Day 7: Heddon on the Wall to Wallsend



 After a wonderful evening meal, a comfortable bed and a fine breakfast we are ready for the final stage. A taxi takes us back to the Three Tuns Pub in Heddon on the Wall for us to resume the walk. We begin by seeing a surprisingly long section of surviving wall remains – we are told this is the last section we will see on our walk and no one is quite sure why it hasn’t been plundered over the years. Clearly it’s well known as we had to wait for a coachload of overseas tourists to move before we could get the photo below. In fact there was one more tiny section still to be found - but that was still 16 miles away.

Our route took us through the village of Heddon – very much a transition village between rural Northumberland and the ever advancing urban sprawl of Newcastle – and down to the banks of the Tyne. The path continued on a greenway (the trackbed of an old railway line) towards the city centre. Along the way we met two ladies walking their dog who spoke (amongst other things) about the similarities Geordie words and the Norwegian language. We also met an old soldier who congratulated us on our achievement and then reminisced about when he and his mates did the wall in 3 days!

 

We passed the site of the battle of Newburn which took place in 1640 during the Second Bishops’ War (I’d never heard of the Bishops’ wars either), then a building with marker lines showing various flood levels over the years.

 

The greenway continued taking us over the A1, and then past the ground of the not quite so famous Newcastle Blue Star Football Club (a good place for a coffee stop). We then joined a riverside walk which took us right into the centre of Newcastle under the array of bridges. Clearly a vibrant city!

 

Having passed through the city centre we continued alongside the Tyne, though trendy marinas and post industrial wastelands before eventually reaching our endpoint of Wallsend. There is a museum at the end – but unfortunately winter opening hours begin on September 25th (and what is the date today?) which meant we were too late! We did manage to take the obligatory end of walk photos and catch a glimpse of one more (very short) piece of wall. 

 

Wearily we walked to the metro station to catch the train to St James station in the city for a short(ish) walk to our hotel for the night. Tired but happy! 

 

Photos today – Wall at Heddon; Battle of Newburn; Flood levels; Newcastle Blue Star FC; View from the river (look hard and you can see the Angel of the North); Millennium Bridge;  Wall at Wallsend; Paul and Kate at the end of the walk!













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