TGO Come For A Visit

After what felt like weeks of cloud and fog the day of our arranged visit from The Great Outdoors magazine arrived cloudy and foggy. However as we drove to our rendezvous at Steel Rigg on the Roman Wall the fog started to lift and the sky lightened, giving some encouragement that we may be able to see more than 10 metres.

Looking SE from Steel Rigg Car Park

TGO wanted to do a piece on LD Mountain Centre as an independent outdoor retailer which this year happens to be our 50th Anniversary on Dean Street in Newcastle.The plan for the day was to enjoy a 4 to 5 hour walk followed by a visit to our store in the centre of Newcastle and we decided that one of the most interesting sections of the Hadrian Wall Walk and a bothy visit for a lunch stop would be the way to go.

The sun making its first welcome appearance in several days

Writer and photographer David Lintern, working on behalf of the magazine, arrived as arranged so by 8.30am we were heading east along the Roman Wall initially over Peel Crag, past the iconic Sycamore Gap (voted Tree of the Year 2016) and on over Crag Lough.

Sadly, or perhaps not, this really didn’t look or feel like December

Beyond Crag Lough and Hotbank Farm we continued along the Hadrian’s Wall Path towards Housesteads but turning north before the old Roman fort on the Pennine Way heading for Cragend and ultimately the edge of Wark Forest.

Shortly after reaching the forest a signposted footpath pointed us in the direction of Haughtongreen Bothy where we intended to stop for an early lunch break. Jon, our resident foody and trained chef, cooked up a storm and provided us with a delightful mushroom, squash and giant cous cous risotto style meal using a Jetboil and a selection of Sea to Summit X Pans and X Bowls.

The walk back to Steel Rigg involved a pleasant route on tracks and footpaths following the southern edge of Wark Forest before a final couple of kilometers of tarmac to get us back to the car. This gentle yet interesting walk gave us the opportunity to give David an insight into LD Mountain Centre and the people who work there and for David to give us an insight to the work of an outdoor writer and photographer and of course to put the world to rights (off the record!)

Look out for David Lintern’s article, including his visit to our Newcastle Store, in TGO, probably the March edition but watch this space we’ll keep you posted.