Day 17 - Hit the Wall!

Greenhead to Once Brewed

Today's Miles -  7 miles
Today's Ascent -  1863  ft
Today's Descent -    1391 ft
Total Miles so Far -  218 miles
Star Team Member: Caitlin, for her inventive recreation of classics!

Today we had a lovely walk! It was more like a stroll, really, but still we thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the rain. A nice surprise was, my sister Hayleigh and her best friend Neil joined us to walk a stretch of the walk- a really nice day. I think, in the nicest way possible, that we all get a bit tired of the same ABBA songs and small talk, so it is nice to have some different company!

We were taken to the point we finished yesterday, by the lovely man from the B and B we were staying at. We walked along a path by the river and over a bridge to Thirlwall Castle, where we walked on to a visitor centre and the rain started to pour down on us.

Thirlwall Castle

We walked up a little hill,waterproofs on, to hit Hadrien's Wall. It was really stunning to think of all those Roman soldiers marching up and down the 15ft high barricade, dreaming of warm weather and olive oil! But here it was in front of us today, a bit worn down, but still the same wall. 

The Wall!

I exhausted 'but after all..... We're on Hadriens Wall' yesterday, so came up with the ingenious 'All in all, it's just another brick in Hadrien's Wall', that well known Pink Floyd tune. 

The Wall and Me

We followed the wall in the pouring rain, up hills, then down them again. We stopped for a break, and rang Hayleigh and Neil, to find they were still in the car park at Twice Brewed, our destination for the day, sheltering from the pouring rain. We got to the top of a particularly large hill, to look back upon the view.

The view

We walked down the hill, to reach a road that we crossed over to a lovely warm cafe that had a shop selling sandwiches toilet block, that gave us a bit of shelter from the rain, that by now was on and off. Feeling a bit let down by this toilet block, we walked up a hill to see Hayleigh and Neil walking towards us, carrying gravy bones for Paddy and sherbet lemons for us. From here we had 3 miles to go, and we had great company, so the miles seemed to disappear quickly, along with the rain! Still some light showers every now and then, but nowhere near as severe as before. Up and down a few more hills, still following the wall. The trees in the next picture are where we were heading, where Hayleigh and Neil had parked their car, and Twice Brewed (we have stayed in some places with unusual names on our journey!) We got to the car park and Neil drove us to the pub, for a well earned drink, then back to our B and B.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Well folks, only 5 days to go! Dad said today "I wish we were still at Hebden Bridge (Day 03: http://caitlinspw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/day-03-flat-out-no-hills-today.html) and the adventure was still to come!" Honestly, is he mad? Yes, I will miss the adventure, but certainly not the prospect of having 19 days of non stop walking ahead of me!

See you tomorrow, on our 18th day- can you believe it?! (I can't, but my feet definitely can!)
Caitlin x