Day 16: The sights of the B6318

Start: Greencarts campsite

End: East Wallhouses

Distance: 12 miles

This was the penultimate day of the Hadrian's Wall route, before arriving on Newcastle for my first full rest day in over two weeks, a prospect I was extremely excited by. My miles have ranged from 12 to 24 daily so my body was getting ready for a break. I knew this as I slept right through, undisturbed until 8am, which when camping is rare. I stumbled out off the tent, attempted to organise myself in my groggy state and then we began the day. The main motivation today was there was a cafe on route to offer both shelter from the rain and a more substantial lunch than the contents of our bags had to offer. It was a drizzly grey day and other than a few patches, Hadrian's Wall was mostly non-existent. Sadly, the views were not too interesting either, especially in comparison to yesterday where we were treated with the dramatic hills, the view of the wall and the moorland. Here the route stayed adjacent to the B6318, occasionally changing sides and running through farm fields or a narrow path along the road. It was gentle and flat, making for easy progress, but a little boring. Walkers smiled from the protection of their waterproofs and hoods as they passed, making the usual comments about the weather.

We met two women walking in the opposite direction to us from Ontario in Canada, they were friendly and joked about the "typical British weather". They told us that back home, when it rains, it's heavy and then its over whereas here it's just persistent light drizzle. I was surprised with not only the volume of hikers on the path, but also the distances some people had travelled to do this. In the pub yesterday there was a world map on the wall where visitors had placed pins to mark the country they were from, which really highlighted the appeal of this historical trail. Unfortunately, people were not really experiencing the best British summer as the rain refused to relent yet again.

We continued along the road towards the cafe and up ahead Sam spotted a small animal with a rusty coat and white stomach, darting around near the hedgerows. It was a stoat! He moved quickly, standing tall to scan the area before bounding into the hedge for cover. I was very happy with this sight, although they are widespread across the UK, it's rare to actually encounter one. We arrived at the cafe, just in time for the rain getting heavier, so took shelter and had some tea to warm up. We ate lunch and made the most of the variety of sweet treats on offer to fuel the afternoon's miles.

At this point we were getting close to Newcastle so decided to make today a little shorter, given the weather and the fact that we'd seen enough of this road for now! There was a pub not so far away that allowed you to camp in a field at the back, this way we could stay warm and dry inside and fuel up properly for the final stretch. It feels nice to have an early finish and rest up a little more. Newcastle lies up ahead, only 14 miles away from here where the second phase of my journey will conclude.