Singing in the rain, the sunshine & the wind…

This is our holiday week; other people’s children are back at school, its mid-season enough to be cheaper, mid-season enough that most places are still open, it’s mostly warm enough for Jiminy (Mrs Jiminy?), and mostly cool enough for me…

For various reasons we’re both significantly under fit, so knew that our game plan for the week was common sense and plod… and plod we did, the Whitley Bay park run was beautiful with views to St Mary’s Lighthouse and the coast, then the perennial Great North Run… I’m not sure if it was my 18^thor 19^thbut it’s an event, not a race (at least not where I am)… to give you an idea of the scale I was 1 ½ miles into my 13.1 as Sir Mo finished… it was hot, it was crowded, but the locals were as fab as ever; jelly babies & haribo, ice pops & water pistols, high fives & fist bumps – first or last it doesn’t matter- it’s a half marathon of fun and friendliness.  We also had a mad dash around to find the elusive Elmers… recommended for a fun trip around Newcastle & the surrounding areas!

After the GNR was the dreaded 4am start, to get a cab to get to the train to get to the bus to get to the start of St Cuthbert’s Way.  Whether it was the heat, the cold we’ve been fighting off, some of the haribo or just fatigue from working hard at the day jobs and our various charity thingies but we were wiped out, so did the first 19 miles of St Cuthbert’s Way the easy way… by bus… it did mean we got to see more of the towns we would normally have left early and arrived late in – a bagpipe playing pig and Mary Queen of Scots pears being highlights… 

We also rested and got ready for the next day – which the book said was shorter than the various GPS devices told us when we finished.  Midway was an expected delight – a church/café with Richard, a very nice chap, doing it all himself… the food was good, the cake was great and the welcome was warm – all of which we needed before the big hill into Kirk Yetholm.  Wideopen Hill has its name for a reason that only pictures can show… 

KY – you can make your own jokes – was the first of our hostel nights – a Friends of Nature hostel, which was amazingly quiet (only us two and one other in); quiet, friendly, warm, clean – with hot showers it was all we needed and more… 

KY across the border to Wooler was always going to be a hard day, about 14 miles according to the book, and a lot of inclines. 

The weather was odd, no other word for it… odd.  Hot in the sun, unpleasantly warm for me, but so windy that anytime I stopped I froze… Mrs Jiminy, was cold throughout the day…  We also had a strange encounter of the walking kind… 

Canadian over took us - ski gauntlets, insufficient gear & listening to music...

Canadian over took us - ski gauntlets, insufficient gear & listening to music... who’d gotten lost...

Canadian over took us - ski gauntlets, insufficient gear & listening to music... who’d gotten lost again...

Canadian over took us - ski gauntlets, insufficient gear & listening to music... who hadn’t gotten lost, but was waiting for us with our map, book, GPS etc to point her in the right direction...

Now its always possible to get lost, but St Cuthbert’s Way is well waymarked, very well waymarked and the weather conditions though odd were not difficult to navigate in.  Ok, I’m a walking nerd, so had map, book (inc mapping), OS map app, e-book, and Mrs Jiminy had the book as well… But only on a couple of occasions did we check the book – none on that day because the other pair of eyes normally found the “missing” waymarker or the next one in the distance. 

We sang our nations national rugby songs as we crossed the border and as miles accumulated, various “marching” songs warbled up to scare the birds.  

Wooler YHA was lovely, it was built as accommodation for the Woman’s Land Army during the war, and walls were covered with history or lovely paintings.  We changed footwear here – because the terrain was getting easier, and our feet were beginning to feel the miles (see below for our gear review). 

Wooler to Beal is a walk with three small ridges in the way, you can see the last of them pretty much from the first.  It should, and was, an easy day’s walking apart from two things… We had unforecast rain, and I mean we were soggy in our waterproofs – and yet very warm… and when we got to our fabulous B&B with the lovely Anne and her friendly labradors, there was a power cut in the area… Fortunately the power was back on for tea so we ate well and readied ourselves for the last day. 

Time and Tide don’t wait for anyone, especially not us, so we were a bit stuck on the last day of walking – we could follow the Pilgrim’s route across the sand, but would be racing the tide… or we could be sensible and walk the causeway, do the sights and get the bus back.  Readers, we were sensible… A high speed dash across the causeway, only interrupted by playing with the gimbal and having to report dead seals, took us on to Holy Island. Where there was coffee, cake, chutney & honey… with added majestic views… 

So that was the walking (and the GNR, and the parkrun) – all in c111km/70miles (plus walking to the pub, shops, bus etc)  with a reasonable amount of height gain in a week – we’re happy with that for our first multi-day walk together, and given how underfit we are. 

Gear review:

Boots – we both love our Alt-Berg Nordkapps – they hug our feet, and provide an excellent platform in anything muddy or ledgy, our feet didn’t move in them the two days we wore them. But they are fairly full on boots, and on stony trails and roads they didn’t flex like light boots do and our feet got tired.  

Shoes – our second choice footwear – Salomons for Jiminy and Inov-8s for me – they worked, were softer under foot but we both missed the security (if not the weight of) the Alt-Bergs.

Waterproofs – Berghaus, your vapourlight hyper lightweight smocks and jackets are a work of magic, almost see through, lighter than some of my windproofs and yet waterproof in full on conditions.  We love them and wished you’d still make them, because we know one day they’ll rip on a fence!!!

Backpacks – the highest accolade goes to Osprey for packs we didn’t notice; my Talon 18 is an old trooper these days, Mrs Jiminy’s Tempest 20 is new… none of the days did they need fiddling… 

Tech – the Apple Watch kept chugging along, recording the walks for hours after the Garmin had died – ok it’s a little wrist strap style Garmin but it was soundly beaten by the Apple Watch.  The IPhone XS was waterproof, and with the OS Map App we knew where we were and where the route was… we even played with VR at one point… 

Books - The Cicerone guide book is great, as ever it takes a day to get into the mindset of the author, and I’ve emailed them about the harvesting of a plantation.  There was one grumbly bit of navigation as well, but I think that was due to a farmer (and impromptu Grouse chasing... they were camera shy!)  Harvey’s did the strip map, and that worked well as well.

Baggage - we had our big Osprey bags, designed for being lumped over long-distances... so we found Carrylite, a wonderful company that made it all work as if by magic, we left the bags in a hotel in Melrose, and then they just appeared at each of hostels and B&Bs we had asked them too drop them off at.  No fuss, no bother, and remarkably good value - recommended Link to Carrylite

To answer the unspoken question – yup we will do another multi-day walk… just a question on when… 

TTFN

Paul