Hard to believe that I’m finally this close to the end. I am quite confident I can finish this now. It’s not that I’m comfortable walking. I was in some agony this evening as I walked around town, to the pub, and to dinner. Getting up from a sitting position is an exercise in face contortions, grunts and occasional buckling over in pain. And I’m not the only one. Seriously, most of us have noticeable limps and it is clear that we’re all putting our bodies through exercises they have never experienced before.
We made it to Banks in time for our coach last
night and we were taken back to Greenhead where there was a hostel that could handle our group. The night at the hostel was relatively comfortable. As usual, I woke up three or four times at night, but went back to sleep relatively quickly. Once I woke to find Bill (one of the walkers) snoring loudly. It went on for a little bit and I snuck out of bed and gave him a little nudge. His snoring stopped and never came back. In the morning, I decided to forego a shower (I had showered before bed last night) and got ready to head out. We went across the street to the pub where I had a couple of fried eggs, toast, and coffee for breakfast. We picked up our pre-prepared lunch bags and got on the coach to go back to Banks – where we had stopped last night. I had talked about walking with Bill and Les, our speedwalkers who had beaten everyone by a large margin every single day of the walk. Les is a former army man who has done long walks and marathons for years.
Almost immediately after we got off the coach, he set out on the path and I scrambled to catch up. Then, he kept up a torrid pace that I tried to match. Ed (another walker from the USA) and I hoped to at least keep up with them for the first hour, but managed to keep them in our sights until our lunch break at 12:15 PM. We walked really fast. Within these first two-plus hours, we had walked almost two-thirds of the way to Carlisle. I got left behind since I took a little longer than the others to finish my lunch, but I finished only about 10-15 minutes behind Les, Bill and the others in that group. I got into
Carlisle at about 2:40 PM. Now, I don’t think you realize what an incredible pace that is. Given that I took almost 30 minutes for lunch, it means that I completed a little over 16 miles in just a little over 4 hours. To keep up a 4-mile-an-hour pace for 4 hours is astonishing and, as you can imagine, I was wiped out by the time we got to our hostel in Carlisle. Unlike the previous two days, we walked along a trail with almost no remaining trace of the wall. Also, the path went through numerous meadows and fields filled with cows, sheep, and horses. Nothing that we hadn’t seen before. A lot of the walk was also along roadways. There was almost no need to stop for photographs (how many pictures of sheep can you take before you realize that they’re all pretty much the same?) So, I basically put my head down and walked along at a fast pace trying to ignore the throbbing blister on my right foot (the one on the little toe). There were no stops along the way (except for lunch) and the relatively flat path also helped us keep up the pace. Still, I am astounded we were able to cover so much ground in so little time. It was quite warm in the afternoon. I have noticed that almost every single day between 12 and 2:30 in the afternoon tends to get sunny, hot, and humid. Today was no exception. The bright side is that again we escaped any rain. If you asked anyone (even a local) if it is possible to walk all day for an entire week across Northern England and not get rained on once, they’d say it was impossible. Well, we just did it. It has been unusually dry. With the constant wind blowing in our faces, even the warm afternoons don’t drain you as much.
When we got to Carlisle, I checked in to the “Old Brewery Residences,” our hostel for the night. Of course, with my luck, the room I got was on the top floor off one of the buildings and I have to take the stairs up to the fourth floor. Still, we each get individual rooms tonight (with a shared bathroom) and it looks quite comfortable. Of course, there is still not central air-conditioning or fan.
I took the magical shower and went off in search of some items for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. We are on our own for both those meals tomorrow and Phil and I stopped in at a Marks & Spencer to pick up some items for the two meals. I also went to Wilkinsons to get a new adapter for charging my computer. Wilkinsons seems like a dollar store and I found my adapter for 78p. Unfortunately, on getting it to my room at the hostel, I found it doesn’t work. Luckily there is a
US-style plug in for shavers in the light above the sink in the room. That seems to work just fine. On the way to the store, Les (who grew up in Carlisle) walked us through the spectacular Carlisle Cathedral. Many of you know how much I love seeing cathedrals and this one was just incredible. There has been a cathedral on that location since 1153. The current cathedral has massive columns and a breathtaking set of pipes for the organ. We saw the different archdeacons of the cathedral who have been buried there. One name that I would like to remember for the future is Archdeacon Marmaduke Lumley. What a great name and it will be used in my great novel that I plan to write some day. I loved the quick walk through the cathedral. The town of Carlisle also seems beautiful and a place worth returning to. The town square is lovely and the narrow cobbled streets remind me of the quaint towns in Europe we visited many years ago on our driving tour through several of the countries.
After that it was off to the Joiners Arms pub for a pint (or three) of the local brew. Again, I am sounding repetitive, but there is nothing like a hand-pulled ale. I don’t know why we don’t have hand-pulled ales in America. I am thinking of starting a chain of British-style pubs with hand-pulled ales. Someone has to educate the country that good beer doesn’t have to be ice cold and tasteless. I had a good time at the pub. Neil Salmon, one of the charity’s founders and father of Joseph Salmon, the three-year-old who died suddenly with no warning at all, had taken the 
train over and met us all and thanked us for our efforts for his charity. It was quite moving to meet him and talk about Joseph. Les then suggested we go to the Golden Pheasant, a Chinese restaurant for dinner. We got a variety of items and the food was really delicious. After the outstanding food (ending with banana fritters), I headed back to the hostel, this blog note, and bed.
Unfortunately, they do not have codes for hostel residents to access the wifi. So, this is another post that will have to wait until later to get online.
We made it to Banks in time for our coach last
night and we were taken back to Greenhead where there was a hostel that could handle our group. The night at the hostel was relatively comfortable. As usual, I woke up three or four times at night, but went back to sleep relatively quickly. Once I woke to find Bill (one of the walkers) snoring loudly. It went on for a little bit and I snuck out of bed and gave him a little nudge. His snoring stopped and never came back. In the morning, I decided to forego a shower (I had showered before bed last night) and got ready to head out. We went across the street to the pub where I had a couple of fried eggs, toast, and coffee for breakfast. We picked up our pre-prepared lunch bags and got on the coach to go back to Banks – where we had stopped last night. I had talked about walking with Bill and Les, our speedwalkers who had beaten everyone by a large margin every single day of the walk. Les is a former army man who has done long walks and marathons for years.Almost immediately after we got off the coach, he set out on the path and I scrambled to catch up. Then, he kept up a torrid pace that I tried to match. Ed (another walker from the USA) and I hoped to at least keep up with them for the first hour, but managed to keep them in our sights until our lunch break at 12:15 PM. We walked really fast. Within these first two-plus hours, we had walked almost two-thirds of the way to Carlisle. I got left behind since I took a little longer than the others to finish my lunch, but I finished only about 10-15 minutes behind Les, Bill and the others in that group. I got into
Carlisle at about 2:40 PM. Now, I don’t think you realize what an incredible pace that is. Given that I took almost 30 minutes for lunch, it means that I completed a little over 16 miles in just a little over 4 hours. To keep up a 4-mile-an-hour pace for 4 hours is astonishing and, as you can imagine, I was wiped out by the time we got to our hostel in Carlisle. Unlike the previous two days, we walked along a trail with almost no remaining trace of the wall. Also, the path went through numerous meadows and fields filled with cows, sheep, and horses. Nothing that we hadn’t seen before. A lot of the walk was also along roadways. There was almost no need to stop for photographs (how many pictures of sheep can you take before you realize that they’re all pretty much the same?) So, I basically put my head down and walked along at a fast pace trying to ignore the throbbing blister on my right foot (the one on the little toe). There were no stops along the way (except for lunch) and the relatively flat path also helped us keep up the pace. Still, I am astounded we were able to cover so much ground in so little time. It was quite warm in the afternoon. I have noticed that almost every single day between 12 and 2:30 in the afternoon tends to get sunny, hot, and humid. Today was no exception. The bright side is that again we escaped any rain. If you asked anyone (even a local) if it is possible to walk all day for an entire week across Northern England and not get rained on once, they’d say it was impossible. Well, we just did it. It has been unusually dry. With the constant wind blowing in our faces, even the warm afternoons don’t drain you as much.
When we got to Carlisle, I checked in to the “Old Brewery Residences,” our hostel for the night. Of course, with my luck, the room I got was on the top floor off one of the buildings and I have to take the stairs up to the fourth floor. Still, we each get individual rooms tonight (with a shared bathroom) and it looks quite comfortable. Of course, there is still not central air-conditioning or fan.I took the magical shower and went off in search of some items for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. We are on our own for both those meals tomorrow and Phil and I stopped in at a Marks & Spencer to pick up some items for the two meals. I also went to Wilkinsons to get a new adapter for charging my computer. Wilkinsons seems like a dollar store and I found my adapter for 78p. Unfortunately, on getting it to my room at the hostel, I found it doesn’t work. Luckily there is a
US-style plug in for shavers in the light above the sink in the room. That seems to work just fine. On the way to the store, Les (who grew up in Carlisle) walked us through the spectacular Carlisle Cathedral. Many of you know how much I love seeing cathedrals and this one was just incredible. There has been a cathedral on that location since 1153. The current cathedral has massive columns and a breathtaking set of pipes for the organ. We saw the different archdeacons of the cathedral who have been buried there. One name that I would like to remember for the future is Archdeacon Marmaduke Lumley. What a great name and it will be used in my great novel that I plan to write some day. I loved the quick walk through the cathedral. The town of Carlisle also seems beautiful and a place worth returning to. The town square is lovely and the narrow cobbled streets remind me of the quaint towns in Europe we visited many years ago on our driving tour through several of the countries.
After that it was off to the Joiners Arms pub for a pint (or three) of the local brew. Again, I am sounding repetitive, but there is nothing like a hand-pulled ale. I don’t know why we don’t have hand-pulled ales in America. I am thinking of starting a chain of British-style pubs with hand-pulled ales. Someone has to educate the country that good beer doesn’t have to be ice cold and tasteless. I had a good time at the pub. Neil Salmon, one of the charity’s founders and father of Joseph Salmon, the three-year-old who died suddenly with no warning at all, had taken the 
train over and met us all and thanked us for our efforts for his charity. It was quite moving to meet him and talk about Joseph. Les then suggested we go to the Golden Pheasant, a Chinese restaurant for dinner. We got a variety of items and the food was really delicious. After the outstanding food (ending with banana fritters), I headed back to the hostel, this blog note, and bed.Unfortunately, they do not have codes for hostel residents to access the wifi. So, this is another post that will have to wait until later to get online.
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