Hadrian's wall and back again - choices, choices ....

[cisamcgu]

Thank you all so much for your help and advice. There can never be too much information

 

[ThompsonCrowley]

Dear comrades,

Mrs C and I are planning a trip in the summer on our tandem (which should be arriving in March ). We fancy doing Hadrian's wall (route 72) from Bowness-on-Solway to South Shields and then returning to Bowness. We will drive up and park the car for the duration in whatever accomodation we pick in Bowness.

So, I have two questions really. Given that the route is approx 100miles, and we are neither fast nor particuarly fit, we figure we can do between 30-40 miles per day at a relatively pootling pace; so where do we stay - has anyone got any recommendations for staying on the route ? Also, should we plan on staying in South Shields or is it better to do an "in and out" of the Newcastle area and plan on staying outside of the city ?

The second question centres around the return leg. We think that we have three options
1) Simply retrace the route back to Bowness; this has the advantage of being simple but might be a little "samey" considering we have just ridden it a few days before.
2) Make up our own route staying north of the official route but not straying too far away; this has the advantage of being new terrain but not far from familiar places, but is not "official" so we would have to make it up as we go along - or at least plan it well
3) Go back using the Rievers (route 10) via Kielder. Advantages are that is should be signed and therefore not likely to run into dead ends, but is longer and maybe more difficult (hilly). Or indeed should we go Reivers outward and Hadrian's back ?

So, we are pondering options, but we want to decide relatively soon since the acommodation may book up quickly.

Thanks
Andrew

Hi Andrew. Me and my Mrs did a cycle trip along Hadrian's wall this summer. We didn't join onto the cycle route until we hit the tyne just before Newcastle. We were at first following military road, which runs pretty much along the wall. It is extremely hilly, very, very scenic, but very, very hilly. Don't let that put you off though, it is a beautiful ride, just be prepared for some uphill struggles.
We were camping along the trip. There were loads of camp sites near to the wall, spoilt for choice, but as soon as we got near Newcastle there were none for miles. So, I would recommend staying outside Newcastle if you were planning on camping.
It's a really nice area there, I'm sure you'll have a great time on your tandem, whichever route you choose.

Hope this information is of some slight use!
Tom

 

[mcshroom]

If you are planning to stop over at Hexham, read this review from a friend of mine when we did the Hadrians cycleway Its all true http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUs..._Northumberland_England.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

Yeah we stayed there - it's not somewhere you forget really is it

 

[Soltydog]

Yeah we stayed there - it's not somewhere you forget really is it

On my own, or with the mrs it would have been no fun, but 4 lads sharing a room, after a night on the beer, I haven't laughed so much in ages

 

[jurjan]

we stayed at Glentrool holiday park (not sure if that's on the route), Kirkudbright campsite (silvercraigs), then at Powfoot (Queensberry bay holiday park), then Banks camping barn (situated on the route), finally at Hexham racecourse campsite (a very uphill struggle).

So it was all campsites for us except for the camping barn, where you don' need a tent, but you do need your own sleeping bag and mat...

Oh yes and the pub neer Glentrool holiday park had great food, and they also had sleeping accomodations.

 

[cisamcgu]

Thank you everyone for your superb help.

We have booked our accomodation in June at Bowness, Haltwhistle, Wylam and Newcastle. We have decided due to time to only do it West to East, and get a taxi/minibus back to Bowness.

I have the sustrans map, but feel that the OS maps would be helpful (I LOVE maps), do I need to go the whole hog with the 1:25,000, or will the 1:50,000 suffice ?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Thank you everyone for your superb help.

We have booked our accomodation in June at Bowness, Haltwhistle, Wylam and Newcastle. We have decided due to time to only do it West to East, and get a taxi/minibus back to Bowness.

I have the sustrans map, but feel that the OS maps would be helpful (I LOVE maps), do I need to go the whole hog with the 1:25,000, or will the 1:50,000 suffice ?

You really won't need the an os map. The route is well signed except for a diversion that was just after Sellafield, but if you do really want one, we did it with a road map at 1:200,000 must marking the route on it in advance plus camping sites and sits of interest to us.

 

[Pale Rider]

Thank you everyone for your superb help.

We have booked our accomodation in June at Bowness, Haltwhistle, Wylam and Newcastle. We have decided due to time to only do it West to East, and get a taxi/minibus back to Bowness.

I have the sustrans map, but feel that the OS maps would be helpful (I LOVE maps), do I need to go the whole hog with the 1:25,000, or will the 1:50,000 suffice ?

Wylam is only a few miles from Newcastle, so I imagine the plan is leave Wylam in the morning, cycle to South Shields, then return to Newcastle for the night.

Very doable, no significant inclines.

I take it you grasp that cycling along the north bank of the Tyne will take you to North Shields/Tynemouth.

If you want South Shields, you will have to cross the Tyne somewhere, either at the cycle/foot tunnel if it's open, or at the Shields ferry.

Having said that, South Shields may be a good place for a curry, but it's a dump in most other respects.

Tynemouth is a much nicer end to your ride, it's bordering on middle class in places.

Or put another way, £3 for a coffee in Tynemouth, £1.80 in South Shields.

 

[cisamcgu]

Thanks for that info. You are right in that we plan to ride from Wylam to the end of the route (almost certainly on the north of the Tyne) then retrace our steps back to Newcastle centre.

SatNav - thanks for the map info - we will have a ponder (6 months to go, so no hurry)

 

[Cush]

Can you get your tandem on the train? this would save you a fortune on fairs

 

[fimm]

If you want a map because you want a map (and I'm right with you on that one!) I'd go for the 1:50 000. I think 3 will cover it (that's me trying to picture the map showing the coverage on the back of a 1:50 000 in my head, so I could well be wrong), and I think you'll get enough detail.

 

[cisamcgu]

@Cush : Getting the tandem on a train is indeed possible, it has S&S couplings so it can split on two. However, there is no guarantee we would get on any particular train, especially since there may well me many other people trying to get on the train with bikes, and we do have a need to be back in Bowness-on-Solway at a reasonable time so we can drive back to Liverpool.

@fimm : Thanks for that, I think I may be needing to buy a few maps shortly