Day 57: Pennine Way - Alston to Greenhead

Day 12 on the Pennine Way, a rather uneventful day walking along hills by the side of a river. I have reached the three quarter point of my time on the trail. 

• Date: 16 May 2024
• Start: Alston
• End: Greenhead
• Miles: 17.1
• Total miles: 764.3
• Accommodation: Greenhead Hostel

As is regular with nights in a hostel, I didn’t leave until nearly 10am this morning, chatting away with those I’d crossed paths with the previous few days. 

Today’s walk wasn’t anything spectacular, it was just covering miles to get to Greenhead, which is where I met Hadrian’s Wall. 

Most of the walk consisted of walking up and down hills next to the River South Tyne, most of which were incredibly boggy. 

There’s a small railway that ran alongside me for most of the day, as I navigated under its viaducts. I did see one train pass me by. 

On the highest and largest moor, I met some new blood, an older couple who were walking the Pennine Way. They were walking at a very slow pace, covering only 10 miles a day and taking three weeks to get to this point. I swiftly overtook them, but good for them for going for it anyway. 

After crossing a busy road and a golf course, I made it to Greenhead. My guide book tells me this is the most central settlement of the entire United Kingdom. 

The owners of the pub seem to have being playing monopoly here, owning the pub, hotel, cafe and the hostel I am staying at. It would be good if they landed on the go to jail space so I could have had a free bed in the hostel tonight (for those not familiar with the rules, you don’t pay rent if the owner is in jail). 

The hostel is in an old church, and I was the only one there when I arrived. 

There’s no shop here, so the only place to eat is the pub. While more fancy than I’m used to, the food was excellent at a decent price, so if you’re ever in the area, I’d recommend it. 

My snail friends from earlier stumbled into the pub looking to book a room in the hostel. They told me on the moor they were headed to a campsite, but after speaking to me, they decided to also stay at the hostel. There goes my evening of a hostel to myself. It would have been fun to have added that achievement to my CV. 

Even though I used the free washing machine at the hostel last night, there’s another here, so I washed today’s dirty clothes. You have to take these washing machines where you can get them, especially when they are free. 

Tomorrow, I’ll get to see Hadrian’s Wall, something I haven’t seen before. It’s a hard day tomorrow, with a gruelling distance of 7.6 miles.