We met Sally this morning. Sally’s not happy. Sally is a retired corporate executive, who has come here because her sister wants to hike. Sally has never hiked before. Yesterday was her first day. Her feet are sore. Her legs are sore. Her spirit is elsewhere but her aching body is here. She is not happy.We set out into a cool, sun washed morning. It is beautiful today. The early morning dampness on the grass is rapidly retreating, as the days warmth sets in. Today the wall portrays itself in it’s 2,000 year old glory. In truth, to call it a wall, oversimplifies what was built here. There was a ditch, then a stone wall, then a space along which an army could move, then a bank, followed by another ditch and finally a last bank. These Romans really knew how to do walls. Much of the stonework is gone, though on today’s route, great stretches of it are evident. But the ditch has run beside us all day every day and seems to reach way ahead seeking the western sea.

It was an uphill, down dale day, past castles and turrets and wall gates, along cliffs and crags, climbing and falling, rising and dropping, ever moving westwards. The sound of traffic has become very distant, replaced by the sound of cattle and birds and broken regularly by a cry from Jutta of, “How far is the pub?”.

We pass the Sycamore Gap, a spot made famous, apparently, by the Kevin Costner film of Robin Hood, (him again).  Near the end, we are unsure of the way back to the main road and ask a couple we mistakenly think are locals.  “Do you know if this is the track down to Once Brewed?”  “Haven’t a Scooby do, my friend”, comes the reply and leads on to ten minutes of chat about world travel and the general wonder of life.

At last we reach the Milecastle Inn for beer and dinner. What a great day. And Sally’s here too. She made it!