Haltwhistle

Our pitch under the pine tree

 

View from the van

As we were heading up to Hadrian’s Wall we cheated by visiting my Mum for an overnight stop. It was lovely to catch up with her and it got the first 2 hours and 50 minutes around the notorious M25 out of the way.

The river by us

After a good night’s sleep Van-Man gave Lottie a short walk through the woods and then we had breakfast with Mum. Thankfully she is an early riser so after a good chat we got away at about 9.20. it was warm and sunny as we drove back to the A1 which passes fairly close to Mum’s and found the traffic moving far better than at home at that time of day.

An accident held us up at Leeming Bar but we passed it after 20 minutes of queuing. The A1 was good to travel on. Parts of it were motorway but all of it was dual carriageway so slower traffic was not a problem. Mind you as we cruise at 65 when there are no speed restrictions most vehicles pass us. As we passed Hexham it rained briefly but not as bad as the forecast had predicted.

Lottie on the dog walk

There were no holdups around Newcastle where the Angel of the North appeared suddenly as we rounded a corner. The A69 from there to Haltwhistle was a good road getting us to the camp site at 3.15 which was swifter than we had expected.

Van-Man chose a pitch alongside the river out of the three available. It was level and gave a lovely view but a large pine tree bearing giant pine cones overhung the van. Some cones were scattered on the ground. “I’m not sure if this is a good idea,” Van-Man said.

The South Tyne River

Lottie took Van-Man to explore the dog walk by the river while I put the kettle on and put the sofas down. We travel with them up in case Lottie attacks them. She was allowed on the sofa in the boat but we are trying to keep her off these as they double as our bed.

Sally Van from the river bank

After our hot drink we took Lottie for a longer walk around the woods which are part of the Bellinger Estate owned by the National trust. We avoided the long walk to Haltwhistle as it climbed steeply up the hill. We found the river and Lottie went in for a cooling dip but looked put out by the boulders that made up the river bed. She seemed happy with the one short evening walk today expecting an expedition tomorrow.

walking through the woods by the camp site