Cycling Hadrians Wall 2023

 You'll note that this is not a "coast to coast" cycle ride- although it is very possible, indeed it is an encouraged route to do. Initally our plan was to do such a thing, but logistics, trains, times and other bits and pieces meant that it was easier to plan and do if we stuck to "hadrians wall". For a first foray into cycle touring, simple was certainly preferable. I'm a great believer in making things simple if it means you are more likely to do it. 

Prep for leaving

Initially we had the idea of driving to Whitehaven, dropping the van there, cycling to Newcastle and beyond and then working logisitics to get back to the van. All well and good, but there was also the possibility of doing the route by train- low carbon. We looked into trains and taking bikes and various options and it appeared that the easiest thing to do was attempt to book the train online, but then get on the phone and talk to someone at the train company AS you are booking the train to make sure there is a bike space, and that it is allocated to you. A bit of a phone/computer/creditcard/calendar juggling match ensued, but it got sorted. 

Waiting at Picadilly

We figured on a couple of 80km days and a shorter day at the end- the long days would be Lynnes longest in the saddle, but effectively we'd have all day to do the distance, so it shouldn't be too much trouble. The hotels would be Travelodge, because you are allowed to store your bikes in your room (apparently Premier Inn also allow this). 

Now, despite us having "all day" to do 80km, the best train with the least amount of changes at the lowest price (a princely £13.20 each) to Whitehaven left Glossop at just past 9am- which got us to our destination at 1340... so not exactly a full day in which to do 80km to Carlisle. Added to which, there was a lovely fresh breeze from the North East, pretty much a direct headwind for the majority of the ride. We genuinely had no idea how long it might take us to do the distance- we both had a pannier- which was "relatively" light (I still brought a massive D-lock, partly as I'm paranoid), but we were full of beans as we'd just been sitting on a train for the past few hours. 

The wait in Carlisle was odd as we knew we'd be back there later that day. The breeze through the station was brisk, and we had a hot chocolate to warm up. Soon enough the train came to take us down to the coast, and we rattled our way down toward Whitehaven. To be honest, we couldn't be bothered going all the way there and got off a couple of stops early at Maryport to save on some flat coastal riding. The distance all told on that first day afternoon would be about 80k instead of 100. 

Off the train, onto the bikes, switch on the nav computers and off we cycled. 

Finally! We get to set off.

We went prettt much straight to the coast and then struck north along what was initially a road and then turned into a cycleway. For the rest of the afternoon, the roads were generally pretty quiet when we were on them- and occasionally we were treated to cycleways as well, but not very often. Our landmarks were fairly clear- to the north were the hills (and rain) denoting Galloway), and to the East were the hills (and rain) of the Lake District. The route that we were taking was somewhat wandering and we were amused (alarmed?) to see these land marks wavering wildly from one side of us to the other as we wended our way around the flatlands of North Cumbria. 

As mentioned, the headwind was fairly brisk and I spent a lot of the afternoon being a windbreak, but we kept up a fairly steady and respectable speed all the way through towards Carlisle. Several layers were needed as flat riding through windswept Cumbria is apparently pretty chilly- so the warmest layers were deployed as were fully warm gloves. All good fun, and Lynnes longest day in the saddle to date.

We got into Carlisle in good time, well before darkness, and had an interesting time picking our way through roadworks and dual carriage ways to get to the Travelodge in the centre. We didn't take long to have a shower and get changed once there, keen as we were to find somewhere to eat. 

Now it appears that monday is not necessarily a happening place to be on a Monday evening. Also, I know some people have a problem with Pineapple on pizza, but I didn't realise that the centre of this weirdness is Carlisle where it seems to be against their belief system or something. Anyhow, we eventually found a place that actually did something resembling a Hawaiian pizza, picked up a load of carbs to eat and scuttled back to the hotel to refuel and sleep. Thankfully the rain that had threatened from both Galloway and Cumbria had failed to materialise and so we were blessedly dry from the days exertions and didn't need to dry any clothes out overnight. 

Not a lot of room for luggage- yet still managed to make a mess

 

Day 2 was all about the hills. The true bit of Hadrians Wall... which we hadn't actually seen anything of thus far. Carlisle to Hexham promised to be a lovely day- again about 80k, but with 1300m of ascent... Lynnes longest and hilliest day on the bike thus far. (We don't like to do things by halves). It was fairly chilly as we set out, so again, full warm layers were used at the beginning. Getting out of town was only slightly problematic what with one way streets and cobblestones, but once away from the busy streets things calmed down somewhat and the journey fully began. Food stops were frequent in order to keep up energy, and the thermal bidon full of coffee proved itself to be a very useful item which I would highly recommend to any bike tourer.

We made our way through the back lanes over to Brampton where a stop in an independent coffee shop was conducted- espresso and a MASSIVE scone were very much on the menu there. The sun had come out and so layers were shed, winter gloves went away and we carried onward, sunning ourselves in the Spring sunshine. 

From Brampton onward there are a plethora of Roman heritage sites and areas of interest where we stopped to admire various items of archaeology in varying stages of decay/being dug up.

There was so much to see I actually forgot that we went to see this lovely Abbey- that was made from suspicously good stone... (and no wall to be seen anywhere near...)

 If you're a member of English Heritage you'll probably make your entire year subscription back just from visiting the sites on this cycleway... it would have cost us about £70 to go in everything along the way. As it was we satisfied our Roman hankerings by standing around old bits of wall adjacent to the road.  

Actual wall!

More wall....

As a friend once pointed out- when you're near the wall in some places, you can't see it at all... yet all the old houses and castles and churches see to be made of very good, sturdy stone. Which seems like a bit of a coincidence.....

As we went across towards Hexham the sun continued to shine, we had lunch in a very nice place in Greenhead, ended up in a pottery in Bardon Mill, stopped off at the Sill for a bit of a poke around, mooched past an excellent roman camp (Vindalandria), which I'd certainly like to go back to visit properly at some point- (and it has a vicious climb out of it as well..... as did Greenhead, come to think of it). 

The final turn into Hexham was a little of a come down after such a delightful day on quiet roads and cycle paths, but all good things must come to an end. An evening meal in a pub, and a quick noting down of the bakery for the morning were the main points of the evening before heading back to the Travelodge for a well deserved rest. 

(There were numerous other places which looked like a true delight to stay in. We passed some dinky little places, full of character and charm, but had already got our reservations in the hotels sorted). 

Day 3

You have to start the day well, and so we went back up the hill into Hexham to get a loaf and a couple of Chocolate Babka Buns from the Bakery (the Grateful Bread). In hindsight we should have bought a couple of the buns each- they were simply amazing). 

Babka buns. Watch out for these on Toasted to Destruction.

Getting out of Hexham was a bit of a chore- what with rush hour traffic and A-roads, though the tarmac was a pleasure to ride on. After a not insignificant amount of time, we were getting a little tired of all the cars, and thought a change would be nice- and the route diverted off to the right on a B-road. Finally. 

For the next few kilometres delightful country roads were the order of the day, but soon enough they gave way to the slowly burgeoning outskirts of Newcastle, our final destination. The final few miles were along the river Tyne, and it seemed that all of a sudden we were finishing, heading up the road from the Tyne bridge to the station. After a couple of 80km days it was a surprise to be finishing after only 35 or so. 

Lookee at that. It's a bridge.

Unfortunately we couldn't change our train tickets, so it was a long, chilly wait for the train back to Staylybridge (which was a battle to get the bikes into the bike storage), before the final ride back over the hill. 

Well deserved Waffles.

So. What can I say? It was a really good few days out. We weren't actually away from the house for longer than about 60 hours or so, had an amazing time, clocked up 2 of Lynnes longest days on the bike, had a load of laughs, saw a chicken with fantastic trousers, lots of wall, and ate a truck load of food.

Chicken with fantastic trousers...

Before this I'd never been on a train with a bike, never used a pannier for touring, never stayed in a hotel where we were allowed to take bikes in, and had certainly never done a tour which started and finished on a train. All new adventures. I suspect we'll be doing more.