The right earrings for Hadrian's Wall

We are setting off today to walk the length of Hadrian's Wall. There will be hills and rough territory, sun and rain. 

We had to select the right hats, socks, coats. 

However, at the back of my mind buzzed a very important question.  Which earrings?

I could not ignore this crucial issue.  

Modest studs would have been the most practical. 

But ten whole days without any bling?

I settled on a pair of abalone pendants. They were handed to me by a stranger in a bag of scrap jewellery. The occasion was a Repair Fair where I was mending people's costume jewellery.

'I don't want this lot any more. Feel free to canibalise it.'

The abalone earrings reminded me of my very first pair, when I was eighteen, so are perfect for an adventure. 

They have probably spent years in some dusty drawer before being cast into a plastic bag and given away.

 I do hope they are as excited at the prospect of an expedition as I am.

Two people, ten days, one rucksack

For years it has been my dream to walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall until various musculo-skeletal issues made me think it was off the agenda for ever. 

However, foot surgery, Pilates lessons and my excellent osteopath Claire have made me think I could do it.

Nigel is a hero for agreeing to carry most of our crap.  But I don’t want to break his back, so we have been giving a lot of thought to how to minimise the load. 

For the first time, we went to an outdoors store and bought lightweight clothing which would dry easily.

Our toilet bag contains only toothbrushes, toothpaste and anti-perspirant.  Instead of sunglasses, we have filters that clip onto our specs. We have downloaded our reading books to our phones.

My only luxury is a tiny watercolour pad and paintbox.

Pascoe, who undertakes v. challenging expeditions felt we still were not taking it all seriously enough – we should saw the handles off our toothbrushes to shed a gram or two.

I had a flashback to a long walk in the Lake District when Pascoe was just a little boy.  He was weeping with tiredness, which was not like him.  To help, I took his rucksack from him.  It was unexpectedly heavy.  On investigation, it appeared that at some point he had put a full-size brick in there, and had forgotten to take it out again.

Oh how times have changed!

Cuckoos and Nightjars

Every couple of years we camp with a dozen or so old university friends. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it.  This year we had found Woodfire Camping a very green and lovely site in the South Downs national park. 

However, after many bureaucratic hitches, we heard our Ukrainian guests were finally about to arrive.

With a heavy heart, I warned our chums that we were unlikely to come camping.  But then we discovered that our guests’ flight was scheduled for the day after our trip – we could go after all.

Being woken by a chorus of cuckoos, going for walks in the verdant woods, cooking and eating together round the campfire at night, hearing the chirr of nightjars as we stumbled to the composting toilet in the dark, all of these things refreshed and calmed us.

So if there was ever a moment when we were ready to have an upheaval in our lives, then this was it!

Photo courtesy of Richard Allen