July 22, 2018
Haltwhistle to Prudhoe.
Misty morning in Vindolanda to sunny afternoon in Corbridge and warm evening in Prudhoe.
Haltwhistle to Prudhoe 63kms
Misty morning in Vindolanda to sunny afternoon in Corbridge and warm evening in Prudhoe.
It’s a misty moisty morning. We reach the high road with the fells on our left and the end of the North Pennines in rolling wooded country below. Black faced sheep, some curly horned, and cattle graze the dry land or settled behind the stone walls. It’s a satisfying feeling to be out pedaling in the fresh early morning.
We cut down to Vindolanda, a Roman site, then up to the highest point on the wall route, at 260 metres. Chesters, another site on the wall has its share of visitors, and we continue to Hexham. This place has traffic building up to attend the car boot sale.
Our attention is food of course, and Waitrose claims our pounds, ( saw Tesco later). We picnic at Corbridge, where a churchyard provides shade. The church origins are Saxon, and the town was an important crossroads town for the Romans.
Beside the church is a Pele tower : a fortified tower, built in 13th century. It housed the vicar until the 17th and provided protection from roving cattle thieves from north of the border. Now you can have a beer there.
Happy Sunday afternoon riding past stone cottages, colourful gardens and pubs with outdoor crowds enjoying the sun.
An old railway path provides a leafy entrance to Prudhoe. Information boards have historic photos of trainloads arriving for picnics beside the river Tyne. The railway still serves the towns on Hadrian's Wall.
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Our camping spot is green and leafy. There are tables, and a sheltered space should we need. A Dutch couple on motorcycles , and an English chap, here to do a rowing course, are our only neighbours. I help him put up the tent he’s borrowed from his son. The boy and girl from the caravan site run off their energy in the field. We find their Geordie accents enchanting but incomprehensible.
Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 2,381 km (1,479 miles)
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