Pennine Way 16 or all Roman roads lead to Twice Brewed.

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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 managed to walk around the weather today stopping judiciously enough to dodge the worst of it. I’ve worked out that a 30% chance of rain at 12 o’clock and a 30% chance of rain at 1 o’clock and a 30% chance of rain at 2 o’clock and a 30% chance of rain at 3 o’clock mean a 100% chance of rain sometime. The maths is wrong but the meteorological logic here is flawless. It certainly has not failed for several days lately.

As our walkers distance was so small (relatively) we spent most of the morning in a local museum dedicated to the Roman Army. Very modern, with 3D film and lots of video but informative and interesting.

Then onto Hadrian’s Wall. What’s left is a fraction of what was once an impressive sight. In places it was 4.5 m high with turrets another 1.5 m above that. Now so much stone has been ‘recycled’ that Julie had to keep asking ‘is that the wall?’. All those Yorkshire stone fences have spoilt her. The walk along the wall rises and falls with the Crags or Riggs here and it is tougher than it looks but it suits me and I really enjoy walking around here. The sweeping visas that incorporate this snaking stone edifice are spectacular and again I love them.

The trig point is the highest on Hadrian’s Wall so it offers great views. Next walking day sees us as the Sycamore Tree and Housesteads a couple of iconic spots on Hadrian’s Wall and again will offer a couple of highlights. Most of the walk today was heading East, soon we take a right hand turn and walk to Scotland. The trail weaves in and out of Scotland probably a dozen times (why?) in a relatively short distance.

Anyway it’s beer o’clock.

Ciao for now.

Oops, nearly forgot the last photo may scare young kids. Be warned.

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