The final leg of the walk took us from beautiful Carlisle to the remote coast of North Cumbria at Bowness-on-Solway.  We are staying there tonight before beginning our journey home tomorrow (via Newcastle). Amazingly our digs have a wicked view of the Scottish coastline and the setting sun – see picture above which was taken from our room.  It was pretty surreal to have finished 6 days of torturous walking but also to be able to look at such a wonderful view of the country in which I was born.

Some people say final leg of the walk is pretty boring but Chris and I disagree. Yes it’s flat but the first half is a wonderful mix of colour and open greenery much of it along the River Eden.  The second half was interesting as there’s quite a lot of history (Scotland vs England battles past) and of course the excitement of finishing the walk.  There’s a 3 mile straight stretch of military road when the Solway Firth initially comes into view. As you can actually see the road disappearing into the horizon, it’s mentally punishing.  Moreover, whilst it seems like the walk is coming to an end at this point, there’s still 90 minutes of solid walking ahead.  There isn’t much actual wall on display but there is strong evidence of its location, particularly on the 3 mile section of straight road.

My feet have survived today but my knee only lasted 1 hour this morning before painkillers were required. Chris suffered with her toe blister which is now the size of Africa.

We went straight to the ‘only pub in the village’ where we had a celebratory ‘pint’.  Now relaxing in our room looking at Scotland (see picture above).

We enjoyed Hadrian’s Wall but will be glad to be home again after 6 days!  We collected £4000 for PLANETS, a charity founded by my surgeon. But this challenge was so much more than that – it was one of a number of Turning Points in my quest for a decent quality of life and a positive outlook for the future while living with and beyond cancer.  It also created my blog site which is still here today!