Date: Sunday, 26 July 2026
Day: 2
From: Newcastle To: East Wallhouses
Start Walking: 727am End Walking: 200pm Walking Time: 5h37m
Distance (Planned): 22km Distance (Garmin): 26.8km
Ascent: 348m Descent: 258m
Progress: 35.8/138km
Weather: Grey and soggy to start. I even had to wear my rain coat for a couple of hours! Sprinkling on and off for the rest of the day, but no jacket required. I got off very lightly.
Stayed At: Robin Hood Inn
General Comments:
• I put my hand up here and admit that I was really only guesstimating today’s planned distance. I looked at the guidebook and as I was starting and finishing mid-stage, I just made as wild guess and came up 4.8km short. 🙃 It could have been worse.
• In light rain, I made my way down from my Newcastle hotel, met the river, turned right and headed west.
• The path hugged the river for about the first 15km and the scenery changed from remnants of old heavy industry, new industry, factories, offices, busy multi-lane roads to a long stretch of suburbia.
• It took over 10.5km to get out of city and the suburbs, and 12.5km to get onto a dirt path. My feet were getting weary of all the hard surfaces.
• The upside is that there was a steady stream of hikers on the path. About 25-30 people heading eastwards and about 6 people heading West like me. It was quickly obvious as to which walking direction is the most popular.
• I was thrilled to see my first real stretch of the Wall at Heddon-on-the-Wall. I am told there is a lot more waiting for me ahead, but today it was a bit of a thrill.
• The wheat fields and open paddocks gave me a much needed sense of space, but the constant road noise and traffic did detract somewhat. Maybe I have been spoiled by the Coast to Coast Path? I have been told it gets better and quieter.
Top Tips:
• Footwear: With all the hard paved/asphalt surfaces of the last couple of days, trail shoes would be ideal.
• Services: There are a couple of cafés and pubs along the river, and in Heddon-on-the-Wall.
• Signage: the signage has been excellent today and I only needed to check the AllTrails app a couple of times.
Have a good week ahead…
Life...one big adventure 
Mmm.. I would have been tempted to get a bus out to Heddon-on-the-Wall and avoid all that ugliness of the outer city limits, but I realise that you prefer to start at the beginning and end at the end of a trail. Are you carrying your backpack this time? And have you pre-booked accommodation? It would be interesting to know where you are staying.
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You know me well, Jude. I like to do the whole thing – the good days and the bad. It’s all part of the experience. And Yes, I pre-booked all my accommodation around 12 months ago to make sure I could get the ones people were recommending. Tonight I’m at the Robin Hood Inn. There’s also an amazing company called Hadrian’s Haul who do the luggage transport. Their service has been great so far.
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