Vole Explosion

STUBBORNNESS AND PRIDE

Friday 16^th September 2022

Alston to Greenhead

   I go out early and stock up on “food” for tomorrow as this will be my last chance to shop for a while. Back at the hostel I have a huge full English, plus cereal, toast, orange juice and coffee. I ask the lady about Red Squirrels and she tells me they were here about three years ago but then the greys moved in.

   Climb out of Alston across sheep fields and visit the site of Epiacum Roman Fort. I love Roman stuff, which is just as well given where I’m headed tomorrow.

   Walking on through the sheep paddocks, one flock, rather than scampering off at my approach, decides to group together and follow close behind me for a couple of hundred metres, stopping every time I look around at them. It feels a bit weird.

   I pass under the impressive viaduct of the South Tyndale Railway – a heritage narrow-gauge steam railway – then briefly meet up with the River South Tyne again, where I startle a Roe Deer at the water’s edge and watch it leap off out of view.

   A short bit of road walking and I arrive at the brilliantly named village of Slaggyford.

   Later I reach Burnstones and decide to go half a km off route to visit the Kirkstyle Inn for a light lunch. A sign on the trail reads ‘Kirkstyle Inn – Opening Summer 2022’, but when I arrive it’s just a building site covered in scaffolding, so I eat some cookies instead.

   After this the rest of the afternoon is mostly spent walking across grassy moorland.

   After Kellah the PW passes right through someone’s yard – absolutely piled up with junk and packed with a huge number of assorted chickens and ducks. All kinds of different sizes and plumages, including chicks and ducklings. They all pile over towards me when I appear at the gate and I’m entertained by their shenanigans for a few minutes.

   Immediately after the chooks the path rises into a huge area of grassy prairie reminiscent of the American west. The trail isn’t clear and I become disoriented. It’s difficult to navigate and I go wrong a couple of times, ending up in the wrong place. Getting back onto the trail involves a trek across areas of long, lumpy, ankle-twisting grass clumps. Eventually I reach the trig. point on Black Hill, which is barely a hill at all. I’m pissed off now and just want to get this day over with. I’ve been finding the afternoons progressively hard going for days now, but today is just too much. I’m also walking into a fairly strong headwind.

   The last three miles or so is a painful hobble. Crossing the busy A69, I finally arrive slowly at Holmehead Guest House and Camping Barns, where I have a camping barn reservation.

   My feet feel raw and tender and walking has become painful. When I remove my socks there’s nothing wrong with my feet and they appear to still be in good condition. I think the muscles and bones are just aching now from the pounding they’re getting every day. My leg is still swollen and painful, but I think slicing my socks has had some benefit as it doesn’t hurt as much today, and I only need one dose of Ibuprofen.

   I’m counting the days now and, right now, I just want to finish and head home. I’m grimly determined to complete the PW but I’m now just running on stubbornness and pride, and a personal aversion to leaving tasks uncompleted.

   On a more positive note, the camping barn is way better than I was expecting. I thought it would be a bunk house with a toilet and shower in a separate building, but it’s more like a family room. There’s a main room with a bunk bed and a sofa, an upper balcony level with a double and a single mattress, a kitchen with fridge, cooker, microwave, toaster and tea & coffee facilities, with milk supplied. The shower and toilet are en suite. It has great wifi and the use of a garden. I was left notes at the front and side of the house telling me where to find the room, and I pay the £30 fee into an honesty box – I never actually meet the owners. It’s the best value accommodation of the whole trip.

   After a rest I head into Greenhead village about a quarter of a mile along a footpath. The Greenhead Hotel is a little more upmarket than most of the PW pubs and the food is great. I have soup of the day followed by cod, chips and mushy peas (I’ve been craving fish’n’chips all afternoon).

   Surprisingly, I meet The Tall Guy here and he joins me at my table. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone again – The Dutch Guy gets out early and moves fast, so he’s probably a couple of days ahead of me, and The Tall Guy should have been a day behind. There is also a pair of other Dutch guys here who I’ve met a couple of times since the Tan Hill Inn. The Tall Guy and I agree to meet at a bothy tomorrow night, and I walk back to my room under a clear, starry sky.

Once in bed I find it really difficult to get my leg comfortable.

16.5 miles; 26.5 km; 10 hours