Thursday July 6, 2017, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 48 miles (77 km)
So, we are off. We met the Skeddadle rep at 8:00 and he filled us in with details, most of which we already knew but the confirmation was encouraging. Then we loaded up the tandem with what we thought was a small amount of stuff and set forth on our journey to Bonny Scotland, well the first stage of it at least. Getting out of Newcastle was easy, we had done the same route a couple of years ago at the end of Hadrian’s Wall, so we were quickly in Tynemouth where we paused for a photo op and then marched northwards towards Blyth.
After a HUGE hill we arrived in Whitley Bay where we had a well earned icecream. (Note, hills have only got three gratings : HUGE, ENORMOUS and MIND-BOGGLING). We had been making good progress and the lilting North East accent was still charming and the friendliness of the people couldn’t be faulted – all in all it was a pretty spiffing place. After Whitley Bay we continued up the coast towards Blyth, home of Blyth Spartans, a football team I had seen once, playing Marine so I was looking forward to visiting it ! On the way we went through some sand dunes that were the spitting images of the dunes on the Sefton Coast, we kept expecting to see Natterjack Toads.
Eventually we arrived in Blyth, about half way to Warkworth our destination for the day. Blyth was a rather depressing place; run down, economically depressed with a high street completely filled with Pound shops and charity shops. It was not an experience we would repeat in a hurry. We left, riding, as always, North, and seemed to spend an age just crossing a blasted river – people should build bridges over the mouths of rivers to make life easier rather than making them detour inland through jungles and deserts just to get to the other side. – Surprising number of ponies in and around Blyth – just thought you should be kept informed, dear reader.
The landscape expanded as we went upwards, and we entered the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) which covers most of the Northumberland Coast, and it is an epitaph well earned. I had expect it to be bleak and windswept ( Too much watching Vera), but in fact it is simply stunning -awe inspiring really.
We got lost in Amble, we ate icecream in Cresswell, and video-talked to Lucia on a cliff edge in the middle of nowhere, all of which were memorable, but the best sight was the Sun Hotel in Warkworth where we ended up after almost 50miles of HUGE hills, stunning scenery and lovely people.
Total climbing : 1850ft
Food was eaten, drink was drunk and we fell asleep before 9:30. But, before I go, I must tell you about the room. It was …err… I am not really sure how to describe it, so a picture will have to suffice.
