Sam's Walk
Wallsend,Segedunun, Swann Hunter, St Peters Quay, Millenium Bridge, Newcastle, Newburn, Heddon on the Wall.
As we take our first steps on this walk we are thinking about you Sam. We want our efforts to make a difference and accelerate research for a breakthrough treatment for MS. In the meantime enjoy every day of your life to the full and give your great mum a big hug while lots of people work their hardest to find a solution for your future. This walk is for you and we want it to raise hope. Everyone out there reading this please help our cause and help us make a difference in fighting this disease.
A good friend Viv has joined us for this walk and his friends are sponsoring him generously. We start out with a weather forecast promising heavy rain, flood threats and news that the hosepipe ban remains in force. Actually the rain is light as we pop in to the local Total station to get our Hadrian Passports and our first stamp.
At Wallsend we meet the North Tyneside Branch of the MS. Sandra Richardson who has had MS for 20 years and was diagnosed 5 years ago and like many others with the disease is fighting and positive. We also meet Jim McAndrew the local chairman and Derek, Sandra's husband, who are both active members helping the society locally. They also tell us about Patsy Peebells who is 14 and has MS and writes a blog for the Evening Chronicle. We really hope the efforts we are making with this campaign will help Sandra and Patsy and all the other people impacted by MS.
After a quick tour of Segedunun where there is little to see although we are told by Jim that this is the most excavated Roman site on the planet. He directs us on to the wall route and immediately we are by the Swan Hunter site. Jarrow across the river conjures up imagery of massive social dislocation from the past. The silence of the ship yard is now earie as you think 30,000 people worked here and when the shift buzzer went 7000 workers used to flood out stopping traffic and taking life in to the town.
Now it is all silent. As you look around Lowry and Orwell come strongly to mind and make you realise the historical significance of the place we stand.
Further along the Tyne (can't help thinking Lindisfarne) we meet schoolkids and their teachers from Dean Magner and Newent School in Shropshire. They have cycled Hadrian's Wall in the other direction and are finishing. 12-16 year olds all of them and not a complaint as they took on the challenge. Brilliant effort.
We see what look like seats along the footpath but with great iron blisters making them uncomfortable to sit on. We wonder if they are a massage mechanism for aching muscles at the end of the walk from Carlisle.
As we approach Newcastle we smell engineering oil and look in on a manufacturing wharehouse. We meet Peter Gallen who tells us they make valves for oil companies here. They are making a valve for BP in the Gulf Coast at the moment. He comments on the incredibly stringent and high standards BP insists on for all their work and his surprise at events in the Gulf. Bel valves is a world leader and doing great business as part of a bigger operation called British Engines. A great story to complement the earlier silence of Swan Hunter. Peter tells us up the hill is the worlds biggest valve at 40 inches which was produced for Texaco at a cost of £2m to show how big they could be but was never used and is now a museum item.
On the way in to Newcastle we find HOPE painted on a building and want this to be a sign for our cause. Later on I also manage to hold the Milenium Bridge in the palm of my hand.
Wendy Hurst, out walking with her daughter Anna,
stops to ask about our campaign. Her best friend Julie has MS and is coping very well. Keep with it Julie and we all hope we can accelerate a treatment by the efforts we make. Anna and I have a chat about what it is like being nine and a half months old. Seems pretty cool I would say.
At a quayside pub in the centre of Newcastle by the Tyne, Gainer Thomas actually welcomes Rob's camera. Our first lady on the 1000miles4hope walk to actually welcome being photographed. Most women we ask for photographs normally refuse us, claiming their hair is not quite right or their make-up isn't on etc. Well done Gainer and Glyn who have just finished the walk the other way round.
We find this amazing Deli across from Dunston for lunch. Must be run by Rob's compatriots as all the deli specials have Haloumi and Feta and olives on the menu and a massive queue outside. Rob tries his Greek but without a Geordie accent (his is more island Greek) it is wasted. A goldmine with six people serving flat out behind the counter.
Further along we meet Adrian and Margaret Dent from Darlington who tell us of really tough hills in the middle section. Rob is not convinced now he has Offa behind him. We shall see.
As we approach Heddon on the Wall in pouring rain we meet Donna Collins and Susan Long from Houston. They are doing the wall and really enjoying it already. We loved the accent ladies and hope you enjoy the whole walk and it doesn't rain too much.
Viv's only downside was walking past an attractive pub at Newburn where a pint would have gone down well. Drenched like drowned rats at the end an enjoyable 18 mile stroll we are delighted to arrive at the warm, dry and welcoming Iron Sign Farm. Owen organises our cab down to the Swan and fills us up with a fabulous full English to set us on our way the next day. We are on our way. Give mum another hug Sam and a big hug back mum.
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