Hadrian's - Day 8 - Newcastle

Heddon to Newcastle

Starter of fresh fruit

And scrambled eggs with gf toast as the main.

After a steep ~400' drop, the walk is relatively flat walking into Newcastle, with most of the walk in the suburbs of the city. I say relatively because relative to the last few days it’s flat, but relative to Bowie walking trail, it’s hilly. Following along the river Tyne under cover of the trees was its saving grace.

Heading out of Heddon-on-the-Wall my companion of walking alongside Hadrian's Wall changed to the River Tyne. 

I can’t begin to explain how serene it is with just the Lord, me and the birds. 

Occasionally the road is shaded by tall, leaning trees, creating a sort of canopy over the road as I go further down the hill.

Later there were dog walkers, cyclists and a young father pushing a new baby along in his perambulator. The baby was sound asleep and I pictured the mom up with him most  of the night so dad took him for a walk. Who wouldn’t be sound asleep being pushed along this peaceful path listening to the birds sing. 

Ancient frame holding up this pipe 

Jo Anne, lots of tree tunnels for you today. 

The tree canopy takes a left and so does the trail. The road becomes a forested floor, softer under foot and a much nicer path. Maybe today won’t all be pavement. 

The official end of Hadrians Wall Path is at Wallsend - 14 miles away. It doesn’t seem possible. 

A sign tells me I'm entering private property: Close House golf course. But the acorns continue so I follow.

Perfectly manicured greenways replace the forest floor. Early morning golfers tee up on the grass while grounds staff make an already perfect-looking place even more perfect.

There is a post with acorn and arrow in this hedge. Can you find it? I almost missed it but the trail is obvious. 

A few minutes later I leave the country club behind and I am on the Wylam Waggonway. I know I'm near the river even if I can’t see it. The pathway is shaded which is nice after the morning sun over the exposed golf course. There are lots of dog-walkers, runners and cyclists all around. I catch the sound of someone mowing grass, and snippets of conversations from locals with nowhere to be. After days in the middle of nowhere it’s kind of overwhelming to the senses.

Love this sign!

I’ve been following Hadrians Wall / Cycle Path. 

From here the trail goes downhill towards river Tyne, with a view of Newcastle suburbs in the distance.

Waxflower or porcelain flower

I’ve been on the trail for about an hour now and it’s time to shed my fleece. This looks like a good spot. 

My first view of the River Tyne today. 

And the view gets better

And better

And better yet 

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High."

Psalm 46:4

A mama duck with her three ducklings. 

 Very unusual cycle path / Hadrians way sign. 

I fear the tree tunnels are going to end. 

Newcastle is just over 5 miles away which means I’m about halfway through the day and it’s only 8:40. 

Now this is what a paved walkway should look like. No potholes or uneven surfaces. 

Cottontail 

I have to make a big U to get to the bridge that crosses over the main thoroughfare. 

It was definitely worth the few extra steps to not have to try to cross that on my own. 

I think they’ve robbed about everything they can off this bike. 

It feels like I’m getting very near the end of my tree’d walk. 

Yep. Just got dumped out of the trees into the chaos of the city. 

Little evidence of Hadrian’s Wall survived Newcastle’s industrial expansion, but there is a more recent history to discover on today’s walk, with information boards enriching the journey throughout. I walked past relics of Newcastle’s industrial past – this region once produced 25% of the world’s ships, managing to pump out 84 warships in 30 years! There are flat, straight paths which were some of the world’s earliest railroads, in the infancy of steam trains, and I learned about local heroes such as George Stephenson and William Armstrong, who played key roles in Newcastle’s industrial expansion.

It is the wide rolling mass of the River Tyne, and not Hadrian’s Wall, that is a constant companion during today’s walk, as I leave the final clutches of the countryside behind, I moved into the industrialized center of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Suburbia has given way to the real city, creeping closer with every step. Walking alongside the main road, it hasn’t been this busy on the whole trail. I realize I'm now slightly out of place. Everyone else is in shorts and t-shirt, just out for a walk or going somewhere with a purpose. So am I, I suppose. 

The final push on the Hadrian’s Wall Walk into Newcastle might have been the hardest. Urban city center all around, the riverside trail is less picturesque now. 

And there are always steps in the city. 

This is the first hiker I’ve encountered today heading to Wallsend. He had his head down and was on a mission 

Here are two that are just starting out heading east to west. 

You can see 4 bridges in this photo. 

Need to slip through this hedge to work my way up to the hotel and I do mean up 

And the streets are a muddy mess. One driver went through a puddle really fast and bathed the back of my pants. Eeeeww!!!

Train station at Newcastle

St Mary’s cathedral

Iron man - this is an interesting but lengthy story behind it and you may want to skip over it. I wanted it documented for myself. 

This was not built as a sculpture but as a giant stage puppet that was used in the production of the musical "The Iron Man" by The Who guitarist Pete Townsend. The Story is an adaptation of the Ted Hughes book with the same name. The stage version premiered at the Young Vic theatre London in 1993.

The Musical tells the story of a boy and a metal-eating monster that had dropped from the sky. A boy named Hogarth befriends Iron Man when the world is threatened by the scary Star Spirit, the Iron Man defends the boy and his community, After the battle the Star Spirit realizes she can be a force of peace and harmony in the world. Ted Hughes' 1968 novel was further adapted to make the Iron Giant, a 1999 animation produced by Warner Bros.

This Original Iron Man stage puppet retired to a barn on the Ted Hughes family estate and was brought to Newcastle Arts Centre as part of the Centre for Children's book exhibition in 2001.

The Iron Man now resides here by the kind permission of Carol Hughes.

I changed up the end of the walk a bit so the next two nights lodging I booked myself right across from the train station in Newcastle. 

The official end of Hadrians Wall Path is Wallsend, however to make this a true coast-to-coast, it's necessary to get to the east coast, an additional 6 miles. Since I would be walking right by the hotel where I'm staying for 2 nights in Newcastle, I decided to end Day 8 here and walk Newcastle to Wallsend to Tynemouth tomorrow (~10 miles). There I will officially end my coast-to-coast Hadrian's Wall Path adventure and take the metro back to Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

I can’t say that I want to spend a single minute more in Newcastle than is absolutely necessary. It’s noisy and smokers sit out in all the sidewalk cafes. I want to be back on the mountain please and experience the peace and tranquility of His creation. 

I’m staying at the County Hotel directly across from the train station. I was way too early to eat or checkin. I got here at 11 am and checkin is at 3pm. I walked around the block and bought some water at a tiny shop right next door to the hotel. Then I sat down in the lobby as a reminder I was waiting on a room. They had my room ready at 1 o’clock. It was so freeing getting those boots off. 

I've been lying here on this hard little bed working on the blog and having a cup of tea. 

View from my room. 🥴

It’s now about 3 pm so I think I’ll go find something to eat and then call it a day. 

I walked down to the Quayside as recommended by hotel staff. I looked at menus for three different restaurants not finding anything I could or would eat. Finally spotted this Hawaiian restaurant called Hula Co and decided to give it a try. 

I had the Huli Huli Chicken Poke Bowl. 

In case you want to know what all that stuff is:

Spiced edamame, pineapple salsa, guacamole, sushi ginger, pickled carrot, pickled red cabbage, radish and sticky rice. It was really very good except for the spiced edamame. 

Stats 

Steps - 29,683

Miles - 13.2

Elev gain - 407’

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isaiah 6:3
There is only one attribute of God that is ever raised to the third degree of repetition in Scripture. There is only one characteristic of Almighty God that is communicated in the superlative degree from the mouths of angels, where the Bible doesn't simply say that God is holy, or even that He is holy, holy, but that He is holy, holy, holy. God alone is holy. His name is Holy. To use His name in any way other than to honor Him is to profane Him.
One of my very favorite songs is Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham. If you have a little time to spare, I recommend listening to it here.