Tuesday, 14 April 2015

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.
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6 comments:

  1. BirdyRed17 April 2015 at 15:01

    Following the meeting attended by Martin, Clyde, Jim, Shawn and me it was agreed that all but Clyde could meet at Wylam, as suggested. We were unsure as to Maldwyn's plans. Clyde is keen to "cop" a bit more of the Reivers route and so will head north from NCL central station to join the route and head directly to Bellingham.
    A visit to Bellingham recently by Peter (Using public transport!!) reveals there is a butcher and a baker but no candlestick maker. There are several cafes - at least one of which does breakfast from 08:30 - and a hotel with a reasonable restaurant. There is also a fairly large Co-op supermarket which stays open until 22:00 so we could either eat out or self cater (Spaghetti Bolognese, anyone??). The Black Bull at Wooler has a pub restaurant and additionally a separate Italian restaurant. There are also other eating establishments there. For Holy island, there seem to be 2 or 3 restaurants on the Island itself but there is also the Lindisfarne Inn which is NOT on the Island but on the A1 some 2 km from our B&B. So, if we run short of time on the Thursday (or it is inclement weather) we could eat there.

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  2. Clyde19 April 2015 at 08:04

    I just worked out a new route from Newcastle station to Bellingham, using the C2C/Hadrian's Cycleway as far as where the Reivers intersects it; then the Reivers. Mapometer makes it under 89 km, so not too bad - but I may yet change my mind! I found an old blog post detailing my last rides in the NE, including a visit to Wylam: http://whitepeakrangers.blogspot.fr/2013/06/cycling-in-north-east.html
    I notice it's an EH property, and I'm a member. But my membership runs out before our ride anyway, and I wasn't planning on renewing it, so I won't be missing anything!

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  3. BirdyRed22 April 2015 at 09:42

    I have just taken a brief look at the route NCL - Wylam - Hexham - Bardon Mill - NCN68 - Bellingham. Apart from hilly, it looks a long way (80+km?). Has anyone actually checked the distance with mapometer or similar?. With a lunchtime meet at Stevenson's cottage we will have a long afternoon.

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  4. Martin23 April 2015 at 08:34

    I think much depends on the weather. If there is a strong wind from the west, with sleet, R72 to Vindolanda is best avoided and I would seek the relative protection of R10 and the North Tyne Valley to Bellingham. However, on a fine day it is (only) another 20 miles to follow R68 through southern Kielder.

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  5. BirdyRed19 May 2015 at 20:25

    After much consideration I have decided that, irrespective of the weather, I shall be taking as direct a route as possible from Hexham to Bellingham on Monday. This is mostly to ensure a timely arrival into Bellingham which allows for acclimatisation, a short rest (well, I am 70 you know!!!), a shower and then a meal at a reasonable hour. We may also be thinking of buying breakfast provisions from the Co-op for Tuesday morning. On arrival at NCL I shall probably briefly meet Shawn and Clyde before heading for Wylam and the tea room there.

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  6. swaddywaddy24 May 2015 at 20:39

    I think like Peter we need to make good progress to Bellingham from Beckham viA the direct route. I am considering pushing on after a brief visit to hexham but will check in with others on reaching wylam if we can met up good but will be happy to stock up on reaching Bellingham for Monday night scram and Tuesday break

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