This is Mr ‘Harty’. He is the Irish grounds man at Blaydon Rugby Club where we stayed the night on the third day. We are very grateful to Mr ‘Harty’ as he gave us a hot shower after a very long days cycle. He also gave us four cheese toasties and three pints of orange juice each from the bar. He spent over £10 on us and provided us with somewhere to stay for the night. Thank you Mr ‘Harty’!!

Blaydon Rugby Club is near to Rowland Gill. It has three full sized rugby pitches and a gym and exercise club inside the clubhouse. When we were cycling past the Club we made a joke about staying in that ‘hotel’. That ‘hotel’ was the Clubhouse. It was massive!! You could have mistaken Blaydon Rugby Club for a professional Club. They were actually only a very good amateur Club according to Mr ‘Harty’.

Mr ‘Harty’ was a very kind man providing us with supper, a place to spend the night, a couple of games of pool, and he showed us the way to breakfast - McDonalds!