Day 12 - Thursday 9th August - Barnard Castle to Hexham

Weather - Dry and sunny but windy with a shower during the day

Distance - 37.2 miles

Camp Site - Dukeshouse Wood Centre, Hexham

Leaving Barnard Castle the route joined the B6278 which soon took us up a steep climb onto the Durham Moors an area of very open wild countryside with fine views. The bad weather which we had recently had left the air very clear and cold and the countryside was at its best with purple heather over much of the landscape.

Up on top it was very cold and I was very glad of the windproof top on the long hill down into Stanhope. This was a pleasure to ride down after the steep climb but for the sharp bends towards the approach to Stanhope. Just before entering Stanhope we were directed across the stepping stones to cross the river. After the heavy rain of the recent days there was too much water to think of using the ford to cross the river although I understand that others in the group did successfully brave the water later in the day!

Stanhope itself had a number of small shops and cafés and I eventually went into the Dales Centre where there was a very nice little café for coffee and cake and also a well stocked information office for the National Park area.

Then it was back on to the B6278 and up the even steeper climb out of Stanhope. The route instructions described this as a "little slope" but also informed us that it is used for the National Hillclimb Championships. It was a very long and steep hill which I walked for quite a lot of its distance!

Looking back there was a tremendous view over the high moor land and Stanhope itself disappeared in the deep Wear valley. On this high road both before and after Stanhope there were a lot of dead rabbits on the road - many more than I had seen anywhere else. There must be a lot of fast traffic here which catches the rabbits unaware.

I met up with two groups of other cyclists towards the top of this climb where the Coast to Coast cycle route crosses over our route. One was doing this part of the C2C based on the road while another was just coming off the cross country section. They were both going from west to east and were on their last day and looking forward to the long downhill to the finish after the long hill climbs which they had made to arrive at this high point.

I actually returned to Stanhope later in the year in October when I completed the Coast to Coast cycle ride myself. A group of four of us left Workington on the first day and cycled through Keswick and Penrith and over Hartside to stay overnight at Alston. On the second day we cycled through Stanhope and up the same steep climb but turning right on to the Waskerley Way towards Consett and the finish at Tynemouth. The weather on the first day was dry and cloudy with some sunshine but the second day was wet with misty rain and a strong headwind so we were unable to see any views of the hills around Stanhope. We were very pleased to have been able to complete some 132 miles in the two days in view of the poor weather. I am sure that the training I received on the End to End both in terms of daily mileage and experience with poor weather helped me to complete the Coast to Coast.

Our route on the End to End turned left off the B road on to an unclassified road up to the highest point and then down a long hill into Blanchland, a very small village with stone buildings around a central square. There was a shop, a post office and the Lord Crewe Arms, a very imposing pub and hotel on the square. There was a very low doorway into a dark public bar where I ordered the usual sandwich lunch and then I went out into the rear garden where there were a number of other people having lunch including one of our group arrived earlier. The sandwich soon arrived as I was leaving some more of our party were arriving making the place quite busy.

Leaving Blanchland was the inevitable steep hill up out of the valley and as I started to climb I could see a heavy rain shower approaching over the Derwent Reservoir just down the valley. It soon caught up with me but did not last long so I did not get too wet this time. From then on the road was relatively flat other than crossing the Linnets Bridge just before Hexham compared with the steep hills earlier in the day.

Today's ride was the shortest of the whole trip at just over 37 miles but with all the steep climbs and down hills into the next valley it did not seem too easy! It was probably one of the most scenic with good weather to give very clear views across the distant moors throughout the day. It was possible at times to see across to the east to the distant industrial towns of Darlington and Middlesborough and later to Durham and Sunderland. We seemed to be in a completely different world from the highly populated areas only a short distance away.

Our camp for the night was at the Dukeshouse Wood Centre a residential adventure centre for young people owned by Gateshead Council. There were a number of large dormitory blocks and also separate male and female shower and toilet blocks with excellent showers. For the first time on the trip there was a proper drying room with warm air circulating. I managed to dry some clothes here overnight to catch up with the washing. Our tents and the marquee for dinner were set up as usual and we used the facilities on the site. It was not too busy with other groups staying there as it was out of term time and there were only two small groups staying in the dormitories - one was a party of young golfers and the other group were on adventure activities. Whilst we were in the showers some of them came in dressed in wet suits having been canoeing and were showering still dressed in their wet suits in order to wash them off. Dukeshouse Wood centre was one of the better sites we stayed at due to it being set up as an activity centre where large numbers of people needed showers and toilets at the end of their daily activities.