Day 19 Carterway Heads to Colwell

If anyone is heading north on the A68, I highly recommend staying at the Manor House Inn - the views are stunning and we couldn't have got a better welcome after a weary day's walking - plus, and this is a very important point, their chocolate ice cream is to die for!  I only wish I hadn't been so tired otherwise I would have gone for another walk (for fun this time!) and taken in the beautiful views properly. Will have to go back one day.

It was also really nice being able to leave the front door of the hotel  this morning and set off on my walk without having to arrange a lift.  The road was fine to begin with - slightly hairy around the corners but with enough grass verge to leap on to when the lorries passed. I felt on top of the world as I walked up the hills on to the moors and so lucky to be in such a beautiful place, alone with my thoughts and away from it all with blue sky on the horizon and my goal just out of reach.  I began to reflect how lucky i had been to be able to do this challenge and part of me thought, curiously (as I sweated up YET another hill!), how much I will miss it when it's all over and yet how much I was longing to finish and see the front gates of Holyrood with my family and friends waiting for me.  What had seemed so far off and unattainable now seemed possible.  I got a kick every time i passed a road sign to Edinburgh and the miles started falling away - oh joy, only double figures now!  The novelty of taking a photo of EVERY road sign wore off after a while though.

I made steady progress and passed lots of villages and plenty of houses which I would quite happily have bought.  The great joy of this route is that there isn't much navigating to be done and therefore there is less chance of getting lost - always a bonus- (in fact there really was no excuse with my gps as back up).  I stopped to buy a sandwich at a tiny little shop and told the nice couple about my adventure.  They were so encouraging and ended up giving me a donation and plenty of chocolate to last for ages -well, at least till the next day anyway.  I walked down a pretty dangerous road in to Corbridge (another place a highly recommend visiting) and parked myself on a well positioned bench right in the middle of the bustling town and munched my packed lunch quite happily. I saw a cafe offering 'tea and a tipple' which i really couldn't resisit (!) and sat down amongst all the much better dressed locals relishing my cappuccino- I had rather forgotten what it felt like to be civilised and felt a bit self conscious in my muddy boots and various shades of walking khaki!  (Going back to London will be pretty bizarre - rather like Crocodile Dundee let loose in New York.)

I pressed on down little lanes to join the A68 north - greatly boosted by the fact that Ben was driving up from London to join me.  The roads got steeper and steeper as i headed north towards Hadrians Wall.  I reached the top and checked my map and then got very excited at what I thought was the famous ruined Wall only to discover that it was a local farm's boundary (oh dear) - my disappointment only grew when I did actually reach the old roman site only to discover that they had built a massive roundabout and hotel over the old gate and there was nothing left.  I lost interest and put my camera away - trying to ignore the fact that my foot was starting to hurt.  I reached the remote moors of the Redesdale Valley and stared straight down the old roman road which seemed to go on and on and on.  It was pretty hard work walking along the roads and stopping all the time to let traffic pass.  I started to get quite nervous and aware that it would get dark early and I really was in the middle of nowhere so if I fell into a ditch it would be curtains.  Eventually, I found a little village and sat in an old bus stop.  I know when I'm beaten and my right foot wouldn't move anymore - I had been on my feet for 8 hours non stop with a full pack and I was exhausted. Then, to my huge relief, my knight in shining armour (Ben) appeared from around the corner and scooped me up off the grass verge (have I already said he's my hero? Oh well, I'll say it again).  I couldn't walk another step.  Thank god it's my rest day tomorrow.