£6 for the nightbus from London to Carlisle, £10 for the nightbus from Newcastle back to London 3 days later? Thanks to Megabus, an adventure was born!
Hadrian's Wall is around 120km long, and for those who don't remember their Roman history, was build at the northern limit of the Roman army, to aid in the protection of Britain from the pesky Scots.
Fast forward to today, and bugger all of the wall is actually left, mainly due to the fact that the Romans abandoned it 1500years ago, and the nicely shaped stones used in its construction made a free and handy building source for local villages and farms (and General Wade's later military road). However, there is enough of it left to get a feel of it, and the countryside along the route is certainly beautiful!
Now, in order to do the hike in 3 days, i had to cut out 20km (Carlisle to the Sea, on the fast western end of the wall) as, well, i ain't superman, and its a section that also involves either backtracking, or getting public transport afterwards, making it somewhat inconvenient.
Rather than write a stage by stage review, which i often find rather dull, here is the trip, summed up in stats (feel free to email if you have questions on the route)
102 km walked
2 dead badgers seen
1 dead sheep seen
4 other 'full' hikers passed
2 nights (cold) sleep
3 days (long) walking
14 hours walked first day
11 hours 2nd
10 hours 3rd
35 hours walked in total
1 chase from a bull (didn't like my red waterproof pack cover
1 American family met
0 non-white people seen along the route
0 campsites stayed at (shhh, don't tell anyone, as wild-camping is illegal)
In all honesty, doing this hike in 3 days, with a full back (tent, sleeping bag, stove and food for 3 days) is rather hard work, my poor feet! (Although i didn't do any preparation). 4 days, to hike the whole 120km is probably a better work load, allowing 30km a day. And thanks to Creative Nature as always, for their lovely Super Seed bars, which made a very tasty addition to my pack.
Rather than bore you with more words, here are some photos!
Sunrise over River Deen (about 3 hours after leaving Carlisle at 3am)
(Not clear what this related to- no monument near by, and the sign certainly wasn't in the 'care' of anyone!)
(View of the wall, looking north)
(Stormy morning)
(10 points if you recognise what film this is from)
(A well preserved gate section
(The wall is more interesting than me)
(This is for sale- no idea on the price
(Leaving the 'wilderness' behind and back to society)
(The dead sheep)
(Must be the most 'classical' housing estate in the country
(Classic northern English industrial terracing)
(Agile graffiti artists)
(A Banksey piece in Newcastle)
Hadrian's Wall is around 120km long, and for those who don't remember their Roman history, was build at the northern limit of the Roman army, to aid in the protection of Britain from the pesky Scots.
Fast forward to today, and bugger all of the wall is actually left, mainly due to the fact that the Romans abandoned it 1500years ago, and the nicely shaped stones used in its construction made a free and handy building source for local villages and farms (and General Wade's later military road). However, there is enough of it left to get a feel of it, and the countryside along the route is certainly beautiful!
Now, in order to do the hike in 3 days, i had to cut out 20km (Carlisle to the Sea, on the fast western end of the wall) as, well, i ain't superman, and its a section that also involves either backtracking, or getting public transport afterwards, making it somewhat inconvenient.
Rather than write a stage by stage review, which i often find rather dull, here is the trip, summed up in stats (feel free to email if you have questions on the route)
102 km walked
2 dead badgers seen
1 dead sheep seen
4 other 'full' hikers passed
2 nights (cold) sleep
3 days (long) walking
14 hours walked first day
11 hours 2nd
10 hours 3rd
35 hours walked in total
1 chase from a bull (didn't like my red waterproof pack cover
1 American family met
0 non-white people seen along the route
0 campsites stayed at (shhh, don't tell anyone, as wild-camping is illegal)
In all honesty, doing this hike in 3 days, with a full back (tent, sleeping bag, stove and food for 3 days) is rather hard work, my poor feet! (Although i didn't do any preparation). 4 days, to hike the whole 120km is probably a better work load, allowing 30km a day. And thanks to Creative Nature as always, for their lovely Super Seed bars, which made a very tasty addition to my pack.
Rather than bore you with more words, here are some photos!
Sunrise over River Deen (about 3 hours after leaving Carlisle at 3am)
(Wool trapped on barbwire fence) 
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