with water adjoining a car park.  From here the Way changed direction, leading north and we followed an easy path to Great Chesters farm, where there was a strange aroma that neither of us could identify – definitely a farm smell, and one that I found not unpleasant. Here we found Aesica, a ruined Roman fort, which was large, empty and mostly overgrown.  The usual parade of tourists did not travel to this part of the Wall, being a little out of the way and off the beaten track.  The Pennine Way here led directly across the fort and emerged at the opposite side.  We decided instead to cross the fort lengthways and take the path down to Vallum, a broad Roman ditch supposedly with high banks [although I didn’t see them], which ran parallel to the Pennine Way, until the two merged a mile or so further on.               Part of the old Roman Camp of Aesica   Approaching Thirlwall           We were still making good time and were running at a commendable pace.  We passed Alloa Lea farm, with its distinctive genus of sheep, and Lowtown Farm where we saw an unusual ruined arch-like structure seemingly fronting a disused quarry.  At the farm there were very strong smells of horse manure and a solitary lamb was bleating very loudly.  There was a good view of the gap in the wall by King Arthur’s Well and of the Walltown Crags. The Pennine Way and Vallum joined at Walltown Wood.  Here there was a very strong smell of Meadowsweet.  I had become quite accustomed to this smell and I looked around to see from where it was coming.  I soon found a field almost filled with the creamy white blossoms of meadowsweet, which was also hemming both sides of the road that the Pennine Way was now following.  Here, too, were many passerines and grassland birds singing gaily, the sun having begun to shine a little.  The very sound of such birds always fills me with joy and now that the sun was shining and there was such a sweet fragrance in the air my heart filled exuberantly and the excitement of being here overwhelmed me momentarily. We next proceeded north for a short way up a road and then departed it to take a path on our left, over a wall stile.  The Pennine Way was still following Hadrian’s Wall, which was now skirting the town of Greenhead.  As our course neared the River South Tyne a castle abruptly came into view through a gap in a secluded woodland we had just entered.  This was Thirlwall Castle and was located just outside the very small but beautiful hamlet of Holmhead.               Thirlwall Castle   Cottages adjoining Tipalt Burn           There was now a rapid change of scenery as we left the Wall.  We crossed a footbridge over the river, followed the banks of the river for a short way and then crossed a level crossing and minor road to enter a golf course.  I could hardly believe the Pennine Way crossed a golf course, but there was no error.  It certainly crossed it.  As we crossed the course golfers continued to strike their balls in our direction, as though we were invisible. From the golf course we emerged on rough pasture and for a while we followed the boundary wall of the course, eventually veering away to meet the A69, which we were obliged to cross without bridge or underpass.  The road was extremely busy.  We had to thread our way down a steep embankment and wait for a gap in the traffic before running quickly across. On the other side of the road there was a good track alongside a copse to a quarry, which we were obliged to circumnavigate.  I seriously considered taking a shortcut across the quarry but decided against it.  The pleasant part of today’s run was now coming to an end.  Navigation on the moors was about to begin.  Route finding had thus far today been straight forward.  I knew this would change once we reached the moors.  I had been on these moors before in mist, and I had found it difficult to follow the path.  Today, however, there was no mist and I was excited to see what the area looked like, having run it before without seeing it. We followed an agreeable track toward Gapshield Farm, passing several times between pylons and beneath overhead electricity cables that hissed at us as we did so.  As we reached Gapshields a whole herd of sheep were assembling in a corner of a field and bleating in unison as we approached and continued as we receded.  They really were very noisy. We were expecting a left turn off this track very soon to take us uphill, steeply, and onto Blenkinsopp Common.  The path we were presently running was keeping parallel to the A69 heading west.  Our map indicated a turn shortly after a sike which sprang from Reay Crag, not far above us.  We found it at last and a Pennine Way sign pointed left towards the moor.  There was no path, however, just a direction.  We made an upward climb and were grateful there was no mist, for we could judge our bearings by keeping to the right of a quarry that we could see.  Soon enough we espied a stile and changed direction for this.  We crossed it to arrive on the brim of Black Hill.  The fun had now started.  There was no path here, just a moor and a very wet one at that. On closer examination there was in fact a path, but it was difficult to make out, being filled with water, as were other ruts and rills on the moor, so that they all looked alike.  We could see a cairn in front and slightly to our right.  We knew from our map that we should keep left of this.  It was no longer possible to run and we were forced to walk along the muddy slough until reaching a stile over a wall.  Once over this the path was a little clearer and we headed toward Wain Rig                Pennine Way towards Wain Rig from Black Hill   Pennine Way along Hartleyburn Common           The Way here was very boggy and in places our feet were completely immersed over our ankles for a considerable time.  Carol was very frightened (phobia no 3 – an intense fear of water. She cannot swim, although swimming was not quite necessary!  How she talked herself into this run I cannot imagine).  Some of the stretches of bog through which our Pennine Way path ran were so deep that I also became apprehensive.  I was forced to guide Carol by the hand through the most difficult stretches (I think she enjoyed this bit!). We were meant to be running and here we were finding it difficult to walk! I had warned Carol that this area would be difficult to traverse.  When I crossed it earlier it had been in rain and mist, but even so it was not as boggy and muddy as it now was.  There must have been a considerable accumulation of rain water over the last month or so, and the drainage must be quite poor.  I never expected it to be as difficult as we now found it. We passed over Wain Rig and Galloping Rig, following a straight fence until suddenly coming upon a footpath marker which I recognised from my earlier visit.  Here we turned sharp left, south east, and headed toward Highside Farm, veering away upon nearing it and heading down to Greenriggs, where we passed through its grounds to reach a minor road. The weather had been steadily improving and it was now quite sunny.  As we ran down the slopes of Hartleyburn Common (the general name for this moor) I had run ahead of Carol and stopped to take photographs.  I was pleasantly surprised when I turned to see Ian standing at the gateway to the farm.  He had been waiting for us, knowing that we would be descending from a difficult area.  He thought he could lighten our burdens by taking our back packs.  As we had only a few miles left to go and had no further need of our back packs this was a most appreciated gesture.  When Carol arrived she was as surprised and delighted as I.  Ian is sometimes surprisingly thoughtful, bearing pleasant surprises when they are most appreciated. The concluding part of our run today lay between Greenriggs and the A689 near Lambley.  I had previously attempted to run this area from the opposite direction, starting from the A689 and had become hopelessly lost (the mist did not help!) and ended up crossing to an alternative bad weather route, following the road to Greenriggs.  I had intended to follow the same route this time, but as the weather had improved so much I decided we should stay with the Pennine Way route.  Carol agreed. Off we went, crossing the footbridge over the Kellah Burn and proceeding very steeply uphill to Batey Shield and Ulpham Farms where there was a prodigality of cattle through which we had to pass (Carol’s phobia no 2).  At the end of a field we followed a Pennine Way sign but then became very confused because the stile to which it pointed, near Foxhole Cleuch was very new and contained a prominent notice saying “Not Pennine Way”.  We were obliged to follow an indistinct path along a loop of the Hartley Burn to a footbridge, but again could not see our path.  There were no signs and no obvious path. The OS map indicated a south west direction.  We used the compass and followed it south west, up a steep hill to a ruined house, which we were excited to find was High House, a ruin located on the Pennine Way.  We here followed a small track to a sike and then crossed Dodd’s Rig and Holly Rig  The bog was back with us once again and the path had deserted us.  In the distance, however, we could make out the A689 and could estimate our direction quite accurately, path or not.  In fact, we could even make out our parked car where Ian awaited us               Pennine Way heading to Highside Farm   Marker Stone near Black Burn on Hartleyburn Common           Because the path was almost non-existent we headed in a bee-line directly across the moorland to the road ahead.  As it happened we came upon a Pennine Way marker stone on a raised area which was clear of the bog, and after that a paved section across some very wet and difficult parts of the path around Black Burn. With a final zest of energy we ran to the car, noting as we did so the strong aromatic scent of thistle that we passed near to the Burn.  Once we met up with Ian we quenched our thirsts, which were quite considerable, and then stretched for 15 minutes.  We then drove to Alston where we would be staying for the next 2 nights. In the evening I was able to make a number of sound recordings – 2 waterfalls at Gossipgate (on the River Nent) and one on a quiet stretch of the River Nent, not far from its confluence with the River South Tyne         Day 4 Day 6       Author - Roy McKee Copyright © Roy McKee 2006