Allenheads - Tynemouth
Day 3, 17 May 2008
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- On the road again
- Climbing out of Stanhope
- Beginning of the end ...?
- Hitting the city
- ...on and on and on...
- The end
As there was no particular rush (see the end of yesterday's diary) we were able to take out time awaking and doing our early morning business. We hoped the landlord was enjoying his sleep.
We made it down at 08:30 for an average breakfast (the wet soggy tinned tomato didn't do it for us). Sue and John were also there, keen to get away from this odd place.
We all left the inn together and got our mounts out of the lock-up. A light drizzle was falling so Pedro “tooled up” in his wet weather gear. Sue and John pushed off first and we left soon after.
On the road again
It's a long climb straight out of Allenheads - not so great with cold legs and the cold rain. Pedro soon passed John and Sue and powered through the inclement wet and wind.
After the climb the road rolled down to Rookhope and allowed for making good progress. Oh, we should have mentioned Peter had been left behind, but you'd probably worked that out for yourselves, huh?
Passing Grove Rake Mine and Lintzgarth arch on the way, Pedro hit Rookhope at 09:40 and waited in a convenient shelter near the pub for Peter. He duly turned up at 10:05.
There was a choice of routes here and Peter opted for the the rough track. It was shorter in distance than the road and as he would be walking for most of it
(uphill, see) it would probably be quicker for him. Pedro took the road to Stanhope which climbed steeply out of Rookhope and up past wet sheep and lambs.
Visibility was somewhat impaired but soon Pedro found himself approaching Stanhope.
Climbing out of Stanhope
Entering Stanhope, Pedro turned left up the long climb out. It was steep and long. And then some more steepness and longness as the road twisted and turned. In a way it was good not to see the top as it would probably have made him want to give up. After the initial climb it levelled slightly but then the upcoming hill was in sight. The drizzle seemed to get worse and annoying. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing that once at Parkhead Station, it would be the end of the hard bit.
Coming up the final hill, Pedro caught a glimpse of Parkhead Station in the mizzle. He rolled down and turned into the driveway. There was no sign of Peter who would be getting to this point on his alternative off-road route. Pulling into the carpark the whole thing looked closed as there were some building works ongoing. Luckily Pedro noticed at the the back the lights were on and he could see Sue and John inside enjoying a cuppa. 'Always open' the sign reassuringly said.
Beginning of the end...?
Inside it was warm and Pedro had a hot chocolate and orange chocolate muffin. Sue and John left and eventually a rather wet Peter
arrived. After a break we dragged our wet clothes back on and rolled out along the 'Waskerly Way'. The first mile or two was horrid as our hands were freezing. The track
was straight forward but rough in places with thick gravelly surfacing. The gates we had to go through were also rather annoying.
As we descended it did get a bit warmer but Pedro's fingers remained cold. We weaved our way to the outskirts of Consett, eventually coming to the junction at 109 miles - the parting of the ways. It was straight on for Sunderland and two options for left to Newcastle.
Consett wasn't the NCN's greatest moment. At the junction we decided to take the circuit route around the town which turned into the worse decision of the whole trip. The path was abysmal in places with severe rocks and half hidden by saplings. Eventually it opened up a bit and we crossed what we believed to be where the steel works used to be. Hmm mm the post-industrial landscape sure is purty. Beer cans and McDonalds wrappers. Ahh, this green and pleasant land.
After crossing the A694 we soon made it back to another railway path. Avoiding the dog turds, glass and rottweilers was a far cry from the Lake District. Soon the path headed along the side of the Derwent Valley. Through the trees we could see the valley below. We were pretty miserable though. Peter stopped to put some warmer gear on as he was getting cold. The rain had pretty much stopped now but we were damp and getting tired.
Past the posh piles of Hamsterley Mill, we progressed until over a viaduct a 'welcome to Gateshead' sign greeted us. Pedro had never been welcomed to Gateshead before. He felt special. It was a bit of a lie as before Gateshead we landed with a bump in Rowlands Gill. Everyone seemed to be eating chips. And deaf.
Nothing wrong with being deaf, but it made it harder getting past them on the CYCLE PATH. After less than a mile it was back to the Derwent Walk.
Hitting the city
The path descended into what was a surprisingly pleasant valley with multi-use path that followed the Derwent river. Riding toward Gateshead and Newcastle was certainly a new experience for us even though we had been there many times before by other means. The traffic noises increased and the youths got more surly. The Derwent widened out as it neared the Tyne and all of a sudden we realised we were only a stone's throw from the Metro Centre - that temple of capitalist consumption.
We crossed over the Tyne via the Scotswood Bridge and after some more road crossings were eventually dumped on the river's embankment. It's offices down there now, and the beginning of the changing face of travel along the river - as we made our way to Tynemouth we would experience mixtures of the remains of industry, new office developments, derelict warehouses, small lock-ups and new housing developments.
We felt uplifted as we rolled toward the Tyne bridges. We've walked along there before but on the bike you get a new perspective as the view changes more quickly. We stopped under the Tyne bridge to call Team Pedro who were in Fenwick's enjoying a cream tea - as you do. We advised them our ETA would be at least an hour and after watching a couple of loonies doing 'deathslides' off the Tyne bridge we pushed on.
Weaving amongst the throngs on the route, we passed the Millenium Bridge. For Pedro, from here onwards was the least enjoyable, other than Consett.
The constant changing of building types showed how things were changing and it was all a bit depressing. The distance didn't seem to be getting shorter as our legs grew wearier but we kept going with a kind of grim determination.
... on and on and on...
The youths grew even more surly and glass and dog turds once more became the test to keep our wits sharp. Tragedy came when we approached Royal Quays shopping outlet. After crossing the road near the shops, Pedro missed the route's turn and overshot by 100m. Peter didn't, though, and once Pedro had realised his error he turned to see him disappearing round a bend. Pedro gave chase but as he turned corner after corner there was no sign of him. Thinking that Peter was thinking Pedro was ahead of him and thus hoofing it after him, Pedro did likewise. There was still no sign of Peter as the route took twists and turns until eventually Pedro popped out at the car park on the final bend to the finish. He couldn't see Peter ahead so guessed he had already finished.
The end
Pedro rolled along that final bend with no sign of Peter. When he reached the finish there was no sign of either Peter or Team Pedro. This was not a good finish! Pedro called Team Pedro who were waiting at Tynemouth Priory where we believed the finish to be (hint: it's not). Team Pedro relocated to the car park near the finish and we all began scanning for Peter who wasn't answering his phone.
We waited and waited until eventually Peter turned up. It transpired that after Pedro's wrong turn at Royal Quays, Peter had gone ahead and taken a wrong turn. He then wandered the streets of Tynemouth area until eventually finding the finish.
After the mix-up and confusion at the end, we got the “money shot” then went home...
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