Karma bites

Two days ago I wrote about our big hotel room in Walsall. We left there and moved on to Weston Super Mare. Warren found a place there on the beach for £150 for two nights on beach road. Most were about the same price.

Yay, there was a car park, four of them. We walk up a couple of steps then a long ramp to double doors, that one door then another or so it another door, the second one was locked, rang the bell and waited.

A guy came and let us in then took us up stairs to our room. Three and a half floors up.  Thank goodness it was after Hadrian Wall as before I would not have been able to get up those stairs.

Our room at the top of the stairs. Its tiny but compact.

View from our window, out over the rooftops. We are at the back so cant see the beach.

The staircase.

Walsall leather museum

I looked into things to do in Walsall and this sounded interesting, only trouble was it was closed on Sunday and Monday's the two days that we were there! Not to be discouraged,  it opened at 10am on Tuesdays. Ha, we checked out of the hotel at 10 and made our way there. It is a free museum too so a bonus.

Lots of examples of work and things telling about the tanneries and how things were done. In 1800, there were 90 people working by 1900 there were 2800. In Walsall at the height there were nine tanneries, a Walsall saddle was cheaper than from elsewhere as women did the stitching and were paid only half as much as men.

Beautiful leathers of many different colours and weights.

These bags and others were in a display case, many different styles but these two were actually made by a guy from Canberra.
The Queen has her handbags made by a company from Walsall. At the end we both made a keyring as a keepsake which cost 50p, quite fun to do.

Hotel rooms

There is a big difference in these. We booked the same guest house in Bowning on Solway for a night before our walking holiday started. Quote was £45 which we thought was okay but when we get there and pay, it was for each person so £90 for a double room.

After the walk we are having to arrange our own accommodation and using Booking.com, looking for places around the fifty quid mark. Usually gets a decent room without going over board.

We chose Walsall, we stayed here going up to Scotland but the Holiday inn had a cheaper deal than the Baron Court.  On offer was a twin room or a double disabled. Same price, I suggested we take the disabled as it would mean we were either on the ground floor or there would be a lift. Hauling suitcases up stairs gets very old very quickly.

Now I feel guilty as the bathroom is big and kitted out for some one in a wheel chair!
We are here for two nights, £105 for the two including breakfast. One dollar gets 51 p so its practicality $2 for a pound. We are on second floor and there is a lift!

Light!

I am having trouble getting used to daylight here in UK. Cant beleive how light it is so late. On the walk many people seemed to delay their breakfast and then their departure for the days walk until quite late. I guess we are used to starting early and tucked up inside by early evening.

Currently we are in Scotland, the bottom end and before I went to bed last night, I took the following photo, it was 10 pm.

Then I took one this morning from the same spot at 7am.

Both photos were taken through our hotel window.

Darvel

We travelled through some secondary roads, through small villages. One place was Darvel and stated "The birthplace of Sir Alexander Fleming" my thought was who was he? And why was he famous?

Warren told me he invented/developed penicillin Really I thought! Thank goodness for Mr Google and yes, I had to admit that Warren was correct.
Some pictures of Darvel.

Glascow

We werent going north, we were going south. J & S were going to Glascow but with a long weekend and expensive train tickets, only one bus leaving late. We had a hire car so we drove to Glascow airport. The road seemed a bit busy but nothing like the roads at home on a long weekend.

From Newcastle to Glascow is north west but tge easiest way to go across to Carlisle and then north. We passed several areas that we had walked through. It was  incredible to think thst a week ago we were walking close to where we drove today.

A welcome stop for a coffee.

A real bucket with an off set saucer.

We dropped J&S at the airport and continued back down south. We thought Ayr might be an interesting place but we couldnt get any accommodation.  

One side of Newcastle to the other

Our last night of our Walking Company holiday ended with a night near the mouth of the River Tyne. After visiting the museum we took the metro/train to the station of Tyne and then a 600m walk to our hotel. We were on the second and third floor! Breakfast was down stairs another flight and it was very cold with a cold wind coming off the water.

We returned with all our luggage to the metro and continued on the line to West Jesmond, thanking our lucky stars that the company had a weight restriction of no m ore than 15kgs. It didnt take as long to get there as we had allowed. We were able to leave our luggage and then we retired to Starbucks for a coffee.

Washing! I had spied a dry cleaners who also advertised laundry. They gave me bag, i took the medium one. For £10.95 they would wash and dry in 24 hours, a good deal seeing that we hadnt been able to any washing on the walk.

We were due to pick up a hire car at 2.30 pm, not far from our hotel. Not far so we decided to walk, Warren said it was about 3miles but being used to kms, I was thinking kilometres but no it was 3kms so 5 kms. Happy to say though that my ankles are back to normal and there wasnt a drama thank goodness.

Just got the car, a black mercedes and it started to rain! Driving an unfamilar car in an unfamilar city in the rain and just as school got out was not easy but we make it back to the hotel with only one wrong turn as instead of the road continuing on, the road went left.

Persian food

Never eaten Persian food before but it was delicious.  Just down the road from our hotel in Newcastle, West Jesmond. Mainly stews or grills.
I had lamb with egg plant with saffron rice. The lamb was very tender.  Prices were very reasonable as well.
After we had a mixed dessert it was called a Trio of something and was served on a long platter. One end had a yoghurt base with preserved figs, then three scoops of different flavoured home made ice cream and some baklava not sure of that spelling,

After we had finished and the bill paid, the owner said he would bring over one of the other desserts for us to try. It was rice noodles in rose water, served with a couple of slices of lemon. We asked what we did with the lemon and he said to squeeze a little over it. I think we all had some first without the lemon and it tasted okay. I am not that fond of lemon but, when in Rome etc so I squeezed and tasted. OMG, the difference it made was incredible couldnt taste the lemon but it really changed it. It was so refreshing.

Such a nice end to our Newcastle part of the trip.
A quick change of plans for today, we picked a car yesterday and were heading south but now we are heading back into Scotland to Glascow.

Newcastle Upon Tyne

We went from one side of Newcastle to the other with a stop in the centre of town first. We were lucky enough to get a front seat at the top of the double decker bus each time.

This is Jamie Olivers Italian restaurant in Newcastle quite expensive and it is expected that a 12.5% tip will be added.

We had a good view. It was cool.

Out shoes, out!

Almost a quote from some one famous.

Warren's shoes after the walk where a little worse for wear so out they went into the bin. Mine will follow soon but I needed to buy a new pair first as I was more concerned about packing walking boots. The runners that I wore are also now past it. Luckily I did put in a pair of sandals at the last moment but they do not have a great deal of support. A visit to Marks and Spencer and a wave over my card and I now have matching shoes to match my suitcase and jacket.

 £15, some of the shoes were £35 upwards.

Newburn Newcastle upon Tyne

That was the destintation yesterday. We stayed at Keelman Inn, it is a small brewery with a lodge.

The restaurant area.

Walking through to the lodge, 60 metres away. 

Massive trees in bloom.

Yay, we are in the downstairs rooms so no need to take suitcases up the stairs! (However we are being punished tonight as we are on the second floor).

My breakfast this morning, I was going to just have juice, coffee and yoghurt then Warren asked for poached egg with mushrooms. The mushrooms are really good so I then asked for mushrooms and bacon.

Outside the restaurant, as we were leaving.

Taxis

I caught a taxi from Hexham to the Robin Hood Inn. Lucky that I did as there were no buses.

Yesterday when leaving the Robin Hood, the bar tender gave me a card to ring for a taxi, I rang and requested one for 10am. I received a text at 9.35 to say taxi had been dispatched, just before 10am, I received another to say it was about to arrive. I hadnt even got my phone out when it turned in.

My destination was Heddon on the Wall (that is the full name of the town) where the plan was to meet the others for morning tea or lunch depending on what time they would arrive. I arrived at approx 10.15 and cost £9.40. I wandered the town a bit, the pub wasnt open til 12 noon. I found a cache in the common but everything else was too far away.

I retired to a coffee shop, yay not many of those around. The others got in around noon. They walked one way and I walked the other. I could have grabbed a bus then changed to another bus but decided to finish by taxi for convenince. Again it was a quick turn around and cost me £5.

This taxi service runs a little like Uber, cannot hail them only by ringing but they are classed as taxis, have the same licenses etc as the ones to hail. Flagfall starts at 10p. Cost from Hexham to Robin Hood Inn cost me £19.20 different company.

Robin Hood Inn

This was our hotel for the night. A hotel in the middle of no where but the road called Military road went straight it and of course so did the Hadrians path. Only three rooms for guests but it was a hopping little place last night for drinks and meals.

There was only one double and two twin rooms so Warren and took the twin, quite large rooms they were with nice sized bathrooms. One place we stayed at was very cramped, I bumped my head on the shower wall when going to sit on the loo. I learnt to come in sideways and twist. Getting into the shower was interesting too as had to squeeze past the drying towel rack to get in the doorway, I was thankful that I had lost some weight.

From the bed, there were two nice bay windows.

Cute saucers, the cups didnt match but they were dainty. One chocolate makes two cups.

Scene from the bedroom window 

Hexham

Only 6 miles further down the valley from Wall is Hexham. Quite a big place compared to the little hamlets and villages we have come across in the last week.

There is Marks and Spencer, a Tresco and an Aldi plus a laundry and lots of other stores.

I was waiting at the bus stop and an older lady came across and we got to chatting. A car drove past and stopped, apparently it was her neighbour and both insisted that I hop in too for a lift to Hexham. The guy mentioned that he had been walking his dog earlier and jt had been spooked and walkers helped him to locate it. The walkers were the rest of our group as he said that he thought he heard a north american accents!

The Abbey at Hexham

A pub in the middle of Hexham

One of about five churches in the town, all this size.
The walkers were going to stop at a pub on the way and get lunch there. While I was having coffee, I heard that the pub was closed so I grabbed some pies at a bakery for their lunch. Oh my goodness the pastry was unreal, sure that it was home crafted.
After I took a taxi to Corbridge as not sure that the bus went near.

Leaving Wall

I waved them off and ventured back inside until bus time, at 10.33 am. I needed to take the Roman Wall bus which was numbered AD 122 (the year the wall was built) in Hexham, 6 miles away.

 This was our hotel for the night, Hadrian hotel at Wall, it did have ivy growing on the outside but it was getting into the eaves so they had to remove it.

Forget me knots growing at the edge of the bus stop.

Bus to Wall

A longer bus run today taking about fifteen minutes. For the guys (who walked) it was a 22.3 kms walk, although ut wasnt as steep apparently. They left at 8.30 and arrived at 4.30 pm.

A massive building that we drove past, it was called something stables, the building stretched out about half again as in the photo.

Dogs are seen everywhere it seems. This couple and their dog got on the bus, not an assistance dog just their pet. The night before in the Twice Brewed Inn, there were two big dogs in the bar area with their owners while they were having dinner. We have seen quite a lot of dogs on the walk and there are dog bowls for water at any if the stops.

We had to wait for traffic to come through on a one lane bridge and I just snapped this hotel called Greystone Hotel.

The river when we crossed it, think it was the River Tyne.

Breakfasts

Oh, are they ever good! Warren decided that he had been eating too much so he choose eggs Benedict not sure of the spelling but they looked good and tasted good too, I begged for a small taste of the sauce and then wished I had gone down the same path.

There are no filters on this, it looked that good.
I asked for the full breakfast minus the black pudding and tomato, I dont eat them so why bother.

Still a big breakfast. Then there is juice, cereals, toast, fruit, tea and or coffee as much as anyone could want.

Twice Brewed

An unusual name for a place. Depends which way one is coming from, the sign says Once Brewed on one side of the sign post and Twice Brewed on the other.

I caught the bus cost was £4.20 and asked the driver to let me know when we arrived at my destintation. I was watching the road and saw the sign for Twice Brewed, driven didnt seem to ve stopping, I was hoping that I didnt have too far to walk back.

He turned down a road and kept going, then around a roundabout and up to The Sill. Dont know why it is called the sill but it is a typical tourist place with gift store, cafe and things. I wandered around a bit before going for a coffee.

I really didnt need anything to eat but felt I should order a Victorian sponge cake as it was there. It cost £7+, the coffee was good, cake not so good, I found it very dry.

I read my book outside for awhile until it got too cool. Found the inn, it was just at the back but cannot book in very early. 

The others got in about 2pm, it was a short walk, only 13kms but very steep.

 Had my first taste of yorkshire pudding. 

  

Greenhead

My ankles after day four.

I have pulled the pin on the walk but happy that I was able to do four days straight. No blisters and just some soreness at the end of the day but okay the next morning. My ankles were swollen and hot. I had similar about fifteen years ago, never considered it would be a problem here. I stopping wearing socks after the first day but that wasnt enough. At 2am when I hadnt been to sleep, decided that I should not do any more.

I waved the others off and then waited two hours for a bus to get to the next destintation kf Once Brewed/Twice Brewed.