I’ll drop lots of pictures and put some comments on each that hopefully will weave some kind of commentary regarding the last 2 days. Lee chastised me for writing too much (which I don’t subscribe to at all. If you are too lazy to read what I write bad luck!) so in response you can have 1 day off.... read more

Been walking. Been driving. Now it’s training time. And that’s not training but TRAINing. Big day tomorrow as we choof chuff from the grand and grandiose St Pancras Station. I shouldn’t use choof chuff as no longer are those adjectives or onomatopoeiadic sounds associated with trains like the Eurostar. Despite the fact that St Pancras does have a platform 9 and 3/4 I do t expect any steam powered locomotives to depart from any platform. The station is a magnificent mix of old and new. It performs well as a major international departure and arrival terminal and blends the functionality expected of modern terminals with the ornate and intricate architecture of an era well gone. Despite the fact we are boarding in England and alighting in France passengers are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes prior to ... read more

Kirk Yetholm. The finish of the Pennine Way. We’re in Scotland and pretty close to the border but as to what county, shire, district or whatever I have no idea and the blog site has even less. So simply ignore any location details more explicit than Scotland. And yes we have completed the Pennine Way. That’s 460 plus kilometres of hills, mud, moors, mud, forests, mud, tracks, mud, trails, mud, glens, mud, bothys, mud, tarns, mud, cairns, mud, fields, mud, farms, mud, trig points, mud as well as a few pints, steak and ale pies and stick date puddings. The last 26 km today were delightful. Very little mud and good stretches through moors with good intimidating hills interspersed so as to not make them dominating. The views were as expansive as we have become accustomed ... read more

In Hexham we are not. We’re in Bellingham pronounced as Bellingham. Spelt ham and said jam. And to get to Bellingham. It’s almost 28 km and the first 4 or 5 are on the iconic Hadrian’s Wall path and have us going past the Sycamore Tree. Everyone, including us, takes pictures and adds to to its fame and further reinforces its reputation. It’s surprising for a wall that’s almost 2000 years old and oozes history, for a region that has a plethora of sights and excavations that are really significant that it’s a tree that is primarily famous because it was featured in a Kevin Cosner film of Robin Hood! But it is lovely. It’s beautifully symmetrically situated between 2 steep sided hills and it does look great. The Pennine Way and Hadrian’s Wall Path share ... read more

What Twice Brewed is not on the blog site map! Believe me we are at Twice Brewed. Great name and one of my favourite places. Story has it that the Roman Army was camped here and part of their payment was paid in provisions (beer) but the beer was not strong enough and they refused to go on until it was brewed again, that is twice brewed. Today there’s a brew house immediately adjacent to the pub and obviously associated with it that brews brews and a sign here says brews have been brewed at this location since the early 1400’s. Who wouldn’t/couldn’t like the place. Then to top it off it even has one of those weather stones that tells you the weather. I’ll get a shot of it rather than attempt an explanation. We ... read more