Graham Kenward's Ride Journal
July 2005 Seascale to Tynemouth

to see Graham's Photo album of his ride.

I’ve been fairly lucky with the weather on previous rides in this area, but not this time. 
First thing on the first day the rain was full-on Cumbrian.  It was so bad that the traditional start picture had to be taken in the hotel garage.

It didn’t get any better as the day wore on and we wore out.  From Seascale to Silloth we had a 23mph north-easterly headwind and hard lashing rain for the whole 45 miles.  The Golf Hotel receptionist couldn’t help laughing when we arrived, dripping on the carpet like fresh-caught salmon.  Fortunately, the hotel is very welcoming and has excellent drying facilities, something appreciated by two American ladies who had also been riding (or was it swimming?) up the coast that day.

One of our party had a bug and came close to hypothermia, and was so ill he didn't ride for the next two days.  The second day had less rain, but a tad more headwind (28mph).  On the third it rained on and off, and the final day was dry all the way. 
The sun did eventually come out – just as we finished.

But despite all that, I was impressed by the route, particularly through Carlisle and Newcastle on some lovely bikepaths, when it was sometimes difficult to think we were actually passing through a busy city.

Hadrian's Cycleway is not yet complete and there is no friendly Sustrans map yet – promised for next year.  There were several points on the route where the signed route and the one on the OS map diverged, and disagreed with the route notes.  These are far more accurate and are available elsewhere on this excellent website that covers several rides in the area in amazing detail.  We went off piste a few times, the first when we seemed doomed to circle Sellafield nuclear power station forever.  I put it down to the radioactivity affecting my bike computer.  My companions took a different view!

On the third day it rained only part of the time and there were some brilliant climbs (including a beast of 14%) and descents (one took us nearly 6 miles without pedalling).  And loads of Roman remains to take our minds off the weather (how those legionnaries must have suffered without Goretex), including the forts of Birdoswald and Vindolanda, with some stretches of the Wall right beside the road.

The last day from Corbridge was mostly flat, and one of our riders encouraged his family to join us.  Their eldest rode on an attached trailer bike with Dad, while Mum hauled the youngest on a child seat.  They started behind us, but mysteriously gained the lead somewhere near Tynemouth when we thought we had used a shortcut down some steps and a ramp! (Doug says - they took the signed "Avoid Steps" route )

The run from Newcastle to Tynemouth was very well signed and a big improvement on the last time I went along it.  As we rode over the 'winking eye' Millennium Bridge in the centre, you could see that the city has changed a huge amount for the better in the last few years.

Aside from one puncture, a bottom bracket replacement and a couple of luggage racks coming loose (thank heavens for zip ties), we had no mechanical problems.

Distances covered:

1st day (Seascale to Silloth): 45 miles

2nd day (Silloth to Brampton): 43.8

3rd day (Brampton to Corbridge): 40

4th day (Corbridge to Tynemouth): 32.4

Total: 161.20 miles

Should you wish to try the route, or you're just visiting the area, I can recommend the following for refreshment and hospitality:

The restaurant at the Maryport Aquarium (it even provides colouring sheets for the kids);

The Golf Hotel, Silloth (welcoming, comfortable, and good drying facilities) http://www.golfhotelsilloth.co.uk/;

The pub in Port Carlisle (fresh fish on the menu);

The Le Toot coffee shop in Haltwhistle;

The Centre of Britain Hotel, Haltwhistle (not used on this trip, but I have stayed there before and it’s very comfortable and cyclist-friendly) http://www.centre-of-britain.org.uk/;

The Twice Brewed Inn (near two of the Roman forts) http://www.twicebrewedinn.co.uk/;

The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Corbridge (pretty town).

Holiday Lakeland (a company who have contributed to the success of several of my previous tours) booked our accommodation, provided three of our bikes and transported our luggage between stops. http://www.holiday-lakeland.co.uk/

Route notes:

One bit that caused mild confusion was just after Windrigg Close in Egremont.  The notes said accurately: 'turn right before steps to use ramp to join railway path, then minor road to Woodend'.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the notes with me and misread the map, so we found ourselves the other side of the steps with no signs except one coming the other way.  We backtracked and realised our error, but I think a sign would be helpful indicating the right turn before the steps and on to the railway path.

The next turn we missed was the right turn to join the railway path at Lowca.  Again, the directions were impeccable when I read them later!  At the time I was concentrating on coaxing our sick member up the hill after the T-J left turn, and nobody saw any sign pointing right.  We carried straight on the somewhat exposed road until we found the railway path just after a T-J near West Gyll End Farm.  If anyone else makes the same mistake, it should be possible to find a way back to the railway path sooner by taking another right turn off the coast road.

Then no probs till we reached the main road at St Helens.  We took the route notes advice about taking care along here; an ‘A’ road with heavy lorries in pelting rain is no place for a cyclist, so I'm afraid we cheated and used the r/hand footpath. 

Hopefully a shared use path alongside the road will be in place by early 2006.

In Carlisle the route notes say:

'Follow the rough tracks along the river bank - bearing left to a disused rail bridge, and use steps with wheeling ramp to pass under this bridge.' 

We were lucky to find this, because of the lack of signs and the fact that the vegetation (at least at this time of year) obscured the entrance to the steps.  Staying close to the river and keeping an eye out for the old bridge should prevent this problem.  We liked the wheeling ramp, though.  It reminded me of similar ramps at all-too-few rail stations in the South-East.

From the notes from Carlisle to Brampton:

'Continue on to Little Corby - turn left uphill to traffic lights and straight over A69. 

Absolutely right, and matching the route on the OS map.  Only one thing: the route sign pointed to the right at the 'wide T-jcn', or in effect indicated straight on.  We ignored it and went left to Toppin Castle.
At wide T-jcn bear left - passing Toppin Castle (L- Red Sandstone Tower).'
(Doug says - the route may be changed to go via Toppin Castle but at present it is signed via Allenwood)

I would not recommend the Roman Army Museum at Carvoram for a refreshment stop, although it had a cafe of sorts.  There was very little to eat and they wouldn't even let us use the cafe or the toilets unless we paid the entrance fee. 

We decided to forgo the Museum (we were planning to visit Vindolanda, where at least the toilets are free) in order to have enough time to visit the Wall section described in the notes as:

'The superb Walltown Crags section of Hadrian's Wall is a hundred metres further to the north.'

I thought this might mean walking distance, because we followed the signs to the Crags (the r/h turn after the Museum) along a much longer, twisty, up-and-down road to the point where we couldn't get any closer by bike, and we still couldn't have reached the view without scrambling up some fairly steep wet rocks.  We did try, but it was not inviting to those wearing cycling shoes!

We probably should have followed the signs to the Quarry.

I now understand that the notes will be amended.  If you go to the visitors centre in the Quarry there are toilets and a small cafe (seasonal) – this will be checked out.  The Wall itself is a bit further on – this will also be made clearer in the notes.

Latest news is that an alternative route into Haltwhistle is to be added, which will take the route we cycled to Walltown (as shown on HCW day ride maps).  This will probably be shown as an alternative route when the official Sustrans HCW map is published early next year,

At the end of the wonderful descent to Fourstones we took the quick way down to Bridge End, which we found quite pleasant (and this was on a Saturday).

On the cyclepath just past Mr Stephenson's birth cottage we met a bod doing a survey for Sustrans on the usage of the route and gave him details of our trip. He seemed keen to know our ages, but sadly did not express any surprise when we told him!

The 'diagram' maps of the towns in the notes were excellent and we began to rely on them more and more as the ride went on.  In fact, I should have taken the Route Notes on the bike as well as the OS map, but it's not easy handling sheets of paper in the rain!  Maybe the future is to have them recorded as an audio file that could be downloaded onto a MP3 player, so riders could hear them as they went along. 'Doug on the iPod'?  So much more friendly than GPS!