A Walkers Tale

On the surface, accessing the northern end of the Pennine Way looks to be a fairly complex endeavor - but whilst planning a walk along Hadrian's Wall , I realised that the combination of train and then bus makes access to (and beyond) the wall possible for a day walk. And so today, the plan is to use one of the train-bus links to get up to Bellingham (via Hexham) - and then walk the Pennine Way towards Hadrian's Wall - before finishing up at Bardon Mill.

This walk follows the Pennine Way , but with about half of the walk being the same route as Hadrian's Wall . This takes in the very best section of Hadrian's Wall to walk - albeit with it also being the hilliest bit.

This walk is the second of two days of walking, having previously walked from Ashington to Whitley Bay  on the previous day. Today I am heading along the coast to Tynemouth - where I will cut down to North Shields, and on to Wallsend to meet up with the Hadrian's Wall Path , which I will follow to Newcastle.

One of the National Trails I have been keen to complete in its entirety has been Hadrian's Wall - partly because it is a nice area for walking, partly because it has a lot of history - and partly because it is fairly short, and therefore pretty easy to tick off.

I have for many years done walks up on Hadrian's Wall - aided by the easy transport links - but whilst I have typically focused on the middle sections of the trail, I am here today to start to complete the eastern end of the trail, with a walk from Hexham to Newcastle.

This stretch of Hadrian's Wall from Haltwhistle to Hexham, is the first section of the wall I ever walked - and it spends a lot of time covering the nicest middle section of the trail. The very best of Hadrian's Wall runs from Carlisle to Heddon-on-the-Wall - and if you don't mind long days, a three day walk stopping at Haltwhistle and Hexham along this stretch would give you an amazing three days of walking.