Day I, Wallsend to Heddon on the Wall.

Alan, already in the tunic, (seems to be always wearing it), Rob and Simon quickly donned theirs in the carp ark. "Where's the start?" Andrew, our support driver, rescuer, and advance scouting party, quickly went to investigate, leaving the legionnaires to don the armour. All donned up, and clued up on where we start, Rob, obtained the wall passports, which were getting stamped at various points throughout the walk.


Off we set. Following the Hadrians wall path or the Route 72 bike trail. The route largely follows the course of the river Tyne. The smell of seaweed flowing through the air, well that’s what Rob said it was! Making excellent time and not feeling any major effects of the rather heavy armour, we soon find ourselves in the outskirts of Newcastle, St James Park on the horizon.

Continuing on along the river side we attracted lots of attention from the passing boats, sailing along the river. We waved our swords to all that passed and the good folk of Newcastle replied in kind. It's at this point we must point out just how welcoming and nice all the people we met were as we walked today. Every single person that passed gave a cheery 'Hello' or a nod of the head. Many took the time to enquire as to what we were up to and why we were putting ourselves through all this! Several also asked for permission to take a photo and some even wanted to pose with us - Say cheese!

On ward along the river side we could see an approaching battle ship. Curious to see its allegiance so hurried to take a look. Turns out it was a French battle ship so we stood guard and ensured the ship sailed passed, making sure it would be put off by the 3 Roman's patrolling the wall and would not try a sly invasion. Not sure there was really much chance but we made sure none the less!

With the threat taken care of we proceeded and eventually made it in to the Centre of Newcastle, passing the Millennium Bridge. Rather impressive and an obvious photo opportunity. After this we carried on along the river side again and under the other Tyne bridges. Alerted to the fact there were plenty of seagulls perched on the rafters of the bridge we were about to walk under, and lots of 'splats' on the floor beneath we got moving hoping to avoid getting a nasty surprise. Alan wasn't so lucky. Poor Al, got one smack on the front of the chest plate of his armour, eeeeeewwwwww.

A quick wipe up later we headed on to pass straight through Newcastle and sticking to the cycle route. Along the road side we weren't able to avoid plenty of car horns beeping (27 in total!) as the traffic followed passed and plenty of people waving as they went by.

Back off the main road and along 3 more miles of cycle path route (still no sign of the wall by the point!). Yet more people asked for photo's, one young lady giving Rob a real cheeky grin as she passed on her bike, naughty boy! He protested against our jibes many times with "I didn't do anything, just smiled and said Hi". We soon brought him back in check, there was walking to do!

This wasn't the end of the picture taking, as another couple of ladies asked for a photo with us. Must admit that by this time the helmet was weighing very heavy on the old bonce so we'd taken to just carrying it in hand for a while to give our necks a rest. Needless to say when you then get 'Oh wow look at you guys! Can i have a picture with you please? Err helmet on please, come on make some effort', that's all you need to slowly bring your hand to the sword handle and think 'If only...'. Just kidding, always happy to take a pic, just so long as we get a sponsor from people. Leaflets handed over, we pressed on.

The cycle trail seemed to go on forever. Now the aches were starting to get more intense and so we started hoping the end would be just around the corner. "Let's have a look at the map. It must be the end soon" was said plenty of times as we willed the right turn 'across a golf course' that the guide book we had promised. Finally it arrived, and with people teeing off and skewing shots at the sight of the Legionnaires approaching over the green, we made the necessary cut through and diverted through the woods following the yellow arrow signs from the trail.

Now on the outskirts of Heddon-on-the-wall we were really starting to feel tired after a day in armour and a 5am start. The rain began, just a shower, but it didn't make it any more appealing. We struggled on uphill, dragging ourselves along, knowing that the comforts of Houghton North Farm B&B lay only a few more metres ahead. We saw a sign, "Houghton North Farm 500m on the left". See.

Up hill again though it wasn't easy but we pushed it to get out of the rain. Thankfully up and around the corner our rendezvous point was in sight, The Three Tuns pub, and Andrew was parked in the car park waiting.

Once at the B&B and with the armour off, everything started to feel much better. Very achey shoulders, but the feet and legs still had life in them yet. Our hostess was fantastic, a couple of cups of tea and a piece of lemon drizzle cake later and the aches started to fade.

We jumped in the shower and set back out in search of a good meal, finding one in the local pub. Carvery, yum yum!

Back here then to write up our events of the day, and of course get a good nights kip *Yawns* It'll be another long day tomorrow...