Our group of Penine Way challengers left Greenhead together yesterday
at 8am eager to get our first glimpse of the wall. It had been good to
have some company in camp for the last couple of days but with some
reluctance I was going to have to leave Stuart and Dave, the postal
workers from Crawley, and Steve and Phil the maintenance engineers
from Nottingham, to their own challenges and press on ahead. We walked
together to the first remains of the Wall and then I said my goodbyes.
I had 25 miles to cover over some very up-and-down terrain so I
lengthened my stride and pushed hard for Bellingham. I followed the
wall for about 12 miles before the Penine Way turned north. A short
detour to visit the roman fort half a mile further on and to have some
lunch and I struck northward again. In contrast to the ups and downs
of the wall the path going north was relatively flat and passed
through forest and open moor. By the middle of the afternoon I knew I
was going to make Bellingham by 5.30pm so eased up on the pace and
enjoyed a couple of 20 minute breaks. The weather had been good and my
legs have been getting very accustomed to their task so that a 25 mile
day on tough terrain no longer causes me to struggle. I stocked up on
supplies in Bellingham and broke camp early this morning. As I sit in
the only cafe for miles typing this at 1pm I already have 15 miles
under my belt; today may be one of those very rare 30 milers! I'll let
you know tomorrow...