A Good Beginning Makes a Good Ending
So here we have it...
The last leg...
The final stage...
The beginning of the end...
The Grand Finale!
Today we met for the last time as Daft as a Brush trail walkers, to walk to the end of the River Tyne. A poignant moment for us all. And just to make it that little bit more special, we were privileged to be joined by Peter Donaghy, the author of the trail guide book.
Peter and I have been in contact by email quite a few times throughout the walk and had often tried to meet up along the way but something always got in the way of that happening. It was great to eventually put a face to the name.
We all met at Wallsend metro station and wasted no time in setting off, chatting to Peter along the way about all the adventures we'd had on the walk.
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| Willington Viaduct |
We had decent weather for most part of the day, apart from one heavy downpour just before lunch. We decided to stop of for our lunch break at Royal Quays mariner. After about 2 hours of walking, we were ready for a break.
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| Looking over to the south side |
While we had our lunch, Peter used some of the time to ask us some questions regarding the walk, to help him with his next edition of the book. It was great to be able to give him some feedback and hopefully offer some helpful input for the next one. We all had so much to talk about and could have sat there all day if we hadn't anywhere else to be, but as the finish was calling we had to press on.
Once we left the mariner, it wasn't long before we arrived at the fish quay and we spotted these small fish plaques adorning the walls along the back of the quay buildings. These plaques are memorials to the fisherman and quay staff who are no longer with us. Something I'd never noticed before although I've walked past many times. A lovely tribute.
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| Nearly there |
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| Chance and I at Fiddlers Green Memorial |
We took a quick breather by the small beach at the end of the fish quay to take a few group photos and set off on the pleasant walk along the promenade towards Tynemouth, savouring the final moments of the walk.
As we left the promenade we were met by my parents and my 2 children, Lewis and Rosie, who wanted to see us cross the finish. They walked with us the short distance to the end. It was great to have someone gives us a round of applause!
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| Final few steps! |
We had initially set ourselves a target of finishing the walk in a year and we would have achieved that had there not have been a pandemic stopping our progress, but we are still just as happy to have completed the trail.
We have had a fantastic time and made some amazing memories which I for one, will cherish dearly.
This final section took us 4.5 hours and we walked just over 6 miles.
Although the guide book states the walk is 135 miles, we somehow clocked up 149 miles and walked for a total of 69 hours.
Phil and Helen
Well done to Phil and Helen on finishing the walk and a huge thank you for offering to help me complete this challenge. I couldn't have done it without you both and I couldn't have asked for 2 better people to have with me every step of the way. We make a great team!
And of course, a huge well done to Chance, the team mascot, who completed the entire walk aswell. Possibly the first dog to do so.
We made it,
WE WALKED FROM SOURCES TO SEA.
Where to next........?
