Tynemouth to Bowness-on-Solway, a skinny coast to coast walk. A week of walking in sunny April weather, from Tynemouth, along the river through Newcastle, then across the higher land along Hadrian’s Wall to Gilsland, Carlisle, and onto Bowness-on-Solway on the coast. Following the 72 cycle path and the Hadrian’s Wall national trail, mostly. Aided by the Cicerone Hadrian’s Wall Path map booklet, the map on the 72 website, and Google Maps in the towns. Booking dot com for comfortable overnights and big cooked breakfasts for my main meals.

Early morning metro out to Tynemouth, check the sea and turn in to walk along the river. Benches with memories along the riverfront, pleasant watering hole at North Shields Fish Quay, yacht basins, post-industrial flattening of big industry. Walking sun-dappled ghost railways amongst fresh spring flowers. Newcastle riverside, optimistic Victorian stone buildings, stepped ginnels and beautiful bridges. Shrunk picnic benches at a riverside bike cafe, serious cycling (men on bikes), the tiger and the fish, 2 tubs of blueberries for £2 on a street stall. Road repairs and complicated routes through to the higher levels. Seagulls. Several dachsunds. Day 2, a short riverside (mostly) walk out to the edge of the city. Scotswood burger shack. City morphs countryside – private-go-away signage with golf courses and serious farming. The riverbank path crumbles into the river. Three more dachsunds. Friendly family pub overnight, and then day 3 up to Heddon and the wall path. Roadside walking on the field side of the hedge, early morning farm traffic gives way to saturday bikers. Crossroads teashop in an old pub and then the countryside shifts a little wilder, but still roadside walking slightly less oppressive now. Light relief down through to the bridge at Chollerford. Only one dachsund today. Calm beginning to day 4, on the bridge looking upstream, smooth blue river in the low sunlight. Back on the roadside field paths, solid stone hamlets, gateposts, horses, too fenced-in and too many stiles, but the countryside is wilder, and eventually there is some space between that road and the path. Flat flat straw-coloured upland landscape, the roman wall and the path snake across a chain of craggy cliffs made shaggy with weathered trees and blue pools on the north side. Solid farmhouses built from repurposed wall stones. Sheep. Mithras temple which is a bit of a shrine (coin offerings in a shallow stone basin). Watchtowers with information boards redrawing them as appealing rustic holiday lets. A sunny sunday so lots of people out, walking the famous bits, ups and downs, and sometimes shortcutting on the flat paths round the side. Overnight in the middle at Twice Brewed, and then day 5, a frosty sunrise and another long sunny day. Continuing over the snake-back and down to a narrow stream, a railway and the first pathside donativo flapjacks. The border village of Gilsland on the watershed. I’m now in Cumbria, the eastern section book-ended by castle ruins at Thirlwall and Tynemouth. West of the watershed the land is softer (and more familiar). Gilsland with a tea shop busy with a school party, not enough strawberry icecream. Serious roman wall again. Birdoswald, posh house with a fort in the garden. Banks village above the river valley, and down lanes to Lanercost on the river, for a very comfortable overnight, farmhouse with an abbey in the garden. Daffodils still fresh in unexpected places. Day 6 walking back into big farming, straight line field edges lined with trees. Vaguely aware of following the ditch but no more roman walls visible, this land is too well used. Cumbria sandstone so warm and rich. Pleasant coffee stop at a kiosk on the main road at Newtown, and then down on into dormitory villages, the snaking river Eden and ploughed fields. Thinking that Northumberland does country parks and pathside benches, while Cumbria maintains it’s paths well but doesn’t do benches. Reaching Carlisle along the river Eden, sunny wooded riverbank, people’s parks – but the centre is grim, a mess of shop carcasses, barricades, and dug up streets. Check out the 93 bus for Bowness tomorrow morning, breaking my east-west flow for practicality. Day 7, a cold bitter wind on the west coast (the day I left the winter kit behind). Early morning Bowness and Port Carlisle are cold and out-of-season closed – but promising to come again. Saltmarsh and yellow gorse. Drumburgh Castle is a fortified farm. Passing through villages dominated by crows and rooks loudly swirling around in the tree canopy above. A fast walk back to Carlisle, chasing the river again. And finally, sitting in Carlisle train station, at a picnic bench, looking about. Carlisle and Newcastle train stations are beautiful spaces.

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Northern England, April 2025