Ten miles into Day 2 on Hadrian’s Wall, and we finally reached something approximating life as we entered Northumberland at Gilsland. The accents were no less comprehensible (ours, not the Geordies).
Gilsland (pop. c.400) had a posh spa hotel, a cafe and two pubs, one of which was daringly open at 3pm on a Wednesday.
We couldn’t see the Samson, though, as it hid behind the railway bridge and when a place is tiny What Pub often dispenses with actual addresses, often with hilarious results for BRAPA.
Ah, here it is.
“Nice sign” says Mrs RM, who’s on good form as she knows I’m not actually diverting her off The Path on her phone today and she’ll be at our hotel in Greenhead.
The Landlady confirmed that numbers on the Wall path didn’t run into the millions, but after two days of glorious sunshine we expressed confidence that she was in for a bumper British summer as folk in Bolton and Basildon forsook Magaluf for Gilsland.
It’s a welcoming, unfussy village pub with a lone other Professional drinker on Guinness. Does that mean we should stay off the cask, too ?
Well, no, not when there’s yummy local homebrew to enjoy ! Golden Plover and Muckle Truckle so good I stayed for a second, enjoying the company of Guinness Man who gave us more FACTS about Glisland than you’ll ever need. RAF Gladeadam is the biggest RAF base in the country, 25% of the village is in Cumbria, and Bromley is a great place to visit. But BRAPA knew that last one.
He knew more about Baku than BRAPA though, and to be honest I sort of wished we’d booked to stay the night there rather than the Greenhead, but that’s life.
“An hour till the rain sets in” warned our Bromley advocate, and off we set.
retiredmartin 
Do you book the lodging prior to starting your trip or book as you go?
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Oh yes, Christine made very detailed plans and booking for trains and lodging. There’s so few places to play in the west side of the wall you can’t afford to set off without somewhere to stay each night.
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I’m glad you found the Samson. I stopped there towards the end of a cold day cycling from Carlisle to Once Brewed quite late in 2019. It’s only about eight miles to go from Gilsland, but it took me the best part of an hour, getting colder all the time and the east wind getting stronger. Hope conditions were better for you and Christine.
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We’re still taking shelter in a bothy near Walltown Quarry and are surviving off nuts and berries. Internet quite good though.
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What did the Romans ever do for us, eh?
Well, there’s the bothies. And the internet…
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The Roman internet is the best.
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