Gran BretaÑa: Alex and the length of a country.

Dear Alex:

It was such a pleasure to meet you and family and frineds last tuesday. The traveler's rest is a wonderful pub, adn having just the bar available did because that private party did not make any difference. I had a great time, and my first pub lock in!!

It was a plasure to speak with you about cricket, tennis and football, to sadly realize that probably Arsenal will not win any trophies this season.... hopefully, we are wrong.

I would like to thank you so much for giving your cricket ball to me. I dumped the fake one in my rucksack, and I carry yours in my pocket all the time. This ball will travel with me all the way through Scotland, and will finally see the North sea by John O'Groat's sometime in september. Thank you so much!!

Alex.

I slept quite well on that night, in the camping nearby Dalton, but not enough as I had once again, a nice headache, "thanks" to the lock in night. In the morning I discovered that part of my breakfast had dissapeared: the chorizo pack was empty, and the chesse, including the package was missing. I don't remember if I left the tent opened or not, but a have a suspect for the crime:

Suspect

Anyway, I left Dalton with the nice memory of the best night of the walk so far, and not only because of you Alex, but also due to nice company of your mother Anne, that was extremely nice and kind, and Keith, the local builder that looks at least ten years younger than he actually is, and John, an old 3.500 acres farmer, with whom I briefly spoke about interested farming issues... I learned a few things.

Camping in the farm near Dalton

The day, on wednesday, it was cloudy in the begining, but I got plenty of blue skies by the end of the day. The walk began on country lanes, then a short bit in a noisy double cariageway, and straight into a footpath by the river Tees, that I followed up to Barnard castle, where I stopped for a meal in a pub, and a bit of a rest ( I was feeling a bit rough still). Later on I walked, already in tha sun through a few fields, leaving the river behind, and entereing in a very dense forest where a nice stream was running. Fresh, light filtering through the branches of the trees and, and the souond of the water. Very pleasant.

You don't get many sunny days like this one, so farmers rashed to get this type of work done.

Once I left the forest, took a few more country lanes towars Middleton-in-Teesdale. I was quickly surrounded by the hills of the North Pennines, that I would walk the next day. The camping at Middleton had a bar, which was very convenience for dinner and drinks. By this time, my head was already recovered from the night at your place, Alex, but I was feeling quite tired, so I went quickly to the tent.

The plan for the next morning... well, to be honest with you Alex, I had no plan fo the next day. I had to walk through the Pennines, and that can be slower and more difficult than I might thought when I look at the map. So I took tha path, without knowing where I would finish on that day.

Thursday was one of those days when the rucksack seems to be much heavier that the day before, although it is actually the same weight!. So, for the whole day, I had a sore back, and it was hurting me on the hips too and i got a strange looking blisters there.

In the day I walked in a mixture of paths and lonely roads. Sometimes following the Pennine way. No far from Middleton I visited High Force, an impresive 21 metres high water fall. I have observed that since I entered the Pennines a few weeks ago, the streams are red coloured, containing some kind of reddish sediment. Up here though, the red colour is not so intense, and some of the streams I crossed were colourless.

Me at High Force

Facing the last bit of the Pennines

As the day passed by, I realized I was going to make it to Alston, which right at the North side of the Hills, the end of the Pennines for me. So I walked, always in slight pain in the hips and in the back, to a nice spot by the South Tyne where I had a deserved lunch, expecting to reach Alston by 8 pm more or less. The day had been cloudy at the top of the hills, but down in the valley it wqas nice and sunny, and once again, it smelled like summer, with a not too warm sunset sun from the west, and a continous refreshing breeze form the east.

Luch by the South Tyne

Just before reaching Alston, I met a belgium couple that were cycling to Scotland. I met them too later on in the hostel at Alston, we had dinner together and then went to the pub for a quick couple of pints. The midges were again being very anoying.

A house in the south hills of the North Pennines.

An another one in the north side

In the next moring breakfast, I got to know that the army uses a mosturising cream called "Skin so nice" that apparently keep the midges away. The day was absolutly beautiful, and strangely enough, the rucksack was feeling very light on friday morning. I walked following first a steam railway line and then a dismantled one. Easy walking, and not very long, just about five hours, to greenhead.

The camping at greenhead is just a field by an old lady house, toilets an showers, but, would you need anything else in a camping??? Not me. So perfect then!

After eating and doing the daily cleaning duties, I took a bus to Haltwhistle. I did some shopping and I tried to update this blog, to let you Alex know how I was doing.I coudn't as the computer system in the library did not like uploading blog sites. So, feelling myself lost, with no hope, and not knowing where to go, I headed to the pub. The Black Bull. I can recomend it, for when you are old enough to get in pubs, over the ones that are close to Haltwhistle station.... and they have London Pride!!!!

Haltwhistle crazy people!

I lost the 8 pm bus back to the station, and I did not fancy waiting up to ten for the next one. So I walked for 1 hour back to Greenhead, that as you must be thinking Alex, it was like a stroll in the park for me.

I had a quick dinner while I got my face and legs eaten by the bloody midges, and selpt well. On the next morning, tuesday, I got up early, and took the train to Newcastle. I needed to buy a new pair of boots ( I don't know if I mentioned to you in the Traveller's Rest, that the ones I had were almost "dead", and the pair that afew frineds brought to me the last weekend were losing their soles), updating the blog, buying maps, and maybe go to the cinema to see The Dark Night, and go for a swim, all of this bearing in mind that I would meet Phil around 3 pm at the station. The library was having works done, and there was a film session for batman at 10:45, so I saw the film. The gave 5 stars to the film in the Times. I don't think the film was that good, but Heath Ledger, was absolutely amazing as the joker. That is acting! He actually became the Joker, and a very scary one. Recommended.

Me in Newcastle.

After that I bought a new pair of boots, and "Skin so nice", the midges repellent.. we'll see.... I bought the maps, visited the river, and met Phil in the O'Neals by the station.

I really liked Newcastle. Have you been, Alex? Nice wide streets in the city centre, lively by the river, and the whole city looked like going to a party... I really liked it!!

Phil and I had lunch.... (dinner for Phil) at Pizzahut (nice meal by the way), and got the train back to Haltwhistle. Made some shopping, and got lost again, no bus, no hope, no nothing... the Black Bull and more London Pride; sad life this one....

English men (the one in yellow is Phil) discussing geographic issues, and scientific ones!

In the camping we were eaten by midges once again, and decided to get up very early in the morning the next day. it was 5:30, a record for me. Starting walking at 7:30, in the fog. We quickly joinned the Hadrian's wall looking for a roman road that went in the right direction for us. The map says, remains of Roman road. There was as much remaining of the road as the soldiers taking care of it 2000 years ago: notihng. So the walk, towards Bewcastle (remains of) was quite difficult: wet and unstable terrain, reminded me Dartmoor, but no so bad.

The black bull at Hatlwhistle

The fog dissapeared, and we a beautifull second half of the day. From Bewcastle we walked 90% on country lanes. The landscape really felt like a border place to me; difficult to define, no flat, no hilly, "owned by no one".... Big masses of connifers began to appear in the horizon, landscape that you would not find in the England that we were about to leave behind.

Walking in the fog and in connifer woods.

The boots, the new ones, were behaving well, and we went through a few fords, and proved to be really water-proof. However, they were feelin a bit heavy, and we were actually not needing them for walking on a road (a deserted one) so we put our sandals on. I showed to be a good idea, adn we waled quicker and better. Phil was getting some blisters:

Making some repairs...

Wrinckly feet...

Then, we got to a point where we actually saw the border coming closer and closer. We actually saw some Scottish hills beyond the next connifer wood. Went through the forest, winding road towards Liddel Water, and there it was: Scotland. And what it means, I have now walled the length of a country, this beautiful country of yours Alex: rights of way, fields, streams and woods, stiles and kissing gates, towns and villages, pubs, and lost of beer, and cider too. And the country of Cricket.... this though, my only dissapointing so far. I mean, I am leaving the England without having been able to see a cricket game.... well, I guess there will always be next summer...

Just on the bridge over the Scottish border on Liddel Water river

Let's walk another country then! And then realizing, how my life changed in the last few months; and how unexpected would be from before those months to see me doing what I am doing now. I guess everything is possible, in a very possitive way.

The plan was getting to Newcastleton, but we actually stayed in Sorbietrees. A B&B just outside the town. I should recommend the place if you ever come up here Alex, as it is in a beautiful location, the house itsefl is huge and carefully and finely decorated, they have animals, the breakfast was huge and very good, and Sandy was a never ending smile extremely kind and nice hostess. And the place is cheap for the quality. She treated us very well, and after our shower she gave us a lift to town for dinner, picked us back to the B&B later on.

We ate at the Grapes hotel. A obscene dinner.... It made me sweat, very good!!

Saying goodbye to Sandy

Now we are in town, Newcastleton, and Phil is being very patient waiting for me while I write this long letter to you Alex. So thanks to him! In themeantime he is making some repairs to his boots: