Monday 3 October 2011

Newburn to Wallsend.

Sadly, this will be my last blog...because we FINISHED THE WALL!!!

We knew it was going to be a long one, flat, but long, and it was. 12.25 miles to be precise.

We started of at Newburn, donned our rucksacks, took a deep breath and started to walk....


Not a hug lot to see for the first few miles, just a path with hedges each side.


Occasionally we popped out into the open and walked past some houses, shops, building sites, but then ended up back on the path again.


Lezley got quite excited at one point thinking she had spotted a monkey in a tree  (Hmmm, in Newcastle, in a tree on a path, close to the main road?)  It turned out to be a jumper.  Very funny moment.


We headed to Scotswood...


Then crossed the Dual Carriageway.  If you were to head off to the left of this road you end up at the Metro Centre.


It's hard to believe we have walked to the Metro Centre!!

We then wandered through Denton Dene park and came out into Scotswood Village.


Then, back to our path...


After a little while our route took us down beside the River Tyne.  We would mostly follow the river from here to the end of the walk.


Can you see The Angel Of The North in the background?


It was a prettier part of the walk, with lots of fishermen, and some interesting sculptures.


We spotted a lonely soul floating on the water, poor blow-up man had obviously been abandoned and chucked into the Tyne.


Quite worrying if you spotted him from a distance I would think ;)

Heading towards the Quayside, we would walk under 7 bridges, can you spot them all in this photo?


Then past the magnificent THE SAGE, venue.


At the Quayside was a market, I bought a load of £1.00 t-shirts for a craft project, but then of course I had to carry them the rest of the way!!


Carrying on to the Mouth Of the Ouseburn, walking past some pretty boats...


..and a not so pretty boat!  You wouldn't want a cruise it this!


We then had to deviate slightly from the side of the river, and walk through a little industrial area, where we had a totally different view.


Round the houses and heading back down to the river, we spotted this sign.  It's not good to have to make decisions at this point, which one would be less taxing?  We took the lower route.


Walking back down the river, we passed St Peters Basin, which had some quite posh boats in, and some quite posh apartments looking over the Tyne.


And on we walked...again leaving the riverside and following a path into a housing estate.


The sun was out and blazing, couldn't have asked for nicer weather to complete our walk.

Had a little play with the camera and shadows  :)


Then...... there it was!!   The viewing station for Segedunum.


And just below that, the very last chunk of wall!!!


We sat on it for a final souvenir  photo.


But...... is it the end?  Where does the wall lead?  It looks to go through the Swan Hunter shipyard and over the river.  Certainly, at the otherside of the river is a Fort, so did it cross the river with a bridge?  Interesting.


Still, for today, this is the end of the official walk.  So we headed into Segedunum visitor centre to get the final stamp in our passports.


We were also then able to pick up our official certificate and badge as we had all our stamps.  (Surcharge of £3.99  :) )


We planned to have a celebratory coffee and cake, but Dotty Dog was not allowed in, so it turned into a take-away coffee and a kit-kat.  Dotty was SO tired, but she managed a good slurp or two of Latte, then fell asleep on the path!


The very final part was walking around the Segedunum Fort  (we didn't pay to get in, just looked at it through the bars) and back to the car.

Hope you have enjoyed our little jaunt across the Roman Wall, and I hope it inspires other people to have a go.  As a couple of "curvy" girls, I think we proved that you don't have to be super-fit to give something a go....


Total walked today- approx 12.25 miles.  Time spent - approx 5 hrs walking.

Grand Total - Miles 94.30 / Time 48.15 hours.

3 comments:

  1. Well done Sooz, a wonderful achievement, it's been lovely following you along the way :-)

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  2. Glad you have enjoyed it Lynsey :)

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  3. Congratulations, Sooz and co! I've enjoyed travelling with you, too. Especially well done on the last marathon walk!

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