The Walk Itself: 3rd April 2007: Day 2

We awoke with a remarkable lack of aches and pains and had a very hearty breakfast, settled the bill and headed out with no packed lunch...The weight saving was a blessing but it left us prey for torture from the off.

We had more weather than yesterday - grey and drizzly for much of the morning with a fairly consistent wind. To buy us luck, we gave the bananas, which the Ironsign owner had freely given, to a pair of young lads who were camping the wall and looked particularly hungry and forlorn as the first shop they had passed was shut and they had no food, except for a strange looking cake.

We progressed at a fine pace, still both feeling strong and free of pain. It was far better walking, with nice scenery and countryside under foot. The first crushing blow came when we arrived at the St Oswalds-On-The-Wall tea shop and found it CLOSED! Dreams of sitting and warming our bones to the tune of tea and cake were dashed.

Disheartened, the walk to Chollerford became a slog with us failing to leave the route to inspect a section of the wall, owing to a lack of interest. Thankfully, the tea shop at Chollerford was open and excellent and we refreshed and warmed ourselves before tackling the final slog up to Houseteads. There was some more wall-poking opportunities and, at times, we found ourselves actually on the wall, without meaning to!

After 20 miles, with 3 to go, we were very tired and had aching legs; there were cows which needed to be chased away from a wall stile and we struggled to appreciate the beautiful scenery heading up to the Roman Fort (will return to take it in more!). However, we finally made it to Beggar Bog farm house which was absolutely fantastic - friendly with beautiful views.

The landlady had organised a taxi to The Milecastle Inn where we had a fine meal, nearly spent the taxi money and headed back for a peaceful night's sleep.

Total distance: 24 miles (23 on the path + 1 to Beggar Bog)