Hadrian’s Wall Copyright © Barry Smith 2012. All Rights Reserved. Having enjoyed my first full long-distance walk, the West Highland Way, I was looking forward to Hadrian’s Wall. Unlike the WHW which quickly leaves the  townscape and remains wild until the last mile or so, the majority of the first day on Hadrian's Wall is spent walking through built up areas and there is a  stretch of about five miles through Carlisle. Personally I enjoyed the walk through Tyneside as it provided a great deal to look at. In many ways I saw this  as a walk of three parts,:      The first section being the Tyneside townscape and gradual rise onto the open high ground at Chollerford      The second, high-level section took us along the remaining wall as far as Banks     The third dropped us back towards sea level through the countryside toward Carlisle and then out to the end of the wall at Bowness-on-Solway.  Of the three sections if someone has limited time then personally I would recommend the high section where there is both a wall to follow and the views  are generally splendid. The section from Banks to Carlisle was good for us on a beautiful spring day, but on a wet day or after heavy rain ploughing through the cow fields, I'm not  so sure. Also I wasn’t too convinced by the walk from Heddon-on-the-Wall to Chollerford. The problem is that the line of the wall is now the line of the  B6318 and whilst the path generally runs alongside, rather than on the road, the traffic gets quite tedious on such a straight, fast road. Still mustn’t grumble  it is always a joy to walk in the company of our leader Sheepfellow and we would follow him anywhere.  Now this leads me on to the human aspects of our walk; we started as four and because we had to break in the middle we finished as three. As usual Barry  had done a great job of organising our baggage transfer and accommodation. In particular I want to single out the Twice Brewed Inn for both the welcome  and the food. They even filled my copious stomach which is quite a challenge. I’m sure Barry will comment on the other overnight stops but he will probably  fail to mention the Saturday evening spent in Carlisle town centre….. it’s absolutely amazing what you see there and make us all feel old, especially Barry  who developed quite a sore neck turning to look through the pub window at the ever-more scantily clad Cumbrian lasses. Judging from his comments you  don’t get sights like that in rural Shropshire.  Anyway enough drivel here - when’s the next walk?  Phil’s Comments Walkers Comments