Lessons learned walking the Wall

Michael Heppell

November 28, 2024

Lessons from Walking the Hadrian’s Wall Path

Last week Christine and I walked the Hadrian’s Wall Path. Reviewing my journal, I'd learned a few lessons. Many can be linked to business, relationships, love, and many other areas of life. Here's my top 10:

1) SIGNS LIE.

At the start (in Wallsend), the sign says ‘Bowness on Solway 85 miles’. It’s closer to 100. It’s like when someone asks you, ‘Have you got a minute?’ They really want 10.

2) THERE IS SUCH A THING AS THE WRONG WEATHER.

The famous (Billy Connolly?) quote, ‘There’s no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes’, was clearly written by someone who wasn’t walking Hadrian’s Wall in the wettest start to October. Just because it’s a famous quote doesn’t mean it’s true.

3) WE TALKED TO EVERYONE.

This slowed us down, but we met some amazing people, all with a story, all walking, all sharing. A stranger can only be a stranger for a minute.

4) IT'S NOT A RACE.

We were inspired to walk the wall by a friend’s son who ran the whole thing in 22 hours (!) a couple of months ago. We took six days. Others were taking ten and even two weeks. We became a wee bit jealous of the lady who was taking two weeks.

5) WHEN WALKING UP TO 20 MILES IN A DAY, YOU CAN EAT WHAT YOU LIKE... NOT!

I had this mindset and actually put on a kilo. I don’t regret a single cooked breakfast, pint, or pudding.

6) EMBRACE THE PAST.

Hadrian’s Wall has stood for almost 1,900 years. The main reason big chunks are missing isn’t because of poor building; it’s because we nicked the stone to build roads and houses. One local Cumbrian said to us, ‘Look around, the Wall is everywhere!’

7) GREAT FOUNDATIONS ARE KEY.

This icon started with great foundations. Doesn’t everything?

8) YOU CAN DO MORE THAN YOU THINK.

We walked in the pitch dark, with a severely sprained ankle, soaked to the skin, with knee-high floods and eight-inch-deep mud. I don’t want to go all David Goggins on you, but it’s amazing what you can achieve when you just keep going.

9) DISCOVER BEAUTY ON YOUR DOORSTEP.

We only live a few miles from Hadrian’s Wall but had never visited the whole thing. We’ve traveled the world looking for beautiful places. We discovered one of the best is on our doorstep.

10) PHOTOGRAPHY AND MEMORIES.

You take six times as many photographs on the one sunny day as you do on all the others. I never want to be a photo bore, so I haven’t posted any with this newsletter. But if you would like to see some pics, you can view some here.