Nearly finished and on a break. After two days I had to go back home but a few days later came back to where I finished. The walk for me proved to be a bit of a slog, I enjoyed much of it but not all. Unfortunately I wasn't blessed with particularly good weather. From Buckden to Hexham I walked quite long distances per day across moors in windy and cold weather. When I arrived in Hexham I camped the night on the race course site. Alright perhaps on a race day when the weather is reasonable but for me it just proved to be a bleak overnighter. I also had my first problem, I camped in my Zephryros One tent, it has a single hoop and I managed to snap it! Luckily a fellow camper lent me a 3" piece of tubing which I taped over the break with some insulating tape. I got me through the night and then gave it back to him.
I spent the next morning wandering around Hexham looking for something similar. Took me a while but finally managed to bodge and secure it with some gaffer tape. When I thought about how it happened I realised that it was my own fault! My tent had been wet for a couple of days and the material tube that the pole passes though was also wet on the inside. When dry the pole and the tube material slide easily over each other but when wet the material and the pole can act like a brake, sliding is then minimal or not at all. I fitted one end of the pole one side of the tent but then failed to ensure that the whole length of the pole and the outer material were smoothed out so that a proper 'U' shape could be formed. As I tensioned the pole to secure it to the door side of the tent it just snapped!
I eventually got to a very nice camp site just south of Haltwhistle and was told that if I walk across a field, along a short stretch of road the walk onto the old railway line foot path (about 1mile and a bit) I would come to The Wallace Arms. I did, they sold good beer, it was a nice pub but they do not cook food. They are quite happy for customers to phone for a Haltwhistle take away and eat it in the bar but I decided just to make do with a couple of packets of crisps. As I walked back to my tent it started to rain in earnest.
It was still raining hard the next morning and I had to pack my rucksack from within my tent. What a chore, but I did it! I then walked to Alston on the flat railway track. It rained all day and I finally pitched my tent on the local mobile home site only a few yards from the pub I visited. The site was the worst I have been on, ever! The grass was OK, it hadn't been cut for a long time so was like a soft mattress for sleeping and the price was OK, £5. To get into the site you have to walk through a car breakers yard, what a tip! The shower block was underground, it worked fine but really needs an uplift.
The next morning it was still raining so had to pack my rucksack again in my tent. I'm older now and not so agile so I did a lot of grunting, sharp intakes of breath and cursing! I then walked up to Gregs Hut in thick wet mist and rain then down the other side to Dufton. Horrible day!
A very nice site at Dufton and a good pub, the food was delicious. It had stopped raining by the morning so I strolled off to Appleby in bright hot sunshine, the first really hot weather I had experienced since I started the hike. It didn't last, by the afternoon it was on and off rain again. I then moved onto Kirkby Stephen, not my favourite place I must admit. Looked a bit run down, could'nt find a meal that I fancied so went for an Indian!
I'm now a bit exhausted, I don't think I am properly dry yet and the bottoms of my feet hurt. No blisters though. If I was to be asked to choose between hiking the Pennine Way or the Pennine Journey I would advise that the Pennine Way would be my first choice.