Lanercost to Aesica Roman Fort and Haltwhistle

We slept extremely well at Lanercost B&B and, unsurprisingly given yesterday evening's meal, Christina cooked us a superb breakfast. The other walkers were just leaving as we went down to to breakfast at 8 am, and as we left at 9 am the family were having their breakfast. We climbed back up to the path behind a group of walkers, expecting them to pull ahead of us very quickly. However we overtook them on Craggle Hill and we didn't see them again. 

After the steep climb to the path and then a little bit more up Craggle Hill, we descended to Banks, passing what appeared to be a very tall section of wall - but it seems it was actually rebuilt by the Victorians!  We climbed out of the village on the road, but it soon levelled out and a footpath appeared running parallel with the road, past various turrets and a good section of wall, the first we'd encountered.

We had seen objects in the sky for some distance and as we got closer to Birdoswald we realised that they were kites. There was also music blaring out, and it turned out that there was a kite festival taking place at the fort. There were large display kites and small children with smaller kites, and too many people! We moved on rapidly, walking alongside another good section of wall, then sitting down at Milecastle 49 to sort out my feet; to avoid blisters, I have developed a routine of swapping socks and applying lashings of talcum powder every couple of hours on warm days.

From Milecastle 49 we descended steeply, zig-zagging our way down to a modern bridge over the River Irthing (which is the same river as in the valley at Lanercost), then we climbed back up alongside another good section of wall.

Where the path crosses the road on the outskirts of Gilsland we had planned to turn left into the village rather than following the path (to enable us to find somewhere to stop for lunch) but in fact there was a diversion which headed in exactly the direction we wanted, and almost immediately we found The House of Meg, a lovely little cafe. I had brie and cranberry sandwiches and Richard had soup. They were doing a roaring trade, with a group of French bikers and a family group with an old lady. The waitress managed to spill our milk, but she dealt with it speedily and pleasantly.

We emerged onto the B6318 to the north of Greenhead and walked a short distance along it, passing the point where the Pennine Way joins Hadrian's Wall from the south. Thus when we left the road again we were on the route of two National Trails at once (and, at the time, we were planning to follow the Pennine Way as part of our journey north, so the next section would have been double duty!). The next section of path was slightly complicated. We crossed the railway and passed what looked like a good path down to Greenhead. We followed the river (Tipalt Burn - marked as "Tipal Burn" on the OS map) around towards Thirlwall Castle. Then, eventually, we crossed the Burn and climbed steadily, with nice views opening up behind us.

We reached another road with a car park (for the Roman Army Museum), toilets and picnic benches. We stopped for a little rest. Then we continued, past a lake in a former quarry and up towards Walltown Crags. We were in classic Hadrian's Wall territory now, with the path climbing and descending along the edge of crags, and an occasional ruined turret to remind us that we were on the route of Hadrian's Wall. It was quite tough walking and there were good views in all directions.

Eventually the route became less of a roller-coaster and more open and we could see the Military Road running, dead straight, to the south. At Cockmount Hill we passed a little wood and a cottage then we continued at around the same altitude to Aesica (Great Chesters) Roman Fort.

There isn't a lot of the fort to see, but I sat by a small temple to sort out my feet again. Then we left the route of Hadrian's Way Path to head for Haltwhistle, where we were staying. We took a small farm road south to the Military Road, past grazing sheep and bullocks. We crossed the road and took a track towards Lees Hill Farm, noticing to the east an attractive looking valley with an old chimney visible. This is Haltwhistle Burn, of which more later.

We took a path around the farmyard, but failed to see the footpath we were looking for down to Haltwhistle Burn,  so we continued along the little road. Eventually, near Broomshaw Farm, we followed a sign down to the Burn, a delightful spot with what appeared to be a good footpath in both directions (note for tomorrow!).

Amazingly, Haltwhistle Burn was an industrial site in 19th and early 20th centuries, with both coal mines and a lime kiln. Now it is a peaceful nature reserve, and the former industrial buildings add to the appeal. We walked down the valley towards Haltwhistle, then followed roads through the town, which describes itself as the 'Centre of Britain'.