Alston to Once Brewed - 27.5 miles. Said goodbye to Gill and Bernard who had given us great support for the last few days. Very tough day, 27.5 miles in cold and, again, very windy conditions. Aly concerned about a bit of a niggle in her left hip but battled on stoically.
Abandoned the Pennine Way for the first part of the day and instead followed the South Tyne Trail, a cycle route along a disused railway line. Then plotted a route which involved crossing the River Tyne on a bridle path clearly marked on the O/S map. Unfortunately there was no bridge to cross the river when we got there, so having discarded the idea of swimming across, we had to go further on to a byway which definitely crossed the river according to the map, except it didn't in reality. We finally got across a few miles further on than planned and had to plot a new route in consequence.
Went past Vindolanda, one of the best preserved Roman camps (see picture), and then in true marathon fashion, hit the wall. It was however, Hadrian's Wall which we crossed to rejoin the Pennine Way and 5 miles of bog, which completely sapped what strength we had left. Somewhat relieved to finish! Jo and Dave arrived in the evening to support us again for the next few days. Jo cooked us a meal and had clearly benefitted from my constructive criticism to try harder as it was actually quite good. As a reward she gets to cook for us again tomorrow. MPB
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