Saturday 6th September - Sinderhope to Once Brewed YH

The rain and wind continued throughout the night and on into today. Moving up from the riverbank yesterday evening was definitely a good move - I'm sure that the spot where we had pitched would have been under water within a couple of hours.

We were lucky to find the place we did - there was nowhere else. I slept well but woke a couple of times to find a corner of the tarp had come adrift and was flapping in the wind. I then wished I'd brought a bivy bag as the end of my sleeping bag is a bit wet (along with everything else).

We road-walked up to Allendale Town where we found an excellent cafe with bacon baps and tea. We discussed the onward route to Hexham - about ten miles. There were two or so moorland routes but we decided to catch a bus as the weather is so awful. We are now whiling away the hour before the bus in a pub with a blazing fire.

We have a free day tomorrow. I'm hoping that the youth hostel at Acomb, just north of Hexham is still open. If it is, I'll aim to stay two nights to dry out. I also need to find an outdoor shop to get some more robust tent pegs.

Later - we arrived in Hexham. The TIC told me there's no longer a YH at Acomb and they ascertained that the campsite at Fallowfield, north of Hexham, is closed due to the weather. A swift decision was made. We caught a bus to the YH at Once Brewed. We were allowed in at 2.30 to leave our packs and then repaired to the Twice Brewed Inn just down the road to return at 4pm to book in. As Howard said, any fool can be uncomfortable. Very true. We then hung all our stuff in the excellent drying room. We'll eat out tonight.

This morning I'd planned on returning home as things seemed so dismal. With dry kit and better pegs for the tarp, the world looks rosier although the forecast is for more rain tomorrow. We'll probably have our day off in Bellingham on Monday.

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