I had a diary malfunction (that's my excuse) for the 16th, so the meeting passed me by! I will be taking the Caravan and stopping at Nunnykirk, so will meet you all at the Bellingham Bunkhouse.

Meeting Places

Since we are all arriving in Newcastle at different times it might be sensible to nominate possible meeting places on the way to Bellingham. George Stephenson's Cottage is about an hour out of Newcastle along Route 72/Hadrian's Way, half a mile before Wylam. National Trust, £2.35 to see his birthplace, no charge to go in the cafe.

There is a cafe at the golf club on the way out of Hexham, just before R72 crosses the railway line.

There will be plenty of opportunity to see each other on the long, 10 mile, 200m, climb from Fourstones to Vindolanda.

This really is the summit

The cafe at Vindolanda would be a nice place to stop, but there doesn't seem to be any way in without paying the £8 or so entrance fee.

Beyond the pubs at Once Brewed/Twice Brewed there does not seem to be anywhere to stop before Kielder forest and Bellingham.

Incidentally, I have fitted a larger rear sproket (15 instead or 14 teeth) to my Brompton and stress-tested it along R72 between Carlisle and Newcastle. I also found out the hard way that too much faith should not be placed in Sustrans routing or Ordnance Survey gradient arrows.

For example the route via Bardon Mill drops 50m from Henshaw, which means an extra 50m climbing to get to Vindolanda. And the black arrow on the climb from Henshaw may be 14% but it is a very short distance to walk. The direct route does mean crossing the busy A69. but it is no worse than main roads in Derby. Anyway, I avoided the long uphill Sustrans loop before Hexham, between Fourstones and Bridge End.

Look forward to seeing you all Thursday, 7.30pm in the Brunswick.