Wallsend to Newcastle City Centre, 6 Miles

Ever since we walked the Coast to Coast path two years ago, we seem to have caught the bug for long-distance multi-day hiking, but if you’ve read our blog on that epic crossing of the North of England, you’ll realise that we like to do these things in comfort. This journey is somewhat in the same vein and we are using a tour company to haul our baggage from start to finish, collecting our bags each morning and dropping them off each afternoon at our next hostelry. It’s a fine way of walking with someone else taking care of the logistics and acting as our pack mules. For this trip we’re using Macs Adventures.

It was an early start for us this morning, leaving the house before 7am to catch the bus and then the train down to Newcastle. After an uneventful train journey, we emerged from the station into bright sunshine – what a treat, and how different to the week we had on Skye last week in torrential downpours. Staying at the Hotel Indigo, just a couple of blocks from the station, we checked into the hotel and stashed our bags in our room and then ventured off to find the Metro station to take us out to Wallsend for the first stage of our walk.

We’re actually splitting the first day, really, and just walking from Wallsend back into the city centre today. It’s a good tip we picked up from other walkers and just means that we can have a relaxed start tomorrow with just a relatively short day. So, off on the Metro from central station, change at Monument and then take the line out towards the coast for a five stops to Wallsend. I’m not quite sure why we chose to do the walk from East to West this time, but rather than Wallsend it’s Wall Beginning for us today.

As you come out of the Metro station, look for the brown signs for Hadrian’s Way and Segedunum Fort, the “strong fort” marking the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall. We popped in here to get our Hadrian’s Wall passports stamped, and then set off in the direction of the river to pick up the path. There is a museum here too, but we didn’t spend any time in it, thinking that we’re going to get our fill of history over the next week. 

Just a few hundred metres into the walk we came upon the Roman Baths for Segedunum. Interestingly, these had been covered up and were not rediscovered until 2014, having had an Inn built over the top of them. I remember learning about Roman baths in an ancient history or Latin lesson at school; we were told that the Romans built communal baths and that it was a social occasion. One thing that really stood out was how they would rub oil on themselves and then scrape it off with a strigil before plunging into the waters. Sounds like a great spa day and you can just imagine the Roman soldiers relaxing and socialising after a hard day standing guard or patrolling the Wall, moving from hot room to cold room. 

From the Roman baths, the tarmac path led us onwards, through narrow lanes with overhanging branches. To be honest, it is not the most attractive walk at this point, but that’s not the point, we had made a start and we were on our way.

Eighty-four miles to go to get to the Solway Firth on the other side of the country and I’m sure we will find plenty of different landscapes as we pass through the different sections. 

Today’s landscape is all about industrial heritage with the Tyne’s docks and shipyards. The tar coloured waters snaked along beside us as we ambled gently in the sunshine, taking in the views and enjoying the riverside breeze.  About four miles in, we came across St Peter’s Basin, a pretty marina that is quite reminiscent of St Katharine Docks in central London with renovated warehouses surrounding expensive-looking yachts. From here on, we could tell we were approaching civilisation again – the hustle and bustle of the city quickly displaced the sounds of birds warbling as we approached the city. 

The path widened, cyclists and people on scooters drifted past. We meandered past other visitors soaking up the sun and a beer at pavement cafes. Before we knew it, we’d reached the bridges over the Tyne heralding the city centre. First of all the millennium footbridge, then the road and rail bridges, and we were in amidst the hustle and bustle of the city again. 

Having seen all those people out at the pavement cafes, we decided to stop for some refreshements ourselves before heading back to our hotel. Then it was a quick shower and change and out for dinner. We found a delightful Italian restaurant just around the corner from our hotel, Insieme on Westgate Road. It was a great find – good atmosphere, fantastic food and a real authentic feel about it. What a good pick. 

So, that was our first day on the Wall. I’ve a feeling that every day on this trek is going to be quite different. Today we just had a hint of the Roman history that surrounds us, but the industrial history was also quite present with urban landscapes cutting through the wilderness. Tomorrow we will leave the city behind and keep heading west. Only seventy-eight miles to go now. 

Check out the Relive video we’ve made of this walk Day 1 Hadrian’s Wall