Hadrian's Wall Walk: Day One.

The night before day one, the team gathered at Silloth on the Solway Firth, with Scotland rising on the other side of the water. I caught sight of my first offshore windfarm way out west on the horizon, an impressive and uplifting spectacle. Menus for the following days were discussed over drinks but nervous trepidation about the scale of the walk was the most pervasive topic.

The morning of day one we loaded ourselves into the bus and had a camera face-off on the way to the official starting point.

We unloaded, adjusted gear, had a motivational talk, stretched half-heartedly and, for want of anything better to do, started walking.

The first stage was following the Solway Firth for about 10 miles to Carlisle. The land is flat and low lying. Fortunately we caught it at low tide.

There wasn’t much of a welcoming committee.

Navigation was easy and in characteristically Roman fashion the track was straight as an arrow.

Civilisation – and temptation – was never far from view, so although the pub was just about resisted, the ice creams from the local post office were not to be ignored. At this point, with clear skies and a comfortable pace, it didn’t feel like hardship.

We passed through Carlisle around lunchtime and headed east out of the town. The route wasn’t always particularly scenic.

It was good to see that the Cotswolds theme of strange historical buildings in random locations continued unabated.

Thanks to several pre-agreed stops with the support vehicle, snacks were welcome and plentiful.

Animal encounters were frequent and varied. They ranged from the small of stature, big of heart:

to the plain old big of stature.

I became the cowboy of the team as everyone quickly realised I was the only one naïve enough to face down some of the bigger looking beasts blocking the path. This one was standing on the bridge protecting its calf, so I was sent in as negotiator. It’s good to feel valued (or should that be expendable?).

The afternoon wore on, the sun passed over our heads and started to disappear behind us. Fatigue started to manifest itself as the reality what everyone had signed up to began to hit home. The body language at this last pitstop for the day says it all.

Talk of hot baths was popular, but the reality was nothing but a mirage. Or just desperate attempts at visual humour.

Almost 30 miles in and we finally found a bit of Hadrian’s well-organised stones. At that point in the day it was about as exciting as a bit of old wall could be, but symbolic nonetheless.

The support vehicle was provided by our hospital patient transport service from London, so the drivers were ambulance men - handy for first aid. It was also a welcome sight at the end of day one to see the vivid yellow of his jacket and know the bus wasn’t too far away.

All in all the first day was great for the team to find its collective pace and to take in the magnitude of the distances involved. A mile can go quickly or last an age depending on perception, attitude, fitness, stature, stamina, footwear, air pressure, time of day, amount of chocolate ingested, etc. Blisters were plentiful for some and non-existent for others, but the diversity of people and the singularity of objective kept everyone going. It was only day one. That evening was considerably more subdued than the previous.

Stats:

29.6 miles

55,600 steps

2360 kcal