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.