THE LONG (UN)WINDING ROAD

WEDNESDAY 10 TH MAY, 2006.

After a heartless breakfast at The Hadrian Hotel in Chollerford , it was time for the off, this time minus Mike who was returning to his Derbyshire stately home. For a Tory MP he was a right good bloke and a number one fund-raiser. Many thanks Mike;oh,and don`t forget, now we`ve got your address we won`t leave you alone !

Mike (MP) in the centre (but usually well to the right),cracks another John Prescott gag

It would be nice to report that an idyllic morning walk along the Wall brought us closer to a more complete understanding of Roman Culture,and a greater appreciation of the subtle aesthetics of British wildlife. But it didn`t. Well, how would you fancy walking mile after mile on a grassy knoll along a busy main road, because that in effect is what this section of the trail is all about. Nevertheless, we kept our peckers up with tales of the unknown and extra-terrestrial visitations. Imagine our shock then, when two X-Factor figures appeared out of the sun ahead of us, waddling in harmony,dressed in twin-set rubber padding,and talking in a strange language. How were we to know that two geordie bikers would choose this day to visit Roman Milecastle 25 ?
Nick escorts the aliens back to the mother ship

One of the delights of the mile after mile show however, was to visit the site of an early and significant seventhth century battlefield. A major war raging during those times between the Northumbrians and the Welsh (with their Mercian allies) resulted in a defining moment along the line of Hadrians Wall, just east of Chollerford.The violent set too,subsequently known as The Battle Of Heavenfield, resulted in a victory for the Saxon Northumbrians under the unexpected stewardship of the christian King Oswald, and this became one of the more defining moments in the story of Britain.King Oswald became St Oswald,and the rest,as they say,is history. Not that this cut much ice with Dave. He`d found an exciting road sign and souvenir dead cats eye to lecture the party about. As a former marketing man with a salary based upon the need to sell reflective road sign materials, he could could talk the legs off a donkey about his subject. So desperate were Nick and I to be side-tracked from the route ahead,that by the time he`d finished we`d agreed to buy three dozen double-diamond high intensity 3-M `Slow Down` signs.

The long and unwinding road

Dave lectures on the merits of double-diamond reflectivity on road signs

So it was with some relief that we headed off, cross-country in the afternoon away from the wall, and down to the village of Wylam. At Wormald House our overnight stay, we were warmly greeted by owners John and Angela Craven. Years of media work, culminating in John Craven`s Newsround on BBC, had clearly given this couple the edge in hospitality stakes. So enamoured were we with their reception, that we decided to share our good fortune on the `dead cert tip` we`d received earlier on the walk (see Monday`s blog). "He told you that did he ? Mr Dandy in the 3 O`clock at Hexham, heh?", exclaimed John, barely supressing a grin. "Well I have to tell you gentlemen, that jockey couldn`t even lie straight in bed ! I wouldn`t touch any of his tips, not even with a very long barge pole and a pair of yellow marigolds" What were we to do ? This man also knew his horses;he`d even owned them. Well, to be precise,various parts of them, but they would be impressive parts for sure. This wasn`t the sort of man to make do with just a fetlock. Later that night after a fine meal and good wine at The Bistro En Glaze we came to a firm decision. We would put off deciding what to do until Saturday !