The United Kingdom is well known for its walking trails and many walkers have a schedule of walk on their bucket list. Some are pilgrimages, such as St Cuthbert’s Way, which takes you from the borders of Scotland to Holy Island. Others show the absolute beauty of the English county and coasts, such as the Southeast Coastal Walk. There are also many towns to visit along the way. Today I’m going to tell you about three towns you’ll find a trail that follows an ancient and important Roman Road: The Pennine Way. They are Hawes, Alston and Once Brewed.
The Pennine Way stretches from the Peaks District town of Edale in the south to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. It is a 248-mile (429 km) route which follows the path of an ancient Roman Road. It is the oldest and probably the best known of all the UK walking trails. You can find a number of archeological sites along the route, especially in the northern stretch, that are dedicated to old Roman Forts. It will take about 18 days to complete the full length of the trail. I haven’t yet done the whole walk in one stretch, but have done short stretches of the walk around the towns I mentioned above.
Hawes
Hawes is the most southerly of the three towns I’m talking about and is Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. This is a beautiful little town with breathtaking countryside and is good to visit at any time of the year. There are lots of farms around, and as the name suggests, it is the home of Wensleydale Cheese. After a long day’s walking, you can visit the Wensleydale Creamery and test their cheeses and have a coffee in the café.
There are lots of walks and plenty of accommodation, including comfortable small hotels and a YHA Youth Hostel. All of them can give you information on the trails.
Getting There
If you don’t have a car, it’s not the easiest place to get to. There are two buses, called the ‘Little White Bus’ which run a couple of times per day (at the time of writing). One takes you to the railway station at Garsdale (west of Hawes and close to the fantastic Ribblesdale viaduct). Garsdale is on the Leeds to Carlistle rail line. The other comes from Bedale in the east. Volunteers run these two services and rely on government funding, so it would be wise to check if they are still running at the time of your visit. I visited Hawes in winter, so at the time of writing, they were running all year round.
Check The Little White Bus time table here.
Alston
Move further north up the Pennine Way is another lovely market town of Alston. Like Hawes, it is surrounded by magnificent scenery, this time in the North Pennine Hills in Cumbria. It is situated on two rivers, the South Tyne and the River Nent. Alston is also surrounded by an endless choice of walking trails. Again, there is a YHA Youth Hostel and plenty of other accommodation. The first time I went to Alston was in the Spring of 2023, when I stayed in the YHA. The owners there were passionate walkers and have as much information and advice as you could hope for! On my second visit to Alston–in the late Autumn of 2023, I stayed in an Air BnB (Robson’s Cottage) in the centre of town, which was an adorable little one-bedroom cottage, with fireplace, where I could sit and catch of my writing projects, do my own cooking and retreat for a week! Although it was in the centre of town, it was still enough of a retreat to do what I needed to do.
Getting to Alston
Alston is even more remote than Hawes. There is a bus service which runs from Haltwhistle Station (on the Carlisle to Newcastle line). When I went there in the March, I didn’t realise there was a bank holiday on the day I was leaving, and the bus wasn’t running. The YHA manager kindly offered me a lift to Haltwhistle, about h 30 minutes away. From Haltwhistle you can also access other towns on the Pennine Way.
When I went in November, the local buses in most of the North East were on strike, so I had to get a taxi from Hexham to Alston (about £40) and again at taxi to Haltwhistle a week later. A young local man–a University Student–who gave me a quote in advance ran the taxi I got back (also £40).
There is a Stagecoach bus that goes once per week on Tuesdays.
There is a train station at Hawes, but it is mainly for tourists, only runs a couple of times per week, and only takes you to Slaggyford, about 5 miles away.
If you don’t have a car, check the buses before you go.
Click Here for other Accommodation in Alston
Once Brewed
The next stop on our trip up the Pennine Way is the village of Once Brewed. I’ve wanted to walk the Pennine way for many years, and the name of this town has been the one that has intrigued me the most! There is a pub there with hotel accommodation, called Twice Brewed, which brews its own local ale.
Once brewed in on Hadrian’s wall. It is even more remote than Hawes and Alston! The two options for accommodation are Twice Brewed Hotel and The Sill YHA Hostel. They are right next to each other. Both are good options, depending on what you’re looking for. The Twice Brewed Hotel has an excellent restaurant. The YHA serves both breakfast and dinner. There is a visitors’ centre attached to the YHA, which has a café serving meals and snacks. Just what a hungry and tired walker needs, not to mention a visiting tourist.
Click here for the Twice Brewed Inn.
Click here for The Sill YHA.
Around Once Brewed
Around this area, there is the walking trail along Hadrian Wall. You can also visit the ancient roman fort of Vindolanda, which I highly recommend. There is a Hadrian’s Wall and Roman Britain tour available. This is a day trip from Edinburgh. There is also a 4.5 hour guided tour of the wall. They have an excellent tour of the site. The fort is within walking distance (about 1 mile) from the YHA.
There is also the remaining stump of the centuries old Sycamore Gap Tree, which is the iconic tree on Hadrian’s wall which was cut down by someone in the night. The police did make arrests, but I never really found out his reason for doing it!
Again, without a car, this place could be tricky to get to. There is a bus, which runs regularly from Hexham to Green Head, especially for walkers. When I went there in November, the buses were on strike. The above bus had an emergency service running for visitors to Hadrian’s Wall, but not on a Sunday.
I got there by getting in a train from Hexham to Bardon Mill (just a couple of stops on the Newcastle-Carlistle line). Then I had to walk a few miles to The Sill, and it was raining cats and dogs! Luckily for me, a kind farmer who was driving by took pity on me and got his wife to drive me to The Sill, for which I was very grateful. On the way back the weather was good, and the walk was downhill, so I took a scenic walk, wheeling by case back to Bardon Mill Station.
It is always advisable to check the public transport situation if you’re relying on it in these remote areas. Check the link here.
