Its the evening of Thursday 4th May 2023 and I’m busy packing ready to travel from Kent to Cumbria tomorrow. We’ll be overnighting in Carlisle on Friday prior to starting our six day hike on Saturday across the Hadrians Wall path, from Bowness-on-Solway in the West to Newcastle in the East. The path is a total distance of 84 miles although we will endeavor to make it a full coast to coast route by continuing on to Tynemouth on the east coast for a total of 90 miles.
I admit to being somewhat nervous despite the many hours and miles of training completed in advance of the trip. Fifteen miles per day doesn’t sound too taxing yet I’m fully expecting the aches and pains to kick in after walking that distance for several successive days. My rucksack could pass for a small pharmacy as I seem to have planned for every eventuality.
The weather forecast for the week is mixed, sunshine and showers with temperatures ranging from 13 to 17 degrees Celsius. You don’t plan a long distance walk in Cumbria, in May, without expecting lots of rainfall, we’re well prepared and ready for whatever weather we encounter en-route.
I will post throughout the walk sharing details of our adventures each day and lots of photo’s as we go. I’ll cover the route, distances, our accommodation each night and no doubt the odd pub or restaurant where we chose to recharge our batteries each evening. Check back regularly to see how the rag-tag bunch of middle aged men get on following in the footsteps of our Roman ancestors who built the wall way back in 122AD.
Stephen Arnison 