Steve and Alex Folkard  Ravenglass to Tynemouth Aug 2006

Neither my son nor I are particularly ‘regular’ cyclists, but we have done rides of 30/40 miles a day before and were confident that we could do this ride in a comfortable four days with some time to see the sights on the way.

At this point I should add that my son, Alex, is only 12 years old so this ride was a good test for him as well as a fantastic experience. Is he one of the youngest to do the complete ride so far?

We both rode mountain bikes with front suspension and, while the suspension was welcome in a few places, with hindsight we would have foregone the extra weight for hybrids with no suspension.

We couldn’t find a hotel on the internet in Ravenglass, so we took the train from Gloucester to there late on a Tuesday and then cycled up the coast the nine miles to Seascale for the start the next morning. The bath house at Glanaventa seems a strange starting point, but it has the feel of a place really connected with the past and sets the tone nicely for the ride. Arriving at the bath house in light drizzle I couldn’t help thinking of how the area must have looked when the roman fort nearby was fully occupied and everyone was going about their business.

Heading from Saltcoats we couldn’t find the route down to the packhorse bridge  so we took the alternative through Holmrook.  From here it was straightforward to Seascale and a good welcome at the Calder House Hotel which we would recommend ( http://www.calderhouse.co.uk/index.htm ). The owners have gone to great lengths to recreate the Victorian feel of this old school house.

Here is Alex at the start by the Bath House

Day 1 Seascale to Silloth – 46 miles
The weather was not kind on the first day. Heavy showers and a northerly headwind coming straight down the coast made the open stretches hard work. The sandy section to Sellafield presented no problem to our fat tyres and we cycled pass some guys in white biological suits drilling borehole just inside the fence of the plant near the cycleway…we assumed it was just for show so near to the road! From Sellafield a good surfaced path takes you to Egremont and you start to pass some of the lovely crafted iron signposts shown below such as where the coast to coast joins the route at Cleator Moor.

On to Whitehaven and thankfully the rain had eased. The port area has been sensitively renovated and this is also true of Maryport further on. The stretch between Maryport and Silloth is flat and has few points of interest except for the fantastic views of the Solway Coast, but in fairness there is little choice for the route between these points. On arrival at the Golf Hotel (very friendly, good beer and food)

Day 2 Silloth to Walton (nr Brampton) - 55 miles
Alex had developed a headache during the Wednesday night. I put his down to the wind in our face all day but by 3 in the morning he was awake and in serious pain. At this point I thought we would have to abandon the ride as he was in a lot of bother, had had little sleep, and was complaining about pain behind his eyes which worried me. I can’t thank the hotel enough. At 8.00 they phoned the local surgery to arrange an emergency appointment and once he had seen the doctor a sinus infection was diagnosed. 2 hours later plus paracetamol and ibuprofen and he was back to his normal self. This meant we didn’t set off until 10am but this was of no concern compared with being happy that Alex was fit to carry on.

The journey out of Silloth is pretty flat and passes Abbeytown Priory which is being renovated. On to Angerton where the bridge was closed but the guy doing the welding allowed as to carry our bikes past. We saw hardly anyone else as we cycled this remote section but there was relief all round at Drumburgh as the wind had changed direction and was on our backs. The sun came through and we absolutely sped along the levee section to Burgh by Sands much to the envy of cyclist pushing into the wind coming the other way. A good pub break at Monkhill and on into Carlisle and through the parks.

We found the strange bike steps in Carlisle with no problem and at the bottom you look back along the river below the old viaduct shown above. The ride along the river is varied and the first real climb comes at Townhead just before Brampton. It is not that hard a climb but it had come towards the end of a long day and the legs were burning a bit. We opted not to stay in Brampton on Thursday night in favour of heading up to Lanercost Priory where we turned left of the route for a couple of miles to stay at The Centurion Inn at Walton (http://www.centurion-hadrianswall.com/tariff_gen_info.htm ) . Lovers of real ale this is for you, and the food was great too. In fact so are the staff, beyond the call as you will find out in the next section. Alex had polished off the long day fantastically well considering he had only had a few hours broken sleep and we were both off to bed quite early following a big meal.

Day 3 Walton to Corbridge – 40 miles
Today is the day of the climbs. Not being regular cyclists we were not sure what to expect. We had too much gear in our panniers, that’s for certain. We both had too many changes of clothes and washing gear and other unnecessary stuff, so that is a lesson well learnt….especially as we climbed Banks. We both had to get off and push, but no shame for us ..we're not serious types. Up onto the top at banks and some great sections of wall await. This is the section where you can really imagine the wall being patrolled by fed up centurions longing to return to a warmer climate after days and nights of rain and fog on duty on the wall.

Ah yes..the staff from the Centurion Inn at Walton. It wasn’t until we got to a section of wall about a mile from Banks, and ¾ miles form Walton that I realised I had the hotel keys still in my pocket. A quick phone call and the landlord drove up to the wall to collect them from us to save us the cycle back (and climb back up Banks again). As you can imagine, we were rather relieved. Good section of wall too (see below)

Good riding on to Haltwhistle having climbed Greenhead Bank and then a real change of scenery as the road follows the river before the climb to Vindolanda. Alex found this too much of a climb to cycle so I tied his bike to mine with an inner tube to help pull him up the hills. Needless to say I had warm thighs once we hit the fort road at the top. Not to worry though, we popped in to Vindolanda, reminding of the last time I had visited as a 10 year old with school over 30 years ago. The walk and a visit to the café freed up the legs and we were recharged for the stretch to Corbridge which paid us back for all the climbing. Long downhills at speed…miles of them…great stuff. Only incident that was slight unnerving was when a car passed us very close at well over 50 mph while we were cycling on newly laid gravel. The cloud of gravel flew at us, hitting me in the face, and I just cannot believe the stupidity of some people. Anyhow, it didn’t spoil the ride into Corbridge and we arrived at The Wheatsheaf just as the rain was starting again. Good timing. Tiredness soon forgotten as another huge meal ensued, and a few good ales (for me anyway).

Day 4 Corbridge to Tynemouth - 31 miles
This was a really interesting day and a great close to the rural sections that had come before. The cycling is easy on this section but following the Tyne into Newcastle is really great. Cycling through the centre of town this has to be one of the best sections of the whole ride, and to save the need to cycle back we were even able to arrange a pickup form Tyne mouth using the www.tynebridgebikehire.co.uk  service which operates from the information centre just under the Tyne Bridge.We had one small mishap which meant we missed a turn and ended up in the North Sea Ferry Terminal, not sure if this was clearly signposted coming to the roundabout, we looked for signs but couldn’t find them. When we came back up the long hill from the dead end it was signposted correctly which seemed odd…but no problem. The wind picked up again as we made the last few miles to the alternative finish at Tynemouth and a well earned ice cream.

Fantastic fun. Great signposting across the majority of the route and I would thoroughly recommend it for any parent whose child is capable of stringing a couple of 40 mile days together, averaging 10 mile p/hour on the bike, and coping with a few steep climbs. Allowing a full day for the cycling is the key. That way you can spend time on and off the bike and not have to keep up high speeds to make good time.

Relaxed and steady, this ride is great fun.