Fortunately English weather is variable. The rain came and went for awhile. We saw two stunning quarries. One had a swan swimming it and Holly and I hoped that its mate was just out foraging. I tried to remember what Janet told me about all the swans in England belonging to the queen.
The going was tough in parts, long scrambles up steep crags and then long painstaking walks down muddy, rocky hills. We named the last one The Dyvel’s Mudslide. After all this scrambling, R & D’s knees gave up after we reached Walltown Quarry and they opted to take the bus to Birdoswald. The rest of us went forth and the last few miles were relatively easy. We passed a beautiful cottage on a stream at the base of the ruined Thirlwall Castle. The castle, like so much here is built from recycled Roman stone.
We stopped for lunch and discovered one of the sandwiches was egg salad and shredded cheddar cheese. Of course I loved it and Jim was less than thrilled. He keeps forgetting to order his breakfast eggs scrambled and has been forced to eat fried eggs. EEUUUUH, he says.
I’m starting to resent that when Jim gets all bundled up in his jacket and Tilly hat he looks dashing and adventurous, like a dimpled Indiana Jones. Whereas when I’m kitted up in my coat and brimmed rain hat, I look like Doofus McGoofy. But at least mine keeps me dry.
The last stretch into Gilsland brought back pouring rain and for the first time my feet got wet. Jim discovered his coat isn’t waterproof. But after correcting a wrong turn we made it to the B&B.
Now we’re in our fabulous room in The Hill on the Wall. Part of the fun of this walk has not known where we’d be staying each night. It seems that each night has been more wonderful than the one before. Tonight we’re in an Elizabethan manor house built in 1584. To get to our room we go through a cupboard door in the sitting room and there is the door to our room: Flavian’s Folly. It’s a lovely room with toile bedspreads and a palatial bathroom. In addition to a lovely coffee/tea set up there is a jar of biscuits. This has turned out to be fortuitous since we’re too pooped to make it back into town for dinner. But the innkeeper served us tea after we got here and there’s not much better had a slog in the rain. Jim turned to me and said, “We should have tea at home more.”
Total for the day, 10.4 miles
This post was written by
Nadya – who has written 117 posts on UniBrain Trust.
Nadya is the resident food giver and trip planner. She likes to make things, and occasionally finishes them. Look! Shiny thing! You can often find her fixing JIm's spelling errors.