In Hexham: the roads to the south

July 24, 2024

We saw the country north of Hexham yesterday, so today we look to the south. We get a late start to our outings though because Rachael has an appointment at 2 for the haircut she’s been trying to fit in for the last several weeks. We decide the best plan is to have an early lunch so we don’t have any other constraints than sundown penning us in once we set out.

Before that though a couple of errands get fit in. One is to repair Rachael’s flattened rear tire. I brought it up to the room last night, noting that it’s still not all that flat. I think this is the first time this tire has been off the rim since the bike shop installed it last winter, so it’s of course a monster to remove and then remount at the end.

I’m assuming that I’ll have trouble finding the pinhole leak, and trouble starts right away when I realize the pump is downstairs on my bike so that takes an unwelcome trip down and up the stairs to fetch it. once I start pumping it up though the leak reveals itself almost immediately and isn’t actually that small. Easy enough to patch, but first I have to go downstairs again, to Rachael’s bike this time to get her patch kit because the glue in mine is near gone and dried out. After I’ve patched it I carefully study the outside of the tire but can’t see any flaws. As soon as I start running my finger around the inner casing though I almost immediately stab myself on a small wire sticking out - it must have been filling the puncture it created and kept the leak to a slow loss. Lucky.

I pull out the wire with the needle-nosed pliers, and several oaths later the tire finally snaps back on the rim. More serious cursing ensues when the tire won’t take air and I realize the patch job went for nought because I caused a pinch flat trying to remount the tire. So that ruined tube gets round-filed and several profanities later the job is finally done.

The other errand of the day is a short walk to Mountain Warehouse to buy a new walking stick to replace the one I left behind way back in Llanidloes because it was made useless when the mechanism that locks the pole to the desired length apparently came unscrewed and got left behind on the road somewhere. I’m glad Rachael mentioned the pole this morning and there’s an outlet close by because I hope to walk a ways along Hadrian’s Wall from our next stop near Haltwhistle.

Finally though we set out around three, both leaving at the same time, both heading the same direction, and both traveling nearly the same pace for the first steep mile up Dipton Mill Road. Really, I could have walked with her and kept about the same pace, but it’s a narrow and shoulderless road so we would have single-filed anyway.

Leaving Hexham. Like Durham, Hexham’s a river town - so it’s a climb getting out of the place unless you’re following the river.

As often seems to happen lately, Rachael’s walk doesn’t go to plan. She mapped out a route south on a named walking route, the Way of Light - misnamed, since it should better have been called the Way of Light and Muck. She gives it a try for a ways before returning to pavement and making up a route on the fly. She doesn’t take many photos except toward the end when she comes to the sprawling Dukes House.

Dukes House, a manor house built as a private residence for a local banker in 1873, and expanded to its current look in 1920.

Dukes House is divided into three residential properties. This is the entrance to the West Wing. The North Wing is on the market for £550,000, described in the realtor’s listing as needing updating. A fixer-upper, if you’re looking for a starter home in the country.

In Dukes House Woods. The woods were the site of a country school to house children evacuated from Newcastle during the Second World War.

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My walk doesn’t go to plan either. My original thought was to make it down to and circle Derwent Reservoir, the source of the Derwent River we crossed at Masham week or so ago. When I got to the top of that first long climb and came to my turnoff though, it looked like I was nearly at the crest. I decided to bike a few hundred yards further so I could see over the other side first before returning to the planned route. And then a few hundred yards more and then more still because it of course is much farther to the crest than it looks from below. And once I do reach the top and can enjoy the open views I’ve invest enough that rather than coasting back down I decide to just keep going forward and make up a route as I go.

It is really slow going and turns into a hike and bike - because there is so much to stop and admire, and because I pick an interesting route for myself that drops steeply down to a flooded creek, and steeply back out; and then steeply down to a different creek, and then back out. A few 18-20% stretches slow the pace considerably, both climbing and descending.

So, a big 13 miles! Not much of a ride, but a great wheel-assisted walk.

Finally at the top - of this one, anyway. The longest of the ride, but not the worst. There’s some walking ahead. I stayed in the saddle for this one (500’ in 1.2 miles), but slowly. Rachael wasn’t all that far behind me when I reached the crest.

Well, I don’t think I’ll be riding through this one.

Wierd color to that water. Looks like Yorkshire tea.

It’s funny. Until I leaned the bike against the depth gauge for a shot and then looked up I didn’t see the footbridge. I was assuming I had to turn back here.

Some herring gulls, a few black-heads, a lapwing.

A second creek to be forded. If I were Graham Finch this’d be a self-timed shot with me up there with the bike.

We’re at the center of the world here at Whitley Chapel. Impressive the number of named places within just a few miles.

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Today's ride: 13 miles (21 km)
Total: 2,887 miles (4,646 km)

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Patrick O'HaraSorry to hear about the tire fiasco. I've been there many times before. So, frustrating.
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4 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Patrick O'HaraNo big deal. I just kept reminding myself of how lucky we were that it held until we got here where I could change it in the luxury of our room.
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4 months ago