3-day trip to hadrian's wall: part two of day 1

Note: This is the second post of the trip, so to start at the beginning, go to post titled 3-day trip to hadrian's wall: part one of day 1


Got into the 4 pm bus and modified my plans again (since I'd missed the 2 pm bus). Decided to get down from the bus at a place from where I'd have to walk only 4 miles to Greenhead. No sooner had I decided this that it started pouring! A guy sitting behind me suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to find a good-looking guy asking me whether I knew when the bus would stop at Haltwhistle. I couldn't for the life of me catch the word Haltwhistle - his accent was so strong. I have no idea which part of England he was from (I think he told me but I don't remember now) but he was working in a city not far from Durham. Anyhow, he turned out to be very irritating. Anyone who asks me for my email within 5 minutes of having met me can be nothing but irritating. And he just wouldn't stop talking, presuming that I could understand his accent (just because I was in his country?). For a moment I wished to hell I had a non-understandable accent while talking in English. I tried to ignore him, but he forced his email and phone number on me. I politely gave him my email but told him I don't remember my phone number (which is true). He kept asking me where I was going, that I should email him how the trip was, etc.

Then I willfully tried to ignore him and started a conversation with the woman sitting ahead of me. It turned out that she was from the bus company and was observing whether it ran properly, on time, etc. So I narrated to her how I'd missed the bus at Hexham. She was very sympathetic, went up to the driver to talk to him and then came back and told me that I'd not really missed the bus. The bus apparently passes by the railway station twice in close succession and it is only the second time around that it actually stops to pick up passengers. Great, I thought! "Its a real shame, its a real shame," she told me and then we discussed how the signage at the railway station's bus stop needs to be more user-friendly.

It was really pouring and I decided I should call it a day - just get down at Greenhead and start walking tomorrow. But then the rain suddenly stopped and the glorious sunshine came out! So I let the bus pass by Greenhead and got down at Birdoswald. Here, I found that Hadrian's Wall was 3 minutes from the bus-stop. Thus started my walk along Hadrian's Wall. I hoped that I wouldn't be walking so near the road all throughout - that would not be nice! But now, and for the rest of my trip, luck stayed on my side. The wall went straight east, away from the curving road, and I soon found myself among grassy fields.

Hadrian's Wall seen to the left of the path: Yeah, the wall by itself doesn't look so very special at many places, especially given that walls of similar stone serve as fences for much of the farmland along the way. At other places the wall looks more interesting.

This first stretch of my walk, 4 miles from Birdoswald to Greenhead, was nice and easy (but not as spectacular as the next 2 days). Gently sloping now and then, the path went over the river Irthing and then across fields with sheep and cows grazing in them. Unlike what you see in the photo above, the path is usually not closed off by the wall on one side and a fence on the other and you can in fact wander off the path if you like, go pet some sheep or cows (though I wouldn't recommend that).

This cow was uninterested in me, but on my 3rd day I had somewhat of a scary encounter with cows (no, I did not try to pet one). Walking among the sheep and cows is fun unless you find yourself somewhat cornered by cows giving you deadly angry looks

Hadrian's Wall was built around 120 AD, from stone east of the River Irthing and from turf west of this river. Where it was built of stone, it was designed as a 5-6 metre high and 3 metre wide wall, though ultimately it was built to a 2 metre width. At regular intervals there were turrets and milecastle fortlets. It must have been quite a sight at the time, exuding power. Today, almost 2000 years later, the wall is much lower and often narrower too, though you do see the 2 metre width at places; at other places the wall disappears altogether. I think I read somewhere that the stone had been taken from the wall and used to build other things in the surrounding areas. Along the walk, you also pass by the never-more-than-a-few-feet-high-remnants of its turrets and milecastles. Although this is a national trail today, most of the land along the wall is not owned by the state. Rather, it is mostly private land (as is the case with most walking paths in Britain, I believe) where walkers have "right of way," that is, they can pass through (respectfully). This arrangement is something I find quite fascinating. So often there is no path except trails of trampled grass that you are supposed to follow through the fields. At many places, you will therefore also come across signs asking you not to walk on the trampled paths, but walk just alongside so that the grass can grow back where it has been trampled.

I got to Greenhead around 6:30-7 pm. The walk had been too short. In retrospect I should be thankful it was short, because at the end of the next 2 days of walking, my feet felt so sore I was on the verge of limping. And it would have been a pity to miss any part of those 2 days (I almost did as I will explain later).

Anyhow, to come back to Greenhead, I'd booked a spot in the youth hostel dorms (15 bucks a night). When I got to the hostel, the doors to the hostel were open but there was no one about. A sign said to go check-in at the nearby Greenhead Hotel. This was also the only restaurant and pub in Greenhead (I think). So I checked in, got myself the key to a dorm room - there were no others in the room that night. The hostel wasn't as clean as I'd have liked it to be but it was fine for a night. I went back to the hotel to have dinner and a beer. The place was very busy and quite loud. There was a 200-person wedding party going on in a room at the back. I have no idea where 200 people had come from. It seemed like a tiny settlement - some dozen or two dozen houses. Still, the vegetable lasagne was okay and the beer was good. At one point, Mamma Mia came floating out from the back room and I found myself tapping my foot. I ate and then retired to my room. It was a bit eerie being all alone in a room of 4 bunkbeds and never having seen who else was staying the night in the youth hostel. I woke up once in the night from a dream - someone had entered the room and was shining a torchlight at me. I apparently had the presence of mind (in the dream) to sneak out my little torch and shine it back at him. He quickly turned, opened the door to the room and fled. I jumped down from my top bunk and started to run after him. I shouted for help as I opened the door of the room, but only a creaky voice came from the throat. I think thats when I woke up. Not nice. But the rest of the night was uneventful and I slept well.