The Dark

The Dark: 13 Mud Crew Miles

The year of silly just got sillier:

Running at night in tights, tutu and fairy wings is surprisingly liberating!!

[L-R] Were Chicken, Vamp-bat, Batman,  Psycho Fairy, Glo stick badger, BatWomen 1 & 2

Mud Crew don't do easy. So a trail run, at night, in fancy dress, with beer, to celebrate a friends birthday was an opportunity not be missed. The Dark  is , according to the official blurb, "a 13 mile race by head torch, through Cardinham Woods, following the infamous Beast of Bodmin mountain bike trails. This is a spectacular undulating course that takes runners through the depths of the woods". Add beer and fancy dress, what could possible go wrong?!!

I had been planning my outfit for a while, however I wasn't entirely sure what the finished article would look like. Psychotic -psychedelic- tutu- totting -fairy anyone? I decided that gold wings would look better [of course!] so purchased some glitter gold spray paint, but didn't get around to colouring them prior to the event. Note to self: spray painting fairy wings only an hour before running in them is not a good idea. I was followed around the course by a very strong smell of solvent. Very strong.  

Being a birthday, cake and beer was needed. So BATs, in full fancy dress, headed to the bar. Fairy in a tutu was joined by a Were Chicken [with squeaky beak], a Badger [with glow sticks], Batman [far too serious], 2 Bat Women [Good look girls!] and a genuine vampire bat [with fluorescent fangs]. Ken the Werewolf Hunter [nice fishnets!] also muscled in to the fun.

Pre Race Nutrition

Badger helps BatWomen1 light candles

Birthday Vampire Bat cuts cake
with help from Were Wolf Hunter

Beer & energy gel consumed. Check. Team photo. Check. Costume all in order. Check. Sing Happy Birthday to Sarah. Check. Let's run! 

At the Start!

Our costumes did not go un-noticed; Of a field of 300 or so runners, I believe there was only one other runner in fancy dress. So we stood out a bit, despite the fact it was dark. It was time now to stop posing and get running. And oh what fun we had. River crossings (x3!) , up & down and around and up some more. Zig-zagging and looping round the Cornish hillsides. Through the woods a dazzling line of torches weaved & bobbed there way through the countryside. Twice. Some of the technical sections of the trails were as exhilarating on foot as I imagine them to be on a MTB- and almost as fast. There was a stunning section of open hillside with sweeping switchbacks and jumps, aptly nick-named by Vamp-bat as the human roller coaster section. I have to admit this bit was fun, hurtling down hill, screaming like a banshee, taking off, no idea where you would land lurching left, then right round corners, all the time the wind blowing up my tutu! Running at night in tights, tutu and fairy wings is surprisingly liberating. As much as possible, we stayed as a group for the first lap. Apart from the Irish Werewolf hunter and Batman. They ran off into the dark woods together! 

It really was dark!

Bat Wings

I was really enjoying the run. OK, it was slightly bonkers and our pace wasn't that great, but the conversation & company certainly were interesting. Vamp-bat was overheard having a very detailed chat about the relative culinary merits of different species of road kill, there was debate about who would win in a contest between Count Duckula & WereChicken as well as much musings on the topic of what the offspring between a badger and a bat would be like - or a werewolf hunter and batman! I have been reliably informed since, that a random fellow [non fancy dress] runner was upset by our varied topics of conversations. I don't why. Maybe he swallowed a fly? Maybe it was because we were all in fancy dress, having fun, had enough energy to talk and run, yet were still in front of him. Who knows. Running should be fun- even when it hurts. We do it because we enjoy it, don't we? 

The marshals were many and friendly, and most commented on our outfits [especially my tutu & wings for some reason!] There were surprises to be had in the woods, with zombies, Blair Witches, a haunting Clanad style music drifting through the woods and general all round spooky shenanigans laid on by The Mud Crew. Or at least I hope they were. But then we were in Cornwall, so who knows!

After 3hrs of sweaty joviality and frivolity, we had achieved a half marathon P.W [personal worse]. In fact Sarah, AKA Vamp Bat, runs Marathons in that time, [and also wins Ultra's for Mud Crew] but it was her birthday and she ran with her parent group, Bere Alston Trekkers. And had lots of fun. We salute you Sarah. Even in fancy dress you would have {probably} won this event, but you dressed up, drank beer and ran with us. We enjoyed your company; hope you enjoyed ours as much.   

Beer was very much on my mind as we finished, so it was straight to the bar. Pint for the fairy, pint for the Vamp Bat [WereChicken doesn't drink and we had lost the others on lap two!] Then it was time for a quick change, into something warmer and more comfortable and back for hot food. The veggie chilli was most delicious and most welcome. The beer was also welcome, but if there was one criticism of this event , it was the beer. Kernov Lager is well, a lager. Albeit be a fairly good one. But it is not an Ale. Proper Job? That's a Cornish Ale is it not? Anyway, a minor detail to a very well organised, extremely well marshalled and an all round fun event to run. BATs served there civic duty by taking in a stray Muskie Wereworlf Hunter, whose "friend" had driven off with his bag [clean clothes, money, phone etc..] We took pity on him and cared for him.

By 23.30hrs, the evening was winding down. I was almost falling asleep in my beer. Thank you to Rachel for driving. Up the lane we went, turn left at roundabout onto A38. Except we couldn't. Roadworks. Diversion. That went nowhere. We were trapped in Cornwall. They wouldn't let us back into Devon. There were no signs and we were on our own. Hi tech Sat-Nav was going into meltdown as it wanted us to to go back the way we came. So we turned it off and allowed a Werewolf Hunter in fishnets to guide us through the wild and unlit Cornish countryside to get back home. And get home we did [thanks Ken]. Shattered, but happy. A lot of fun was had but it was now time for bed. Thank you all at Mud Crew and my fellow fancy dress BATs for a great evening. Can't wait for next years event. But better beer next year please!   

[L-R] Batwomen2, Badger, Vamp bat, Werechicken, Batwomen1

The Grizzly 2014: Withering Heights (Featuring Heath and Cliff!)

Sunshine in Seaton
See that cliff; We ran up that!

The Grizzly

It's March, therefore it must be Grizzly Time. The sun was shining and BATs were out in force. We were ready. We were psyched. Let's do this! Except I wasn't sure I was ready. I had been suffering [or at least everyone else had been suffering from me not running!] from a recurrence of of an old injury. I had been sidelined for a few weeks and although I had been told by Alen Sparrow I could run, I was nervous. I knew I could do the distance, as I had been doing 20+miles in training throughout January; I was nervous about how my ankle would hold up. Would I be OK or would my race year be over? If my ankle hadn't healed and I hobbled out of the Grizzly, it would need several weeks, if not months, more rest. I would miss Brighton Marathon and then would probably not have enough time to get miles in my legs for Race to the Stones. My mind was racing with all of these thoughts come race day morning and I babbled nervously and continuously in the car on the journey to Seaton. Sorry Rachel. But I had done all I could. I was rested, I

Arnica Salve
Neil's Yard Organics

had stretched my ankle, I had a few sports massages from Nathan at Kinetic Sports Therapy in Bere Alston and I had been using Arnica, supplied by the lovely Tracey from her holistic consultancy business in Teignmouth.  All that was left now was to run on it!

Right, where were we? Seaton. Race day. And a colony of BATs. Our beloved coach and purveyor of fine

Selfie in Seaton

 cakes, Dotty King , had arranged for us to meet in the same place we always do. Spirits were high, the sun was shining and I had made some rather delicious fruit & nut fudge ,which went down a treat. Once photo'd and fed, 'twas time to head for the sea front for the start. There were thousands of runners at the start, both for the Cub and the full Grizzly. A traditional rousing speech was given by the town crier and then we were off.  

Nervous smile at the start 

Shingle. That's all I can say. After a quick warm up along the shingle beach, it was a loop along the promenade and then up the first hill of many, many, many hills on route. Did I mention the hills? There was lots of running [or walking!] up hills. And down hills. And along beaches, through rivers, bogs, muddy fields and muddy hills. I'm not sure where we went, as I didn't track it or map it- but we did pass through Beer and Branscombe. The weather was great, the mud was deep [very deep; thigh deep!] and the shingle beach an energy sapper like no other. The marshals were, as always, friendly, helpful and encouraging. That's why we love the Grizzly.

I started the race slow, towards the back of the field and kept a steady pace. Walking up some of the earlier hills was not so much a race strategy as a necessity, due to the vast numbers of people on small narrow lanes. But today I didn't mind. By the time we hit the second stretch of beach and the obligatory river feature, I was warming to this run; quite literally really as the weather was hotting up. Bruce {a Greyhound} was there with his BATs vest, cheering us on, with his humans, Heather & Mike. But they didn't have cake this year. Oh well.

By about mile 7 I was feeling good. Very good. My ankle was not causing me pain. I decided I could do this, so I sped up. I started to overtake people. I stopped worrying. Well, stopped worrying about my ankle. I thought I was getting blisters. I wasn't- but I was breaking the cardinal sin of racing by wearing new trail shoes, so I kept worrying that I might get blisters!

New Shoes
Very Good in the Mud!

But I was beginning to enjoy this. Sure, it was wet & muddy underfoot, the hills were steep, my lungs were bursting and my thighs were aching; but I was feeling strong. The weather was good, the scenery spectacular, the marshals splendid and my fellow runners were an amicable bunch.  I was genuinely surprised to catch Ken, a BAT, who thinks he is a Muskie [sorry, in joke], as he has been in such fine form this year having already run both the Anglesey Coastal Marathon, the South Devon Coastal Marathon {both raced in atrocious stormy weather} and the mud of the Steyning Stinger Marathon. But he was wearing his 'other' club vest and not a BATs vest, so I had no qualms about passing him. 

So we battled through bogs, thigh deep in mud, worried we might drown and never be seen again until next March, perfectly preserved. But dead. Slightly melodramatic, but the mud was deep and extra slushy this year. Just how I like it. The haunting melodies from the piper at the edge of dawn could be heard, his tuneful bagpipes rebounding around the hills and valleys, keeping our spirits alive. Last rites were said at the Buddhist temple.  A few more ups and downs and then it was back into civilisation with cheering crowds. Sorry Ruth, I was in the zone by then.  I was focused, I was hurting. I didn't see you. Shame on me.

The beach. Oh the beach. The shingle beach. Oh how I love thee. After 16 gruelling miles, a few hundred metres along a shingle beach is just what I was looking forward to. I was hurting so much , that I was actually relieved to reach the Stairway to Heaven, a welcome reprieve to the shingle torment. Albeit an almost vertical climb up a cliff. But the end was nigh. It was only a few miles to the finish. I stopped at the top of the cliff to have a gel and admire the view. Simply stunning.

Back to the task in hand. A race. The finish was, quite literally, in sight. Only a few more miles. I could do this. But then I got cramp in my right foot. Never had cramp in a race before. It hurts. A shooting pain up my leg every time I put my foot down. I thought I would fall at every step. I gritted my teeth. I swore [silently  as there were children about] and carried on. As I came down the last hill and along the promenade once more, the pain disappeared. The raucous crowd welcomed us runners in, and I sprinted for the line. BATs were massing at the finish and a rousing cheer was a very welcome end to the pain. 

Grizzly 2014 T-Shirt

Water, a banana, a finishing T-Shirt and then a dip in the sea to wash off the mud and cool down, and it was time to slip into something more comfortable. Full results here. BATs, overall , were fab. But that goes without saying.  I had a 9mns P.B and was 100 places better placed from when I last ran the Grizzly in 2012. RESULT.  Best of all for me though, was not the result, but the fact my ankle was OK. I can run again. Now that really made me happy.
  BATs results are as follows:

Grizzly 
Nathan Newton 03.10.22
Paul Williams 03.33.38
Steve Watson 03.33.41
Murray Turrner 03.40.07
Francis Dix 03.51.19
Tracey Oxborough 04.01.38
Derek Hicks 04.15.09
Matt Luckham 04.21.55
Emma James 04.32.51
Rachel Wood 04.48.04
Dotty King 04.48.06
Julian Setterington 04.48.56

BATs @ Finish

Cub
Philip King 01.34.42
Toby Rankin 01.44.15
Grant Lawrence 01.44.36
Frances Morgan 02.00.16
Emma Dooney 02.15.12
Melanie Greaves 02.15.15
Donna Luckham 02.15.44
Paula Lawrence 02.15.47
Alysia Maciejowska 02.15.50
Hilary Head 02.41.24
Martin Head 02.41.59

Congratulations to Nathan for being 1st BAT home in the Grizzly and to Phil for leading the Cubs home. A special well done mention to our very own Sarah Morwood [albeit running for her sponsors, Mud Crew] was third women home overall. To be fair, the distance was a bit short for her!

Following a rather excellent day out in the sun [and mud / shingle / hills / valleys / bogs] of the South Devon Coast, after the last BAT was safely home, there was only one thing left to do- and that was to go to the pub!

BATs in the Pub

BATs in the Pub

              CHEERS!

A Big thank you to Axe Valley Runners for , yet again, putting on a fantastic event.

   

Things I Have Learnt This Month

Destruction in Denham Woods

February 2014. Eight weeks into the Year of Silly. Not everything is going as well as planned. After an excellent start to the year, training was going well; diet was going well; confidence was high; books on Ultra running were bought and read. What could possibly go wrong? Then, in few short weeks, it did all go wrong. My training schedule was not so much derailed, as destroyed and washed away, as rapidly and violently as the railway line at Dawlish.

Shortly after my previous blogg entry, I felt tired and drained. I thought I had been careful and trained hard but smartly; but when running close to the edge, occasionally you fall off. I had over trained and needed a few days off. I rested, and felt good again. Revitalised, I hit the trails again. The weather was as foul as ever. Wind, rain, mud, fallen trees, meant some runs were as much assault courses as anything else- but that was part of the fun! Week end runs were regularly hitting 20+ miles. I was strong. I was confident. I felt invincible. This was going to be a great year.

Then an old injury stopped me in its tracks. In November 2013, I turned my ankle. I didn't think much of it. I rested it a bit. Iced it. Went to see a sports physiotherapist. Told there was no major damage, so carried on running. Thought nothing of it. Until it became sore again some 3 months later. Went to back to have it checked. NO RUNNING FOR 3 WHOLE WEEKS. Well, only 3 x 5 miles per week maximum.

Turned Ankle
8th November 2013

There was no muscle or ligament damage, but it was weak, and I had been overcompensating, so my other leg muscles were very tight. I didn't take this well. I was relieved that I was not damaged goods, but not that I couldn't run!  I was allowed to cycle, so it wasn't all bad. I like cycling- but this was a year of running!

It was a bad week. I was not in a good mood. I read up on ankle sprains & rehabilitation [I know, I know; bit late I hear you say?] and that made me even more depressed. Seems they can be quite serious and hard to heal. Great. So why not take the time to build a website. I have been meaning to do this for a while. Watched a YouTube video and away I went. It wasn't as easy as the video made out (!), but I now have the skeleton of a website: Get Out Moor now has a website. How exciting. It needs work, but I'm pleased with it so far. February hasn't all been doom & gloom then!


So, what have I learnt this month:

• Training too hard, too quickly, is not advisable.
• A turned ankle is a more serious injury than I realised.
• When your coach says,rest, ice, compress, elevate. Listen to her. [I was reluctant to do this when I first turned my ankle, as I did not recognise the serious of it; my coach did!]
• I don't take being injured very well!
• How to build a website: this is a skill I never thought I could master, but YouTube is a marvellous source of information. 
• The wind and rain will stop, eventually, and one can go out for a lovely cycle in the sun {not that I'm a fair weather cyclist you understand; it's just more pleasant}

A Cycle in The Sun

January 2014: The Year of Silly!

The Year of Silly: The Story So Far

New Years Day: Brown Willy
Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

I know, I know, it is maybe a bit early for a retrospective view of the year, but how have the first 3 weeks of this brand new year been for you? Wet? Well, yes, pretty much everywhere and most of the time! It has been the kind of rain that does not fear Gortex. Someone ought to tell Tlaloc & Zeus that waterproof clothing ought to be just that- waterproof. So please, stop sending down rain that makes a mockery of our wet weather gear  Soggy kit is scattered around the house, in a vain attempt to dry it out before next heading out of the door. A dedicated drying room would be fantastic right now, but  alas, funds do not allow for such right now. 

This year will be tough, but hopefully also fun. I hold out high hopes for this year. Towards the end of last year a few hardy / crazy few of us from the best running club in the world [BATs ] decided it would be fun (!) to enter a couple of Ultra's this year. So we did. Dartmoor Discovery , Race to the Stones and The Plague have all been entered. Oh, and also Dartmoor Classic sportive.

My race calender so far for 2014 is March The Grizzly ; April, Brighton Marathon ; May, Imery Trail Marathon ; June Dartmoor Discovery AND Dartmoor Classic ; July Race to the Stones; August The Plague.

I've only ever raced once above 26.2 miles, and that was at the Dartmoor Discovery in 2012. Now I plan to run 2 marathons, and 3 ultra's-- 2 of which will be 100km [62 miles] - in consecutive months. Some of these races will be brutal and will test my physical and mental strength in ways they have not yet been tested. Fun- really?!!

Hope I'm still smiling at the years end!
A short rest at Princetown

 

The year started in a manner it was to continue - wet; and the Brown Willy run on Bodmin Moor beckoned. Nothing clears the head more effectively than a 7ish mile run across , and up, wind and rain swept moorland on New Years Day. We nearly didn't make it though, as many of the roads were flooded. Glad we did- if only for the pint at the Jamaica Inn afterwards. It was the perfect start to 2014. Training in earnest was now very much on. 

Honest, this IS the footpath!
Georgie Enjoying a 15miler  

Training is now 6 days a week and occasionally  accompanied by Georgie . She has been transformed from a sprinter to  a long distance runner in little over a year. Go Georgie! I have so far managed to stick to a training plan for a 3 - 3.5 hr marathon time at Brighton, with an ultra training plan kicking in immediately after the Brighton Marathon. I'm stretching regularly, had a sports massage [something I had previously neglected until injured] , started circuit to improve strength and core stability, continued cycling for some cross training and am eating well. I'm feeling pretty good and my continued dedication to a plant based diet [29yrs veggie] is still proving effective as my training increases. However,  my hardest [and proudest] training achievement so far though is not drinking alcohol yet this month - well not since the 1st, but that doesn't count(!) - that's 21 whole days!!!

Burrator Reservoir: Early morning
An unusual light is seen in the sky!

How long can this enthusiasm for training last? Can I really do this for 8 months? Will  I stay injury free? Can I really run 100km? Really?? Positivity is the key. I believe I can do it.  A super friendly and supportive running club, training partners as dedicated / insane as you, a coach who feeds you cake and a stunningly beautiful wilderness in which to train, all help. But by far the most important aspect of my training programme is the love, unwavering support and wholesome meals I receive from Orla, my wife. Training [and life in general] would be so much harder without her support. Thank you my dear.

So, as the Year of Silly enters they dying days of it's first month, all, so far, is good. But why the Year of Silly? 2014 was named as such during a splendid New Years Party, in the first few minutes of the year. Others may have slightly different recollection, but I believe the combined facts that someone had just fallen into the hosts pond [head-first!] , many of us were running in a few hours and the races we had all goaded each other on to enter were now becoming very real, led to only one conclusion: 2014 was, quite clearly, the Year of Silly. Enjoy!!

Fellow BATs: Friends and training partners
Nuns Cross, Dartmoor

New Year, New You? or New Year, Same You?

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

Einstein was a clever bloke and realised that nothing will change if you keep doing the same old things. It is unlikely he was thinking of keeping active / running / walking / cycling when he said this and was probably deep in thought on some complex and meaningful physics related quandary; but I'm going to borrow this thought and relate it to either starting or improving a fun, healthy and active lifestyle. I don't think he woould mind.

The start of a new year is traditionally the time of new beginnings. Tradition is, for the sake of argument and to  allude to the Rule Of Three , anything that occurs three years in a row. In recent years the 3 most commonly heard vows on New Years Eve are usually for the holy trinity of  "lose weight; exercise more; drink less alcohol". All very worthy and no doubt genuine and heartfelt. We make our resolutions, we enter January full of enthusiasm for our 'new selves' , spend money on all the latest gear, and by March have given up!  Or even if you are already active and have all the gear [?can you ever have too much equipment and too many gadgets?!], we set our selves a new challenge, or goal, or dream to aspire to, yet don't do. Year, after year, after year. So, why, why , why???

Reasons why we repeat this kind of behaviour over and over and over again,are varied and many- and best left to sports / behavioural psychologists to explain. (Advice on activities and sports psychology is plentiful. Regular articles can be found in a wide variety of outdoor and fitness magazines such as Trail Running , Outdoor Fitness and  Triathlon magazines) . 

However, I often find it is 'life' that gets in the way of many of our good intentions! Yet there is one simple thing that can be done to begin the process of change: Do something different.

Without wishing to state the bleedin' obvious, Thinking about doing something, in itself, does not change anything; doing, does- and then only up to a point. And the two may be more closely related than at first seems, especially if we behave in the same way. Let me explain. Or rather, let someone else explain.

Step forward Albert: If we think the same way all the time, we get the same answers; if we do the same things all the time, we get the same results. If we want things to change, we have to both think and do things differently.

So the simple piece of advice and worldly wisdom I shall leave with you at the end of this year, to take forward through 2014, is 'do something different'.

Walk a new way to work. Cycle to work instead of using the car or bus. Walk a different way around the park. Run in the rain. Do more yoga. Try a 10km run. Try a 100km run. Cycle a sportive. Cycle to a friends. Cycle with friends. Go swimming. Walk in the countryside. Run across the Moors. Go out running in a group. Run alone. Look at the {outside} world in a different way.

  

Just don't do the same as you did last year. Unless of course, this was a great year for you! 

I'm not saying I had a bad year, or have any regrets; I didn't and I don't [well, not many!]. This is not about radically changing who you are, for as the late, great, Kurt Cobain once said  "wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are". This is just about maybe doing something slightly different, to maybe achieve different results. Or to just get a new perspective.

So don't be insane in 2014, do something different!

From Get Out Moor, have yourselves a great and safe 2014.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”  -  John Bingham

Day 9 of Murray & David's Northern Frontier conquest: The Journey Home

Day 9: Bowness on Solway - Bere Alston

Weather: Sunny

Distance Traveled:  413 miles
New beers tasted: 0
Caffeine Consumed: Way too much!

Caveat & disclaimer: No laws [traffic or otherwise] were broken in the writing of this blog. I have exaggerated events for [hopefully] comic effect.

Tide Out

Tide In

Tuesday 10th September. Time to go home. Orla had kindly agreed to drive up [with Georgie] and collect us, but she wasn't arriving until about 11am, so David and I had time to explore the coastline of the Solway Firth. Apart from being spectacularly beautiful, it is

View towards Scotland
From abandoned docks at Port Carlisle

View Towards Port Carlisle
From abandoned docks at Port Carlisle

renowned for its plethora of bird  life. Neither of us are 'twitchers'  and couldn't tell a Coot from a Tern, but I can report there were lots & lots of pretty looking birds. Yesterday evening the tide was very much in. This morning it was right the way out, so we took the opportunity to stroll across the mud flats to the abandoned docks. this was the West coast [well, sort of] and we had walked from Tynemouth in the East, to Solway Firth in the West. It felt good. It was also very quiet and very beautiful. Worried / paranoid that we may be caught out by the notoriously quick in-coming tides, we darted back across the mud flats to the camp site and struck camp for the very last time on this expedition. As we did so, one man and his dog walked in to the camp site and started to talk to us about our journey. Very nice man he was too. Turned out he was Henry Stedman, author of Hadrians Wall Path. We had many tales to tell and were very enthusiastic. Top of our priority was the closure of the Centurian pub in Walton. Nearly ruined our trip! Promised us we would be mentioned in the next addition of his book [out February 2014]. Fame at last!  

Packed up and ready to go, my dear wife Orla and devoted Greyhound Georgie turned up. Time to go home. Yay! After a whistle stop tour and revisit of Bowness, we headed south. We stopped off for a quick, yet delightful lunch at the Drovers Arms, Monkhill. Food was delicious, good choice of beer- but  I was driving, so had coffee. So the coffee fiend was born. As we wound our way through the sleepy Cumbrian coastal areas back to Carlisle, we recounted our stories of the past week. Oh, what fun we had had. As we hit the M6  at Carlisle, it was Motorway all the way South back to Devon. Orla had driven up to collect us- I was driving back. I was tired after 7 days walking. So I needed coffee. Motorway services, after motorway services were stopped at so I could refuel. Caffeine was consumed in huge quantities. Americano's with extra shots. I was buzzing. More Caffeine. GIVE.ME.MORE.CAFFEINE. I was gibbering. I stopped making sense. My driving became erratic and way too fast . Other drivers were not being considerate. Scenery blurred due to warp speed. My hair was blowing in the wind and the window wasn't even open! [or that's how it seemed; see caveat & disclaimer above]. 

Within minutes we were back in Devon. Time stood still. Relax. Breath. Reality. The warp speed journey of the M6 / M5 was over. Heart rate returned to normal. I was banned from any more caffeine.  Maybe none of the above really happened. It was light when we started our journey. The sun was behind us. Now it was dark. Perhaps it had taken longer than minutes. Maybe I shouldn't drink so much coffee. It makes me nervous. And loose track of time. Maybe my memory of the drive home was compromised. Maybe I made it all up. But we all got home safely [Legally. Honestly].

David & Murray's Northern Frontier Conquest was now officially over. We were home.

THE END!

Day 8 of Murray & David's Northern Frontier Conquest

Day 8: Carlisle- Bowness on Solway

Weather: Dry [apart from a 10 minute monsoon soaking]

Distance Walked: 13miles

New Beers Tasted: 2

The End is Nigh!

The morning of our last full day walking dawned. After an early night and a good nights sleep in a warm and comfy room [as opposed to a multiple occupancy camping barn], I jumped out of bed with a spring in my step. This was most definitely a 3 porridge sachet and a 2 cafetiere day [single sachet servings of flavoured porridge -with extra honey- had been breakfast every morning, accompanied with fresh coffee!]. Met a young woman in the hostel cycling Lands End - John O'groats. Her Aunt was car support. Hope she completed her challenge safely. We made short work of the walk out of Carlisle. Nice a city as it was, it was still a city, and walking through a city with a back pack is odd and well, just not very pleasant.

With actual remnants of the wall 'in situe' long behind us, our first interesting historical 'artifact' was the church of St. Micheal's, in Burgh-by-Sands. Interesting on several levels; it stands on the site of [and is partially built of stone from] the Roman Fort of Aballava; it is also partially fortified itself.  After Edward I , "Hammer of the Scots", had bankrupted Lanercost Priory , he continued his war on the Scot's, but not for long. He died not far from either Lanercost or Scotland, in Burgh Marshes,  of dysentery on 7th July 1307.

Edward I
Died near Here

St Michael's Church

When he died the Anglo-Scottish border area descended into chaos, lawlessness and violence. For several decades the violent clan rivalries of the  Border Reivers made life very difficult for those living in the area and houses, even churches, were fortified to provide protection for the local population from these raids. St Michael's church is one such example. By now we were very much looking forward to a pint, especially as the the local pub is The Greyhound Inn . Unfortunately it was not open when we passed. It looks like a very nice pub, but keeps 'odd' country opening hours. We had our sandwiches at the foot of the memorial statue to Edward I instead.

Fortified ourselves by the rest, we pushed on. The sun was out, the land flat and the scenery pleasant. We were not far now from our coast-coast destination. The flood prone road from Longburgh to Drumburgh was straight, exposed and prone to flooding from the Solway Firth. As we walked across, spirits were high, but we could see the weather in Scotland across the river. It was dramatic. And wet. Thankfully the tide was not yet in, as we could have got really wet! As we marched across Burgh Marsh, we kept a close eye on the weather- all of a sudden it came. Very quickly.

"When water reaches this point
maximum depth is 3 feet"

The Rain Commeth

The pressure dropped. The wind changed direction. It got colder. Then it rained. Hard. 

The scenery was quite dramatic and there were 'photo opportunities, so it wasn't all bad. We also found out what cows really do when it rains. They don't lie down at all. They shelter under trees. Or at least try to! In Drumburgh we passed 'Drumburgh Castle', another example of fortified residence from the Border Reivers era of 14th Century. 

Drumburgh Castle

Cows Sheltering from the Rain

The white door in the centre is the original main front door. The sweeping steps up to it are a modern addition. In the 14th & 15th Century, an extendable wooden ladder was used for entry / exit to the house. Drawn up at night for protection from murderous border raids. It was by now mid afternoon and we were thirsty.


The Greyhound had been shut and we were holding out that the Highland Laddie in Glasson would be open. It was. Dripping wet and thirsty we entered the Highland Laddie Inn . This was purely for research purposes, as like many buildings in this area, it is partly built of stone from the Wall. The pub was warm, friendly and served an exceptional pint of Cocker Hoop . Very well kept beer which slipped down a treat.

Highland Laddie Inn

David and I were now only a matter of miles from the end of our walk. The rain had stopped. The sun had come back out. We were good to go! We reached Port Carlisle and pitched our tents at the Chapel Side Camp site. Realisation came that this was the last time we would have to carry our ruck sacks. Bliss.

Chapel Side Camping
Port Carlisle

We would have sampled the Ale's at the Hope and Anchor Inn in Port Carlisle, but is was under new ownership and being gutted and re-furbished, so we had the arduous task of the last 1 mile walk to Bowness without the fortification of Cumbrian Ale. Countries have been invaded for less! In fact at Vindolanda [which we visited a few days ago], one of the tablets that have recently been uncovered was inscribed by a patrol commander, pleading for more ale for the troops, presumably before there was a mutiny! Ale does , after all, help one deal with the weather up here in northern climes. This was after the all, the Edge of Roman Civilisation.

Solway Firth
Looking North towards Scotland

It wasn't all about beer. We did take time to admire the natural beauty of the area and big, dramatic skylines. Before heading to the next pub!

The end was in sight. One mile to go. Tents up. Face washed [you can't arrive smelly & with a dirty face!], clean[est] cloths on, off we trekked. We arrived at Bowness-on-Solway and before visiting the last pub, the actual end of the Hadrian's Wall Walk needed to be visited, The Banks.The Bank is an Edwardian 'promenade', recently renovated, on the banks of the Solway Firth. Our 7th, and final stamp on our Hadrian's Wall Path Passport, was collected here. We had officially finished. Elated, it was time for a final drink. The Banks may be the 'official' end. The  Kings Arms is, however, the 'spiritual' end of the walk.

Is there no end to the
good beer Jennings brew?

Just a quick one!
Well I have just walked 84 miles

The value of the food here is outstanding [not bad veggie options], as is the welcome from both landlord and locals. Beer isn't bad either (!), so we stayed for the entire evening. It would have been rude not too. We had to move tables for the Monday domino league, but we didn't mind. The diary / log book of walkers who have finished the trail is kept here and my entry is scrawled herein, dated 9th September 2013. Well worth a read in its own right [the book that is, not necessarily my entry]. Comments and bragging from all over the world. As for us, well, we broke no records [that goes to a local lad who ran it in just over 16hrs] and we didn't "do the wall" in 3 days, knee deep in snow. But we did have fun. We came, we walked, we conquered. And we drank beer!  It took us 7.5 days and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Highlights? As far as the actual Wall is concerned, the complete sections of the wall, on the Crags, the middle section [day 3,4,5]; museum & fort at Vindolanda; Halstead fort, were the most dramatic memories. But as for the whole experience? We went for the walk. We did the walk. Coast to coast , along the whole length of Hadrian's Wall. It wasn't just the Wall that made the memories- it was the people we met along the way, the fellow walkers, locals, the places we stayed, the pubs we visited, the general scenery, not to forget the all round great company, whit and intelligence of my friend David. And of course the beer we sampled was, in most cases, rather good.

WE DID IT!
[photo bombed by Georgie]

Or, if going West-East
The Beginning.