After a good breakfast we checked out of Willowbeck Lodge, leaving our bags for Hadrian Haul to collect and transfer to Walton. We left a little earlier than day 1 and were on our way for 9am.
For the first few miles we walked through parkland but the landscape started to change as we crossed over the M6 motorway and into farmland and farm tracks. We made good progress and found ourselves reaching our intended lunch stop by 11am, the Stag Inn in Crosby-on-Eden. Unfortunately the pub didn’t open until 12 noon so we continued on.
As you can probably tell from the photo’s the weather has been kind to us again, it was glorious all day. Again, shorts and t-shirt were required.
Todays leg was quite short at around 11.5 miles however we did get our first sight of Hadrians Wall at Bleatarn Farm
Towards the end of the walk we encountered a really pretty spot, Camsidebeck falls, a point where two streams join and flow across a weir forming a waterfall
We arrived at our overnight spot around 3pm, an earlier than expected finish. We’re staying at the Old Vicarage Brewery which is lovely. The brewery was closed due to the village having a Coronation party and the brewery running the bar, the owners very kindly asked us to join them and we spent a very relaxing afternoon in a marquee sampling some freshly brewed local beer.
Tomorrow we head from Walton to Once Brewed, a journey of 16 miles which should take around 6 hours of walking time. We move from Cumbria into Northumberland and are expecting a tougher day tomorrow with more climbing and potentially poor weather. I will let you know how we do tomorrow evening.
Stephen Arnison 