Day 2 of 2: Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle

The buses served us well today.  The Q3 took us to the bus station and the 685 to Heddon on the Wall.  

This section started with a delightful walk through the town and downhill past beautiful houses and through a golf course, continuing onto a disused railway line.  Apart from nearly getting run over by a very apologetic greensman on a golf buggy, we appreciated our surroundings and had a taste of the countryside.

The river stayed close by but out of sight for much of the way.  If doing this walk again, which is highly unlikely, I would follow the River Tyne Trail for this short section and re-join HWP after a mile or so.  A sheltered, tarmacadamed path is perfect for cyclists, yes they were there again, but less so for walkers. 

Although we were using a trusty guide book, another joy of following a designated walk is what you find on the way.  In this instance, we found Tyne Amateur Rowing Club which was open to the public.

Not only did it have good coffee, homemade cake & beer but it had the most comfortable sofas and an elevated, panoramic view of the river.  Our hour spent here was perfect.  Do visit if you can. 

Newburn Bridge on the left

Once through Newburn, we were back in the outer reaches of Newcastle.  The hi vis cyclists continued to pass us, some with bells many without.  If you have a bike get a bell.  Bikes are so quiet today you could save yourself and others from a nasty accident.  A bell is a polite way of being heard.  And while I'm making sensible suggestion, please don't use pedestrians as slalom practise.  It will only end in tears.  [rant over]

From Lemington, the path becomes a means to an end.  We crossed the A1M, once romantically called The Great North Road and continued onto the city.  At one stage the path took us alongside the very busy, noisy and smelly A189 but we quickly re-joined the river.  Although the new business buildings were impersonal we were away from the heavy traffic which was a relief. 

our first sight of the city's bridges

The Angel of the North on the horizon, centre of image.

A stand out moment of this part of HWP was spotting the Angel of the North on the horizon.  We visited the artwork by Anthony Gormley when it was installed in 1998 but hadn't realised it could be seen from the river.  It makes sense that it can be seen here as it watches over the ghosts of ship building along the Tyne.