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Day 11 Hexham � Kielder via Bellingham
Weather � Wet Morning dry afternoon
Dr Pepper � Good
Terrain � Hmm OK I suppose
Campsite � Highly Recommended: Hawkhirst Scout Association Campsite, Kielder Water, Kielder, Northumberland, NE48 1QZ. 01434 250217 (May be scouts only)
This was our most enjoyable day so far but in the unlikely event you have read the whole diary so far you�ll notice today is sketchy and vague because we were too busy having a good time in the evening to write the diary! Setting off from Hexham from our field early and looking for breakfast we cycled up to Wall via the unmarked lanes that we accidentally got onto last night.
Wall (of Hadrian�s wall fame) must be a tourist place and have a few shops, we thought. No such luck and we passed through quickly as there were no shops at all! Soon we found and investigated some bits of wall lying around by the side of the road.
Not the most exciting turret in the world and since none of it was more than three feet tall I assume that either the wall used to be higher or Scotsmen used to be significantly shorter. A little further down the road after a long walk from the road we found some bigger bits of rock around a river which apparently used to be a bridge. Two bridges, in fact, because the first fell down in something-or-other BC. Overall I have seen more impressive Roman remnants (see random pictures section) but it�s still good to have something famous and be able to say �I�ve been there�. I believe there are more impressive sections of the wall remaining elsewhere!
After a �breakfast� of Smarties and Dr Pepper at an expensive garage with an extremely miserable attendant we headed up the hills to Bellingham, which took most of the morning for some reason although it doesn�t look too far on the map. Once again we were in the middle of nowhere and cars were few and far between.
If Huddersfield was the worst place we visited on the journey then Bellingham, Northumberland, is hereby named the best place we visited in the whole of England. First thing we see in the town is a Co-op, handy for lunch, but next to that was a butcher�s with ridiculously good value produce. The shop was called �Hugh Thompson Quality Butchers" and did not disappoint. We went in an came out with �beef burgers� all round. These were huge buns filled not with a burger but tons of delicious unmutilated beef, for just 65p each. Perhaps more importantly, he was selling Dr Pepper for 35p a can, a price unequalled in the entire rest of the country. Soon we were back in there for some more and Martin picked up a Kielder water tourist leaflet which we had a look through while eating.
We spotted a scout campsite near Kielder right on the reservoir and although we had planned to cross the Scottish border today we realised if we were only going to Edinburgh we had some time in hand and this was an ideal opportunity based on how good the scout campsites have been so far. This decision would almost come back to haunt us on day 13 when my bike broke but for now we headed back in the butchers to buy some sausages. That done we bought a large bit of lamb to cook on our fire, and while none of us have any idea how much lamb is supposed to cost I�m sure it was a good deal based on all the other prices.
The two men running the place were the most helpful and cheerful people we met on the entire journey although much of the conversations we just nodded because they didn�t speak much Essex. They sliced it up for us so it would be easy to cook, and wished us luck on our trip. Finally leaving our new favourite shop we needed to post some postcards and some meths, and round the corner we found straight away the shops with exactly what we wanted. Marks off for the publilc toilets though. Anyway we bought some tin foil and headed off to Kielder on the most scenic roads so far with good views all round and very little traffic.
We entered Kielder Forest National Park eventually the reservoir came into sight, with this huge dam at the bottom. Despite being next to the water the going was far from flat but we knew we had plenty of time and reached the campsite at about 4.30.
For the first time at a scout site there were plenty of other people about but I think they were stying in the buildings rather than the fields. In fact as we spoke to the friendly warden she told us the fields were so boggy the only place to camp was between them under the trees, which we did no problem. Also of note was that this was the first campsite that we visited that asked for a name and address. None of the other campsites (including the private ones) had any idea who we were so had we left a mess or something there wouldn�t have been much we could do about it.
The campsite was excellent, again opening the shop (and assault course!) for us everyone was very friendly. We cooked all our meat on the tin foil over the fire then played cards all night on a picnic table we nicked (and replaced in the morning). Most of the wood was wet but under the trees there was loads of dry needles from the branches which lit instantly in contrast to the trouble we�d had a couple of days ago at Blackhills. Before we left in the morning we walked down to the water�s edge where they do all sorts of watersports in the summer. The site is surrounded by water on three sides so there are some spectacular views all around.
This campsite is very highly recommended but unfortunately you do have to be part of the scouts to camp. If you are in the area though there is another private campsite not far down the road which we passed.