The weather was showery and the jacket was on and off a lot. Pretty early on I managed to go ankle deep in thick mud which stuck like glue and made my left foot feel pounds heavier than the right. The ground was so soft that it sucked you in and made the going very slow and there were several groups of DoE teenagers on the way whose backpacks looked bigger than they were!
There was a sign on a fence saying 'tea pop 1 mile' and I had visions of a tea room with earl grey and cream teas. What I found was a farm shed with a kettle plugged into a really long extension lead, an outside water tap, a fridge full of cans of pop, a box of home made scones and an honesty box.
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| Mark enjoying the delights of the 'tea shop' at Horneystead farm |
It was brilliant and very welcome - if a little lacking in creature comforts like any sort of hygiene but I would advise anyone who is passing to call in to the tea shed at Horneysteads Farm and make themselves a brew.
The rest of the day was spent trudging on indistinct paths through knee deep bogs until we arrived in Bellingham at about 1715 for an enormous bed and a hot bath at the Cheviot Hotel. I managed to hose the mud off my boots at the back of the hotel and fall into bed exhausted.
Janet Donnelly
Sent on the move
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