Hadrians Wall

Northumberland 2021: Part Twelve

15 June 2021

After the rush of last night’s photo, I stayed near to Hadrian’s wall, thinking I would try an adventurous hike (for me) and aimed go from Steel Rigg to Housteads and back again. I left at 9 carrying everything I might want, leaving the big lens and binoculars behind. With snacks and fluids, I didn’t want to struggle carrying extra weight. Today wasn’t as much about the photography (looking at the flat grey sky) or the birds, I wanted it to be about the hike. Although I wasn’t expecting anything too great photography wise, as the cloud wasn’t predicted to lighten until later in the afternoon, I still wanted as much with me as was sensible, just in case a shot presented itself – (which they did of course, have you seen how amazing it looks along here?!!) Other than a brief visit the other week, this was my first time to Hadrian’s wall, so I really wanted to soak up the atmosphere of this striking and fascinating place!

Sycamore gap as seen from what I later understood to be the ‘barbarians’ side

I met several people along the route and everyone was happy for a chat it seemed. A couple of guys I saw were doing a cross country challenge to walk the whole of the Hadrian’s wall path (84 Miles) all the way from Wallsend in Newcastle to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria. They had given themselves 3 days to do this(!) and were walking to raise money for a sick little girl. I loved chatting to them, and was dead proud of their efforts, but I kicked myself after they moved on, because I, very shamefully, didn’t note the Just Giving page that I could have donated to. I then met a sweet couple who shared their route with me. Their printed out guide called it the barbarians way walk, and I subsequently found it on my All Trails app. Half the walk wasn’t along the wall itself, but more on the side that the Scots would have been, and it aimed to give us an idea of the view they might have faced as they approached this formidable barrier. I took a photo of their print out and decided I would give that ago as well, since it looked a bit more varied than the straight across and back route I’d had in mind. The couple were doing it clockwise, where I was going in the opposite direction… I wondered if we might meet up later?

Despite the intention to just walk, I found myself stopping frequently to grab photos despite the flat sky. The house by Lough Crag was one I hoped to get a better photo of, after my visit here from the 29th June. Although still not quite the dream shot, I was blessed with some of the early light starting to break through, and the view here was a marked improvement on the sight I’d had on the 29th. As the day progressed I found the sun starting to poke out more and more, and then within a very short space of time, the sky had pretty much cleared completely, giving me a totally clear blue sky. This, of course, produced an equally flat and uninspiring landscape (very hard to please arnt I?!!) It also became very detrimental weather for the hike. My walking slowed considerably, I drank all my fluids quickly, and basically became very fatigued and overheated carrying the load on my back. Things didn’t go very well from here on in, and as the hours passed, everything became considerably harder in my unfit state.

By the time I arrived at Housteads, I was physically quite exhausted. It was 3pm, my feet were painful, and I was ridiculously hungry for something to eat! I stopped by the first shop up near the Housteads fort ruins and picked up a bottle of rhubarb lemonade sold here. I adore the flavour of rhubarb, so guzzled the bottle down eagerly, instantly finding myself really disappointed in the taste, as it didn’t taste much of rhubarb at all. Looking on the back at the ingredients I noted there was only 3% rhubarb (and 40% apple!!) in it. I felt very cheated, and vowed never to buy anything by Franklin and sons again. They clearly mis-represent their drinks, and you pay premium for the pleasure. Feeling very disgruntled, I walked down to the cafe a little further down the hill, and was rewarded with there being only a singular hot pasty left. I say rewarded without sarcasm, because it was the most delicious curried cauliflower flavour! I couldn’t believe my luck at this one being the last option because it was SO tasty, and I only wish they’ve had two left so I could also have one for later! As well as the pasty I treated myself to a scone with clotted cream, and a cup of tea. (I am the biggest sucker for a cream tea!) I sat outside to eat, and kicked off my shoes for a bit to ease the stinging on my feet. The rest was a most welcome break! Whilst here, a tiny bug crawled its way across the table in front of me. I’d not seen one quite like this before, it had the prettiest colour and shimmer of green, was really small and quite delicately featured. I later discovered this to be a pale green weevil beetle, not a rare bug, so I am clearly not too observant with these!

Looking back over the walk I had just done before dropping down to the flat, and making my way back again.

After half an hour, the cloud was beginning to return and I was ready to continue (well, OK, I wasn’t, but I had to get back to Fred at some point today – preferably before midnight!) As I walked up the hill, I met the couple I had bumped into earlier. They told me all about their hike, and expressed some disappointment at having gone wrong somewhere, missing a chunk off their walk with something they wanted to see. I looked at their map, my All Trails app, and together we managed to identify the spot they’d gone off their route, so they resolved to re do it again at some point. After a short casual chat, we said our cheery goodbyes and I started onto the second leg of my trip. I carried on to Kings Wicket, which is a gate way through the wall a little further east, (see header pic) and then turned to the Barbarians route to get back to Fred. This part of the route was considerably easier as it was largely on the flat – but my feet were in a great deal of pain by now, and the exhaustion was also still simmering angrily. It all felt like a hard slog. I pushed on however, and once I got wide I looked back towards the wall. It was amazing how intimidating it actually looked from down here. I could imagine how threatened the Scottish ‘barbarians’ might have felt seeing these huge crags topped with a 16-20 foot high wall!

I continued the walk, stubbornly pressing on through all my discomforts and spotted birds my birdsong app identified as Eurasian Skylark, and a Northern Wheatear. Both birds looked like the pictures the app gave me, so I was a little disappointed to not have my long lens now! I’ve never photographed either of these before. It was a nice diversion to stop occasionally though, just to watch and try to identify them. My bird spotting skills are not at all good, but this app was a big help.

By the time I got back to Sycamore Gap and saw the tree from this side, I decided to take one last shot that I had left earlier. Now it was bathed in sunlight the image was far more what I had hoped it might be. Neither the Romans nor the Barbarians would have seen this back in the day, with the tree being a few hundred years old, yes, but not THAT many! I also believe that when this tree was younger, there were several others here, all taken down at some point or other for reasons unknown today. I am just glad this one was left – every visit has been a photographic treat so far! I was terribly exhausted by now so I didn’t bother waiting around for a sunset – I had my shot of that anyway. The plod back to Fred continued on…

One final visit to The Tree. I think this looks good form just about every angle I’ve seen it at!

Exhausted, the walk back from here took double the length of time it had on previous days, and I got back to the camper just before 9. I had completed 11.7 miles and over 28,500 steps.

Boy didn’t my feet let me know about that!!

My Adventures

Hareshaw Linn and Sycamore Gap

Northumberland 2021: Part Eleven

14 June 2021

After the long hike of Simonside, I had a really good sleep and decided I would take an easy start to the day. The chill beginning was very welcome, and at around 12 I made my way over to the popular waterfall, Hareshaw Linn. Everyone I had spoken to were excited by these falls, so I was very much looking forward to seeing them for myself. Unfortunately, the car park here wasn’t very big at all though. The entire space was full by the time I arrived and a man monitoring the parking (not totally sure why) guided me into a spot near the small the industrial estate here. I chatted to him for a while, (just to get assurance that it was OK to park here mostly), and then headed off to follow the simple walk to the falls themselves. This was a lovely, gentle and flat walk and one of the easier ones for sure! There were several spots I looked at before I got to the main fall but I decided to stop at them proper on the way back. Continuing on, I passed through a wooded area and over 6 bridges to get to the final position that opened up revealing the beautiful plummeting waters here. It was as lovely as everyone had described, but for some really strange reason, I found myself struggling with any shots I tried to take. I couldn’t quite work out what wasn’t working for me with this one – My angles? The light? It certainly wasn’t the waterfall itself. That looked perfect. Yet all my images left me feeling just that little bit ‘meh’. Despite trying from a number of different positions, I found it extremely hard to get excited with what I was producing, so I ended up just sitting on the far side.

From here, I watched other tourists come and go for a bit then found myself bird spotting… ending up SO engrossed with them, that I didn’t move for nearly 2 hours! I’d spotted a Robin drop down to some rocks and fly away again first. When he did it again, I looked closer and saw a baby sitting in a crevice. I’d never seen a baby robin before! I photographed him as he looked back at me warily, then I noticed some other birds also flitting around the gorge. I spent the next few hours just trying to shoot them, finding the challenge quite enjoyable. What thrilled me the most was catching sight of a grey wagtail. I have adored these birds since Scotland, and I had, ever since then, hoped to capture an image of one. Boy did the ones here make it hard though!! I ended up with a ton of blurry bum shots where they made it so difficult, and in the end they disappeared altogether, proving to me that it wasn’t to happen here. They were clearly an aloof bird, and didn’t want to come near me, but I tried. I’ll give myself that. In the end, I was chill about the experience and I wont lie, just watching them had been a really beautiful way to spend those hours.

Eventually I left, and wandered down river. I had a couple of people assuming I was a qualified bird watcher (Hahahahaha, if only they knew!) asking ‘what’s this bird? what’s that one? Rather remarkably, I actually managed to identify the ones they asked about… a dipper, baby Robin and of course, the grey wagtail.

I stopped back at a small waterfall at the start of the walk here, and almost immediately I spotted another wagtail. I had another chance to get a picture! I tried so hard here, focussing totally on the bird, that in the end, I completely forgot to get a shot of the smaller falls! It was still hard to capture this bird, but at least it was out in the open more, so my opportunities were made just that little bit easier. Knowing now, how skittish these ones are, I tucked myself to the side, partly behind a tree, and just waited for it to get a little closer. Initially it was as timid as the ones upstream, and he was just that little bit too far away for a good photo – but my patience finally paid off when he eventually got close enough for my camera to lock focus. I know I could get a better one than this in the future, but for a first time, I am dead chuffed that this little fella is clear enough to identify, and isn’t just an odd yellow smudge!

Finally! I have my grey Wagtail photo… persistence paid off!

As I finished these pictures my phone tinged, and I read the annoying message telling me that my time here would be curtailed, yet again, by a job needing a Covid test – ASAP (a Covid test this week, ahead of a second Covid test, for the job at the end of next week?!! Don’t get me started…!) As messages were sent to and fro, with me trying my hardest to save my plans for the end of this week, I was hit by the first beam of sunlight for the day. I suddenly wondered what the sky was doing? I looked up and saw the grey sky was evidently starting to clear, and indeed, the sun had started shining.

Oh my.

It was just an hour away to sunset, and by the looks of it, there may actually be a little colour… Wondering what to do, I realised I was not far from Hadrian’s wall. Perhaps it would be worth trying Sycamore Gap again?… Was I close enough??… 30 mins away… that would leave me…

I didn’t wait, I just drove. There was no time to think about this! I got to the car park in the 30 minutes, dived out, hastily shut the door, locked the van and started the long walk. I got 5 mins down the trail before I realised I had forgotten to change the camera battery. They were all on the bed where I was sorting them…!! I hurried back… grabbed the battery… checked my watch… 15 mins to sunset. I immediately started walking at pace, and to my left tried to ignore the orange sky as I hotfooted it as fast as I could. The colour in the sky seemed to be dimming… I didn’t dare look… but my heart was sinking with every step. I maintained the speed regardless, (knowing the route helped massively) and in a neck breaking 12 minutes, I was there… Huffing and puffing, but there.

I finally allowed myself the time to properly look at what was happening… and disappointment filled me. All the colour had gone with exception to one little bit of pink.

‘Oh well’ I consoled myself, ‘I’m here, I may as well take the shot’. No-one else was around, so I had the space to play with as I liked. I proceeded to pull the tripod out and put it into a prime position taking my first test photo. In it was the smallest bit of colour, and I felt gutted. By the time I looked back at the sky however, it looked a little different. Was it my imagination or was it getting redder? I took another shot…wait, there’s a bit more… I questioned myself…WAS that there a second ago?

The change was so subtle and gentle that I could barely see the difference, but wait… No… there’s definitely more… With a sharp intake of breath, and trying to contain my building excitement, I realised it WAS getting redder! I had forgotten that after the sun dipped for the night, the colour can sometimes bloom in an afterglow… and tonight it looked like I might get lucky! I snapped more photos, and in front of my eyes, as each minute passed, the colour brightened and eventually flared until it looked like the tree was on fire. I was beside myself and fired 47 images on the camera, changing my position slightly a couple of times just to vary the composition slightly. I couldn’t believe I was seeing this!!

In the space of 15 minutes, it brightened, glowed and then started fading again. As the colour started to leave the sky, I stopped to breathe and cheered, punched the air and stamped my feet in a happy dance… I simply could not believe how lucky I was seeing that tonight! I stood for a while calming my breathing, taking in the shots, and reeling from the excitement, before I was able to pack everything away. I stared at the tree, now surrounded by the blue of the night, and quietly thanked the universe for what it had given me this evening, before finally turning away and taking a gentle walk back to the van.

That was SO worth the rush to get there!!!

My Adventures

Alnwick Castle, Warkworth, Blythe, Newbiggin-on-sea, and Hadrians Wall

Northumberland 2021: Part Four

29 and 30 May 2021

I woke to fog. This would, in some situations, be awesome news to a photographer, but it was so thick, I couldn’t see very far out of Freds windows. This wasn’t looking like ‘good’ fog at all. I still got ready fairly slowly however, in the vain hope that it would lift – but it wasn’t happening. I didn’t want to waste my last day, but there didn’t seem to be anything I would be able to do. If it was like this everywhere, was it going to be worth staying on at all?

I decided that if I was going home, I may as well check out parking spots on the way, for the locations I hoped to visit when I came back, in just over a weeks time. I left heading for Alnwick castle, passing a curious tower called Outchester Ducket. It was a bit of a random thing to pass, so I stopped anyway to read the little plaque. It wasn’t very informative, pretty much saying that very little was known about it, and that it was now a holiday cottage. Though out in the middle of nowhere, its not set in a particularly pretty setting, so I took a snap on my phone for reference. I don’t think its a ‘spot’ I would bother with ordinarily.

Windmill? Meat store? Navigation point? It seems its past is a little mysterious, but Outchester Ducket is now a holiday home!

As I looked around I realised the fog had lifted, so continued on my way to the castle, happy with the thought that I might have a photographic day after all. Once I found the parking spot and went for a walk, hopes there were dashed however, when I saw the castle was covered with scaffolding. I walked around the area for a bit, but any shots I hoped for would have to wait until they had finished the work they were doing. Within the hour I had left again, and was headed for Warkworth castle instead. Here would be a lovely shot reflecting in the river maybe, and hopes were high, until I turned up, parked and looked at the scene… The castle was barely visible through thick fog that covered everything on the hill it stood on. I sat for a while, then just made a spot of lunch and looked out on the river I was parked next to. I spotted a man in a boat with a camera happily photographing a tree, and then two men on the bank near me, looking through binoculars. ‘What’s he photographing?’ I asked, so they pointed to the tree and told me that there was a heron in it. I hurriedly went in, changed my lens on the camera to the zoom, and headed out to see what I could see myself … nothing it seemed.. as the flipping bird had flown away, and the photographer was rowing his boat back upstream. Gagh!!! It really wasn’t feeling like my day!

I just sat and sadly ate my lunch on the camper step, torn with what to do, then, some 30 minutes later I spotted movement on the far bank. I looked through my own binoculars, and my heart leaped. There was the heron – he had come back! I carefully got out my camera, and tried what I could. Even with the camera at its maximum zoom, he was a little dot where he was so far away, but I still managed some fairly reasonable pictures of him that I am not too sad about. I am no bird photographer, but just following the movements of this one, being patient, waiting until he calmly moved a little closer, and trying what I could, brought me immense, and really unexpected joy. Now I get the reason why people enjoy birding and the reward of bird photography!

Once I finished here, my drive brought me inland, and the sky was looking beautifully clear and blue. Thinking the fog had finally cleared, I adjusted my drive to take in the coastal spots I originally hoped to get – first on the list was Newbiggin, where I hoped to photograph the rather unusual ‘Couple’ sculpture. Once again, I was thwarted, and the sculpture was invisible behind the thick wall of white. I altered my miserable attitude, laughed at the situation, and simply worked out the best parking spot, and, after walking the beach, the best position for the photo I eventually hoped to get. On the way back, I spotted some beautiful markings in the sand. The tide at this spot had washed the tiny grains of worn black coal that form some of this areas stratum, into beautiful patterns. I didn’t have my camera with me, but thankfully the mobile was as helpful as ever in capturing it…

When I left here, the sky cleared inland, and I again made a detour back to the coast… to once again be fooled – ‘will I actually learn?!’ I asked, laughing at myself… this sea fog was clearly in for the duration!! I sat mildly frustrated for a while, in the car park at Blythe, just looking out on a drab view that was fading into obscurity. I shook myself down again, and did go to check possible spots, and once again took a picture with my mobile just for reference (see blogger head) – but I didn’t waste time checking anything else out. There was a lighthouse here that I needed to find, but it was invisible to me today and I felt that it just wasn’t worth it for now. Within half an hour I was on the road again, this time I gave up and headed inland proper. One of the locations I knew I needed to check out in advance, was near Hadrian’s wall, so sod this for a game of soldiers, this fog had fooled me enough today!!!

I got to Steel Rigg car park at 6, but in my unfit state, it took the best part of an hour to actually get to Sycamore gap. This was partly because I decided that as I was here I would actually walk the wall, and the hike up and down the steep crags was HARD work. I am a plodder anyway, and I was in no hurry to be fair, stopping every 5 mins to take in the view (alright… yes… and to breathe!!) The sky was a mix of clear blue patches and cloud, and the horizon had a lovely orange tint to it, even this early – was I in for an amazing sunset I wondered?!! I met another photographer, Steve, and we chatted for a short while, before he headed off towards a hill further on, having no intention of stopping at the tree. I did stop at Sycamore gap when I got there though, because it was such a gorgeous spot, despite all the people here. Its no wonder this location is photographed as often as it is – its perfectly balanced, and the tree is a stunning example of a sycamore! After a while I moved on, since there was still loads of time, and I continued my plod to meet Steve up the hill overlooking a cottage and Crag Lough. The view was lovely, but definitely needed light. I took the photo anyway, hoping to recapture this view with a bit of sunlight across the scene, on my trip next time. This was just my scouting one for now. As the evening progressed, Steve and I took a slow walk back to the tree, getting there as the sun started to set. All the tourists had gone by now, and other than sheep walking through the scene, there was nothing to spoil it. The clouds went a light pink – then all the colour just faded into blue hour without any added drama – much to our disappointment. We still managed to capture some lovely photos however.

Sycamore Gap with only the locals sharing the view

With the light now fading, the two of us headed back to the car park, following a different route back (the Pennine way – a route that doesn’t involve the up and down hikes over the crags!) Steve suddenly pulled up short. ‘I cant go that way’ he said as he looked ahead. I followed his gaze. The gate and the style at the wall in front of us, had about 8 cows crowded right up to them. He told me that he’d had a really scary incident where he had been chased by cows, and that he was not comfortable near them now – well, OK – Yes – he was terrified of them. He would have to take the hike (up and down the hills) back from this spot. For me however, my feet were hurting by now, so I told him I would be fine continuing this way and I’d see him back at the car park. Truth be told, I was WAYYYY more scared of the pain climbing the steep hills, than I was of these bovine girls. I went on ahead, climbed the style and started chatting to the cows, confidently asking them to move out of the way, because I was going to come through, then I just started forward, being bossy and verbal with them all. They all moved to the side dutifully, and I just strode through. A minute later, Steve was walking at a far faster stride by my side. I chuckled and made a playful comment about him not wanting to be outdone by an old girl, and he hastened his speed, laughing but pretending to ignore my comment. We all know of course, he was just being the gentleman and was making sure that this irresponsible old girl wasn’t getting into trouble with the wild animals… don’t we…?!! In all seriousness, I applaud his bravery in following me, and in beating his fear on this evening.

Back at the car park, we swapped Instagram details, and both went our separate ways. I went back to Fred, and since it was now quite late, I decided that I would stay the night and leave for home in the early hours. Driving through the night while I was this tired would be stupid, unnecessary and dangerous. I climbed into bed but my feet were so painful that sleep was very fitful – with stabbing pains shooting across the soles of my feet constantly waking me.

At 3am I woke again, and saw daylight beginning to seep through the curtains. I looked outside to see the early pre light, with a beautiful pink glow on the horizon, and stunning light mists over by the hills. Since sleep was being a struggle, I made the quick decision to just get up and capture the view from where I was. My feet screamed at me as I dressed, grabbed my kit and hobbled over the road, but I ignored them… this was too beautiful to miss!

View towards Steel Rigg in the early hours of dawn

I spent an hour and a half just standing here in the silent, chill, air, photographing the mists rising and falling. I heard the birds wake and sing, watched the cows on a distant hill grazing peacefully, undisturbed, I filmed a spider on a gate, building his web for the day, and watched the sun gently rise. I just soaked up the incredible experience of being here, right now, as the whole world woke up to a brand new day. The peace I felt was immeasurable, filling my soul with something it had been lacking, and it was all for me alone to witness. There are no words to describe how this felt.

Once the sun had climbed high enough, I went back to bed and slept well until 9, when, far more refreshed, I finally got myself ready and drove home.