5. Cawfields to Housesteads Fort

25.07.11   8 miles

An hour alone with the wall and sheeps at sunset

On Herding Hill Farm I got an wonderful Breakfast with Bacon Mushrooms, Black Pudding, the Herding Hill Farm works together with organic farms in that area and you can taste it, all food what I bought there are so tasty. After Breakfast I bought some Sandwiches for the day fiiled up my water Bottle and left the campground. Back to the wall, passed the milecastle inn and then I saw the wall and straight is laying a milecastle, there is a small path from the street in direction to the milecastle, a big black Cow was laing on the path, she was only watching me but I must go through the deep wet medow. It was a little bit foggy this morning and the sun still behind the clouds. I was alone on the path and the wall was running beside me, in that area the wall was around 5 feet high. Along the wall wildflowers in bloom. The wall runs always along the edge of cliffs and up and down. The hills looked like a wave at the moment she want to break. At the first very steap up hill a woman was coming and she tumbled into the gras. Her husband helps her up and she had some pain and at that moment she don´t like the Wall. It seems that her husband like to hike and she was only coming with him. Now it is going up and down and really high hills, on top of the hill I had a wonderful view into the landscape around, some little woods some farmes and a very lonesome area. on both sides of the wall.

I passed 3 elder Ladies and I am surprised how fit they are to climb this steap hills. On top of one hill I had a little rest and enjoyed the wide view in every direction. The 3 elder Ladies have been coming and we talked a little. They are living near the wall and from time to time they had a hike on the wall. From this high hill the wall is running down to the area called "Steel Riggs" On the way down my American friend was coming toward me. I was surprised, thought he was far in front of me. He told me he  walked yesterday only some miles and went with the Hadrianswall Bus to the Hotel. Today he was hiking only the part he had not hiked the day before. This was our last meeting because he must go back to London tomorrow and on Wednesday the flight back to the States.

Steel Riggs is an hightlight of the Hadrians Wall. A big parking space and a lot of people are coming with the car to climb one of the hills, have a look around and then to the next point.

On a rock in a medow with the view  to the peel crags i had my lunch, Sandwiches with organic cheese. I had a rest of  one hour and enjoyed this beautiul place. The 3 Ladies passed me again with a greeting with her hands.

The path on top of Peel Crags is so steap but on top I had a wonderful scenerie around. I saw 3 young men which not climbing the hill, this boys went around the hill at the ground of the hill, clever, clever. An elderly man asked me where I am come from and we talked a little while. He is a volunteer and walked often along the path in that area watching for demages and also he picks up trash but he told me that is not a big problem along the wall. The volunteer was around 70 years old and in exellent shape. The wall keeps him young. This area is very busy and you can find the pictures from here  in every book or postcards. The next highlight is the marple tree of Sycamore gap. This tree is well knowing from the movie "Robin Hood" with Kevin Costner. You can not see in the movie that Robin Hood was living 140 miles away from here.  The tree is standing in a deep groove, first I must go steap steps down and then on the other side steap uphill. The wall is now following the edge of the crag. The cliffs are vertical down into a lake, beautiful area. Lots of school children was painting the cliffs. The cliffs around 50-100 yards deep. I would not like to be the teacher for that crowd along the cliffs. From the cliffs the path is running down near the lake and then comes the longest way uphill of this day.  The view back was so great, passed the Hotbank (Farm or Villge) and further steap uphill. On top of the hill a wonderful view along the wall, I saw the wall climbing up and down the coming hills. Also the view over the wall to the north is beautiful, small farms and  three lakes I saw. A very lonesome area. Now along the wall always up and down and where the Pennine way leaves the Hadrianswall another very deep down. The next hill was so steap that I walked around the hill. A group with a lot of different dogs coming along and it was funny how curious the dogs are, the dogs had really fun to run around as a group, a sniff here a stroke from a hiker there, back to the owner and again running further. I walked throug a little wood and then I saw the big Housestead Fort. Walked down to the little Museum and had first a rest and watched all the people which was coming from the parking space beside the street. Later I asked in the Museum for a place to sleep. No campground around and no Barn so what is to do? I decided to walk down a while along the road to Chollerford and after a half mile there was a horse farm with Bed&Breakfast. I asked for a room but nothing was free. So I asked for a place for my tent and the owner gave me a place on a horse medow and showed me a watertap. It was OK for me, later he asked me for a supper today and that was great. His wife was coming from work and then she cooked the supper. I was sitting in the sun wrote my dairy and postcards. To hiking women was coming to catched her booked room. Later we had together our supper and talked a lot about hiking. This 2 hikers are on the way to Scotland on the Pennine way. The Pennine way must also a great trail. After the delicious Supper I walked back straight uphill to the wall, to have a view to the sunset, but it was´t a sunset, too cloudy. I walked along the wall back to the Housesteads Fort, this area and the fort is late in hand of the sheeps. As I was coming back to the farm and my tent it was dark and time to sleep. I don´t find my warm jersey for the night in my backpack, I must forgot him in the bathroom of the last campground. I was angry about me because my sleeping bag is to thin and this summernights to cold, so my nights arel not really comfortable and this night could be much worther without the Jersey.