Wednesday
23rd November Light NW
Mild
and sunny
Thanking
Zoe at The Sun Hotel with a present bought for her on ebay, a Batman
rubber duck. Zoe has given me a fabulous welcome back to the hotel, a
hotel I stayed in at the beginning of July this year and as she has a
collection of over 500 different rubber ducks what better way to say
thank you than to buy her one she doesn't have? A great hotel and
after a day of rest, wonderful breakfasts and friendly staff, I need
to be back on the road today.
Outside
the hotel the view of Warkworth Castle is superb.
The
cycling this morning is beautifully easy. The road is mostly flat and
there is almost no wind. The first twelve miles goes quickly enough
and I spot a cycle path off to the right. Along it I meet a lady out
with her son and two dogs for a walk. She has just been out to Peru
and describes her experience of going to Machu Picchu as I walk along
with them.
The
path comes out next to a car park and a fenced off colliery sort of
place. I head out towards the main road and am stopped by Mandy.
Mandy is one of these wonderful sunshine people whom I love to meet
and she explains that this was a working colliery and is now a
museum. As red squirrels and titmice come to a peanut feeder nearby,
I decide that I can spare an hour to explore.
Glad
that I do for after storing the bike away in a site office, I go into
an art gallery The Pitman Painters. A Primary school class of
children are on the floor doing an art lesson on perspective using
one of the paintings. The walls are covered in a wide variety of
paintings from this incredible group of artists.
The
Woodthorn website :
I
look around the old colliery buildings and then, with the hour up, I
leave to continue my way towards Newcastle. The way from Ashington
becomes complex and many times I get lost and things aren't helped by
the position locator on the maps app on my mobile being half a mile
out!
The
first twelve miles took me around an hour. The next twenty takes
three.
Through
Newcastle centre, a man crossing the road in front of me stops me and
asks what I am doing. Daniel works at Newcastle hospital and he
deposits a donation into one of my collection boxes. Thank you
Daniel.
Pushing
the bike down the main shopping High Street, a young boy shouts “wow”
at the lads and lasses on my bike. His laughing face is a delight.
Over
the Tyne and uphill into Gateshead, I find my daughter, Rebecca's and
her partner, Les' apartment. A couple of days to catch up ahead.
33.18
miles 1155 feet elevation up 1111 down
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