Day 22 Cocklaw Foot to Kirk Yetholm 14 miles - The Finale

Day 22 Cocklaw Foot to Kirk Yetholm 14 miles 6.5 hours

The long awaited, final day of Pounding the Pennines had arrived. Although we have thoroughly enjoyed the adventure, it would be fair to say that we were ready for it to end. We have escaped blisters, major injuries despite falls, drops into bogs and nealy 300 miles of England's toughest terrain covered. 

We set off again from The Farmhouse back to our pickup point from the day before. We had to rewalk the 2.5 mile track that had led us down off the desolate Cheviots, however this time it was a climb! I don't know whether it was the mental boost of it being the final day or some thing in the eggs, but we flew up that hill in an hour..turbo hiking! 

My boots that had lasted me so well, were now absorbing water, so the prospect of the final bogs and dripping socks did not fill me with much excitement. Fortunately, unlike the previous day, there were expanses of slabs and duckboards over the really boggy bits which meant mostly dry feet and a big uplift in my mood! As they say, God giveth and God taketh away, and in exchange for dry feet we received the tail end of the US hurricane Nadine. The wind was up and the cloud was down, which of course only gets worse the further up you go. We had originally planned to add the Cheviot, the highest point in Northumberland, to our final day but given the conditions we agreed that there was no need to take unnecessary risks at this late stage of the game. Instead when Dad and I are ready to put our boots on again, we could come back and enjoy it in fine weather! 

We ploughed on to the Mountain Refuge Hut for an early lunch and to get out of the wind. I can't tell you how good it is to step out of the wind and sit down to have a cup of tea when the weather is tough! We consumed our lunches, added some extra layers of clothes and set off again to summit the Schil. 

The path from the refuge hut drops steeply from 2445 feet to 1639 feet which was a little tricky, I remember 'surfing' down a big rock, thinking this could end one of two ways! Not before long we were climbing steeply again for the final ascent of the Pennine Way, the Schill stands at 1972ft. Given the weather we couldnt see a thing but we knew it was all down hill from there! 

The final miles of the Pennine Way are quite dramatic as you quite literally walk out of the Pennines..(or Cheviots!). Leaving the rolling hills behind you, the Scottish village or Kirk Yetholm awaits ahead and you are left with a cocktail of bitter sweet emotions. 

Like many who have walked before us, we entered the Border Inn 'the official end of the Pennine Way' and celebrated with our free ale, received our certificates and signed the book "Starting this journey on 24 August, we have walked miles, met new friends, and made memories to last a lifetime. Congratulations to all those who complete this long and challenging road."

I'm sure we will have some final comments and certainly have big thank yous to make, so Ill do one more blog post soon. We are at a very special wedding today and I have some serious scrubbing up to do!!!

Cheviots

Refuge hut

The Schill

Day 22 done

Celebrating the end of the Pennine Way! 
 

Day 21 Byrness to Cocklaw Foot 17 miles - It's the final countdown

Day 21 Byrness to Cocklaw Foot 17 miles in 9.5 hours 

The pennultinate day of the Pennine Way challenge. We put our sore feet into our worn boots for another tough day, comforted by the knowledge that there were only two days left until this amazing adventure is complete. 

The weather was pretty similar to the previous day, cold but sunshine with the odd heavy down pour (usually timed around tea breaks and lunch). The day started with a very steep muddy climb up Byrness Hill and it was only by some small mercy we did not end up sliding back down on our bums! We continued our climb above Kielder Forest towards Ravens Knowe and into the Cheviots. Neither of us have walked in this part of the world and we have been enormously impressed.  The terrain is wild and remote - so much so the army uses this area for training..much to our surprise when 3 squadies came running towards us down the path with guns! 

The ground was thick bog in parts which most of us took a swim in during the course of the day. Nothing like 17 miles in a wet boot (or two!). The path took us in and out of the Scottish border over the course of the day, with two significant climbs up Lamb Hill 511m and Windy Gyle 620m. Unfortunatey as this place is so remote, there is no accommodation on the route so we had to walk 2 miles down a big hill for a pick up to Kirk Yetholm. This means that tomorrow we need to walk an additional two miles up hill, and we are effectively already at the end, a day before arrival!! The great part of this - is we have been reunited with Ray who we walked with for the first 8 days (until our rest day). Over the 3 weeks we have only met 3 other people doing the full Pennine Way! 

Tomorrow is the grand finale, we have had an amazing time but very ready for it to end!

Apologies in advance if celebrating tomorrow gets in the way of blogging!! Thank you for sharing this journey with us and giving all of your support! 

Angry Grouse

The Border

Congratulations to Ray

Day 21 done

Day 20 Bellingham to Byrness 16 miles : It's a family affair

Day 20 Bellingham to Byrness 16 miles in 8 hours (Pervis Power) 

Do you know what not only am tired of walking through bogs, I'm tired of talking about bogs so you must be sick to death about reading about bogs!! So let's just start and end by saying it was HORRENDOUSLY boggy!  This is a 

place of minimal interest apart from the proximity to the end. Having the Pervis's with us really reinvigorated our steps, my auntie had the ability to clear a two meter-wide bog without a second thought and the pace was up for the whole day. 

We climbed up to Whitley Pike which felt familiar to the North Yorkshire Moors or the Dark Peaks because of the purple heather covering the moors. The sun was out for a good portion of the day but when it wasn't we had heavy down pours. I had to laugh at lunch, we held out until nearly two but there was nowhere but bog to sit in to eat. So we sat on the bit of had grown we could find, and moments later the sky's opened. It was definitely one of those "what am I doing here moments"!

Kielder Forest eventually offered some wonderful track to stand on, I used this opportunity to pour the water out of my boots and wring my socks out! The views over the forest are wonderful as was the track! We dropped down again to the River Rede and back out into Byrness. One of the soggiest days but not the worst! 

Two big ones still to come summiting Windy Gyle and tomorrow we cross the border!!! 

Day 20 done

Day 19 Once Brewed to Bellingham 16 miles - A Barbarians View

Day 19 Once Brewed to Bellingham (pronounced Belling-jam!?) 16 miles 9 hours

We had such a lovely stop at the Saughy Rigg farm with their amazing hospitality, food and surroundings it was a bit of a wrench to but those boots on again and start the 4 day slog to the end! We rejoined Hadrians wall at Peel Crags for some sharp scramble ups and downs..if only someone had the good sense to zip wire the peaks it would save an awful lot of effort! If you are into your films, Hollywood placed the loan Sycamore tree from the Robin Hood film on the wall. Eventually the Pennine Way leaves the wall at Rapishaw Gap and heads right into Barbarian land..made up of a variation of marsh and bog. The view is interesting here as this is the first sight of flat lands and forest but unfortunately as per so many other days the wet summer has made the ground horrendously soggy. 

It's a hard slog through bogs and I'd love to know how many miles we've added on just by circumnavigating the swimmers! We plodded through the boggy forest as dad fell in 4 times and we were attacked by various pine trees. All the excitement to get to the forest and all we wanted to do was get out of it! 

It felt like a long and soggy day on sore feet but the arrival of the Pervis's gave us a much needed boost. Miora & Allan will walk with us into Kirk Yetholm which will just give us that final spurt of energy required! 

Robin Hoods Tree

View from other side of the Wall

Dad's upped the athlete status

Day 19 done

Day 18 Greenhead - Once Brewed 8 miles : The Wall

Day 18 Greenhead - Once Brewed 8 miles in 4 hours 

Reaching Greenhead was another Smith mini-milestone before the grand finale in on 13 September. Today we realised that there seems to be an accounting error in our days walking, somehow an extra day snuck in and we are in fact on this trip for 22 days! Good job we have had 2 easy ones which effectively act as a rest day before the final push required to knock 60 miles out of the motor to Kirk Yetholm.

Considering we've now walked, climbed, plodded and bog hopped 240 miles the bodies are in pretty good nick. We are both weary in body and have some sore feet but we are hugely fortunate with nothing more than niggles to complain about. The end is in sight and there is certainly enough Smith juice in the tank to get us there! 

Here the Pennine Way meets with a far more popular trail, Hadrians Wall. Although only roughly 35 miles of decent wall remains, fortunately, the Pennine Way offers a taste of the most preserved parts. Another benefit of a short day is we could drop down a gear, enjoy the steep undulating hills and stop off for tea breaks to fill out the day. I understand that this is the last day of decent weather before the artic weather fronts come in! 

Vallum

Day 18 done

Day 17 from Knaresdale - Greenhead 9 miles : Bog Swap

Day 17 from Knaresdale - Greenhead 9 miles in 3.5 hours

All of the research and reading forewarned us that day 17 was notoriously 'the worst day on the Pennine Way' not for the distance but for the fact, once again you are at the whim of the bog monster - wading knee-high (if you are lucky) in muck. Now we've done bogs, water bogs, field bogs, mud bogs..who knew such a multitude of bogs existed, in fact our feet have been wet for so many days now I'm sure my toes are begining to web. So the prospect of yet another day in the bogs filled us with glee. Or perhaps not! 

Our wonderful B&B host, Margret who had been putting up Pennine Wayers since well before I was born had further helpful bog insight. On account of our horrendous summer the bog situation had worsened, the navigation was very difficult if not a little treacherous so those who have walked before us had opted for an alternative route down the South Tyne Trail. 

We took a section of this yesterday and were delighted to be back on it today, it was so good under foot we were able to take in the stunning views over the Tyne and from the Lambley Viaduct. We arrived into Greenhead early enough to have lunch which was a novel experience..we have become accustom to grassy verges or the odd rock to park our bums! 

We have one more short day tomorrow then we are back on the big days straight through to Kirk Yetholm. I don't know whether I'm more surprised that we have made it this far or that we only have 5 walking days left!

Lambley Viaduct 

River Tyne

Day 17 done

Day 16 Garrigill - Knaresdale 11 miles : Walking the Railways

Day 16 Garrigill - Knaresdale 11 miles in 6 hours (including tea room break in Alston)

After the 'big one' yesterday I was delighted to hear that today is a short walk of 11 miles AND included the rare treat of a village pit stop. We left the Post Office and Anne's lovely hospitality, heading towards Slaggyford near Knaresdale. Scarred from the knee-high cow patty swamps to Malham, we were concerned about the amount of fields and farmland on this walk along the river Tyne. Fortunately it wasn't too bad despite the rain this morning, some splodging through mud but nothing compared to what we have been through. 

Alston was about 4 miles into the walk and this lovely village sits on the River South Tyne. We stopped off at Blueberrys Teashop for a pot of tea and a scone before heading back to the Pennine Way. The literature and local advice told us to swap the Pennine Way for the South Tyne Trail which run parallel, however the South Tyne Trail runs on the old South Tyneside Railway built in 1840 to service the old lead mines. This was far more appealing and interesting than wading through 7 miles of boggy fields. 

We reached the lovely B&B is great time, this is only the second time we have been in before 6pm so has been a real treat to take our time getting washed up, ready for tea and preparing for tomorrow. Unfortunately the bog monster is back tomorrow to Greenhead..getting pretty close to Scotland now!  

Tea break..

Railway fun..

Day 16 done