Day 66 - Bellingham to Byrness - 16.1 miles

Following yesterday's late start, I'd planned to leave Bellingham early. I had breakfast
watching a thrush in the garden.
By 9 o'clock I was underway and left Dan, Stuart and John buying provisions at the village shop.

There was a promising cafe in a set of old 'blood and custard' coloured railway carriages at the dismantled railway station
on the steep climb out of the town. (fortunately not open 'til 10, so no chance of distraction quite yet) 
The route gained altitude quickly past spoil tips from earlier mining

and I was able to look back at the town and the route I'd followed yesterday.

Passing through Blakelaw Farm, the route soon got on to the moor and meandered it's way boggily through the marram grass to Hareshaw House where I caught up with Alan from Bristol and we were soon joined by Dan and John. Alan is a young man in his seventies on his way to John o'Groats.- having left Land's End on 29th April he's been doing 30 mile days!!. He explained that he'd been a scout leader for years and had run numerous youth groups. For charity he's walked the IncaTrail and climbed Kilimanjaro. This time, he'd decided to do this walk for himself. 
Unfortunately the mileage was been taking its toll on his knees. This was slowing him down but he was all the more determined to make it. 

Farm buildings at Hareshaw House.



In good visibilty it was generally easy to make out the worn path and helped by the occasional marker posts and cairns.

At Black Hill (I've lost count of the number of hills I've walked over of that name) the path enters Kielder Forest.
At almost 200 square miles this is the largest 'man made' forest in England. At certain points, it is all you can see for miles. The attraction of walking on logging roads is that navigation becomes a doddle but we all found that walking on large aggregate soon becomes quite tiring underfoot.

Over the last few days, we'd all found that it's good at times to walk in company but at other times good to have silence and have time to oneself, to think one's thoughts or in my case to have a chat with myself!!! (Probably the first signs of madness!!)  I think we'd all found a different comfortable pace, cadence and were probably carrying different pack weights so from time to time I would catch up with or be caught up by one or more of the others.
Despite his knees slowing him down, Alan was quickly developing a reputation for  clever map reading. Having left him behind a few hours earlier, we came upon him again. He must have somehow overtaken us in the forest.
Eventually, the route descended to the A68 and the Forest View YHA at Byrness. To be honest there is nothing else at Byrness.

Footwear becomes a subject of some interest.....
here is John sporting his Salomons ( which he claimed were keeping his feet bone dry) while Dan is wearing Vivobarefoot.

John and Dan had arranged to stay overnight at the hostel and were going to tackle the next stage to Kirk Yetholm over two days - with a night at one of the bothies on the mountain.

Perhaps foolishly I was intending to do the 26 miles to Kirk Yetholm in one day. Herbie had selflessly offered to join me on the walk and kindly offered accommodation again so having arranged to pick me up at Byrness at  5 - on the dot, he turned up in their electric Renault Zoe. The first time I've ever been in an electric car - amazing, like being transported on a silent magic carpet!

Back at Humshaugh, Herbie had arranged for us to meet up with Chris and Kirsten who'd walked with me from Clovelly to Bideford on Day 14.
A great evening at The Crown before returning to Herbie and Susanne's for some good sleep before tomorrow's big day.

Total distance walked so far = 858.4 miles
Total ascent so far = 102 489 feet

If you'd like to leave a comment, correct me on any detail or just nudge, it'd be great to hear from you. If initially it comes up as Anonymous, please just add your name at the bottom so I can see who it's from.

email: david.LL.thomas@gmail.com
mob: 07850109100

If you'd like to contribute to any or all of the great charities I'm supporting, here are the relevant links.

- Just Wheels UK  - this is a small charity set up to provide wheelchairs in a rural community in Tanzania. It does this through funding training, education and the local fabrication and servicing of bespoke wheelchairs. My nephew uses a wheelchair and as he grows I can see the life changing freedoms that proper wheelchairs can bring to both users and their families.- 

- Parkinsons UK   - My dad had Parkinsons in his latter years and the research work this charity funds and the support it provides to patients and their families is invaluable. - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas215


- RNLI   - these are the brave guys who selflessly head out to sea to help others. I volunteer at Littlehampton RNLI shop and often meet families of those who’ve had first hand experience of their loved ones being saved from the sea. Having sailed for years I can say thankfully we’ve never had to call on the RNLI's services but it’s amazing what it does to know they are there 

https://www.justgiving.com/

Comments

  1. Mike D17 June 2022 at 14:19

    Remarkable how much of the world is still open spaces. Thank you for showing us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David's 2022 Walk18 June 2022 at 15:23

      You'd love it up there Mike. It's very special to be in a place where - for as far as the eye can see - there is no sign of human existence. An amazing privilege.

      Delete

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