Tuesday 7th July.

Up at 7am, had hotel breakfast, paid £87 bill, (not too bad- includes 2 bar meals and a couple of drinks), and went for the bus. It started to rain as we stood at the bus stop and, of course, the bus was late (it had been early when we missed it!). Came about 8.50am. Cost £1.90 each into Hexham, about 5 miles.

1st stop tourist information to find a chiropodist. It was raining really hard by then (again) and we went in the wrong direction looking for the clinic. Lucy eventually phoned for directions and we turned round back the way we had come and soon got there. The chiropodist kindly agreed to look at my feet after the lady who was being seen to when we got there. We dripped rainwater over the waiting room and sat to wait. We weren't there very long when it was my turn. The chiropodist helped her previous elderly customer down the steps whilst I got in the chair. She couldn't believe the state of my feet or that I wanted patching up so I could continue. Mary Anderson was so very kind, she taped me up with loads of padding so I could walk and gave me a first aid kit so if it got wet I could replace the dressings. Ms Anderson only charged me £30 for this first class service, she even gave us some scissors to cut the dressings to size, realising we wouldn't have any.

Only problem was it was still chucking it down, my boots were still wet, so I couldn't put them back on. Lucy came to the rescue once again. She took my credit card and went to Milletts who were having a sale, and bought me some new boots, they cost £35. Should have been £90, made by Karrimore, pink suede. I wouldn't say it was great to get boots back on, but it was a lot better with the padding. We picked up our packs and hit the road. We put my old boots in the bin. I was sorry to see them go. I had owned them for several years and they were normally very comfortable. It was still raining heavily and my yellow poncho was as wet inside as out. I wasn't really as prepared as I should have been, so together we made a further visit to Milletts sale and purchased a pacamac except it was called a Jack in a Pack. (Cost £14). I put it on, a bit late as my fleece was soaked through.

Anyhow we went on the market, bought a nice sunflower for the nice lady at the Riverside Cafe in Chollerford. Went back to the Tourist Information shop where the bus goes from, and bought a map of the Hadrian's Wall Path, a strip map, waterproof as well, a book of the same and a three day bus pass, which cost £16 each, so we could see the sights whilst we were waiting for my feet to feel better.

Caught the next bus back to Chollerford, having dried out a bit as the rain had finally stopped. Got off at the roundabout and took the nice lady the plant, had a brew and then off to see Chesters Fort.