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In the morning we discovered that Bert had two more broken spokes. We replaced these as we had done the day before but the wheel did not look good. Bert's plan was to cycle back to Chollerford to pick up his car, it looked doubtful whether he would make it. So he phoned his Mum from Town Yetholm and arranged to meet her in Jedburgh.
The three remaining intrepid cyclists set off north to Coldstream in the brightening sunshine. There we found a very nice tearoom and bakers where we stocked up on provisions. Soon it was a warm summers day as we made our way along the north side of the River Tweed which we crossed to reach Norham Castle.

   

Here we had lunch and a tour guided by a cassette walkman. We reckoned that the batteries must be going flat, no real person has a voice that deep and speaks so slowly, or do they?

The castle was suitably impressive but we were keen to press on to Etal and the only thatched pub in Northumberland.
The beer was also excellent, so much so that we missed the steam train which goes to Ford and did not have time to look at Etal Castle.
We then headed south to Ford and took a 'shortcut' which degenerated in to a sandy track. Eventually it came out on to the main road and we made our way through Fenton to Wooler. This hostel has been extended quite a bit but is still very comfortable, they still have the wood stove in the common room although there was no need for it with the current warm weather.
That night we went to the local S+N pub at the end of the street. There they served Scotch, Ex and Broon and the wallpaper was peeling off. It was just like being a teenager again.

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After stocking up on pies in the high street in Wooler we headed north up the B6525 to Ancroft and the 11thC church St. Anne’s.
Had a good look round the church and learned something of it's history before continuing on in the extreme heat to Swinton.
Here we had lunch on the village green and then a pint of excellent Caledonian 80/- in The Wheatsheaf Hotel. We sat outside because at first we could not find a bar inside, only a dining room with men in suits and ladies in dresses. Later we found that there was a bar but by this time we had to hit the road again. Worth going back for the beer though. In the heat of the afternoon we struggled on up to Chirnside and there we lay down on a grass verge for a rest. I was just listening to the grasshoppers and dozing when Alan said, "What’s that?" He had spotted a large bulge in the side wall of his front tyre. On investigation we found that the tyre was coming away from the bead wire, a manufacturing defect. it's funny that the newest bike has the most faults. As a result of this we decided to head for Eyemouth, it was nearly on our way and there may be a bike shop there. Well Eyemouth was bright breezy and sunny but no bike shop. The tearoom made up for our disappointment and luckily the funeral party which were having tea and sandwiches in there were just leaving. There is a stiff climb northwards out of Eyemouth but we were rewarded with great views out to sea.

We then headed for Coldingham Bay where we dabbled our feet in the sea. The Youth Hostel is on the cliff overlooking the bay, some of the rooms enjoy this view, ours didn't. Carter arrived in the early evening for his now traditional meet the troops night and we ate out at the restaurant on the edge of the sands. Food was good, company excellent and a good night was had by all.

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When we awoke it was a beautiful morning, we were sorry to leave Coldingham Bay. However we had to press on, our thoughts were now turning to the Big Night Out. We went to Berwick and found an excellent bike shop. They had a suitable tyre for Alan’s bike, a Continental Top Touring. It was the old style tyre, lighter and cheaper than the new one.
Carter had driven down from the Youth Hostel so we made the most of our time by finding yet another tearoom. Our plan was to go to Holy Island today but we could not cross the causeway until about 4 ‘o’clock. After buying pies for lunch at Greggs we set off for The Lamb, an old pub in Ancroft.
On arrival however we found it closed, in fact it closed in 1997 when the landlady retired. So we went back to the church to shelter from a shower of rain while we ate.
While we were there, and as it was raining we decided that now would be a good time to fit Alan’s new tyre and fit the inner tube which I had repaired at Byrness. After swapping the relevant parts Calum got his super duper pump out and we soon had the tyre up to 60psi, not for long though. As it slowly deflated Alan pulled our his spare tube. Great we thought, but as we slowly approached the 60psi mark again the valve burst off the new tube. An hour later with the original tube back in and having said our farewells to Carter we headed south in the gathering sunshine towards Holy Island.
We arrived a little early so we visited the ice cream van and watched as the works vans made their way through the 150mm deep salt water. I noticed that no one in a privately owned vehicle chose to do this and we thought it best to wait with most of our bicycles being made of aluminium alloy.

On the causeway to Holy Island waiting for the tide to go out.

We had a good look around Lindisfarne Priory and Museum and then set off back to Wooler at 17:00. With a brisk pace and few stops we arrive in Wooler at 18:40 and made straight for the Chinese takeaway. We were settled at our table in Wooler Youth Hostel before 19:00, not bad going I thought. That night we tried a different pub in Wooler but it wasn't much improvement on the S+N place.

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We had a bit further to go today than is usual for us so we set off in the overcast, damp morning at 9:15. We headed straight down the main road, the A697. At first this wasn't too bad but as the morning wore on the incompetent drivers dragged themselves out of bed and started to take risks with our lives. We turned off at Longhorsley and took minor roads to The Dyke Neuk for an excellent pint of Greene King IPA. We couldn't eat our sandwiches at the picnic tables outside the pub so we crossed over the road and ate them in a field entrance instead. But we couldn't take the beer with us so we had to pop back over to the picnic tables to drink our beer! Silly that isn't it!

We then had a very pleasant ride through the Northumberland countryside to Ponteland and from there we reached Dunston through post industrial Tyneside, now being regenerated with proper houses and green bits.
We arrived in Dunston at around 16:00 with enough time for a rest, a few cuppas and a nice hot shower. All we had to do now was to meet at the appointed time for the Big Night Out