21/02/2026
Day One of our trip to Twice Brewed (Hexham):
Stopped off at Foxes Coffee Lounge in Carlisle, after about 1hr and a half of driving. Step free access but no disabled toilet. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. Full breakfast was 7/10 and vanilla latte was 9/10.
Free parking up to 3 hrs for disabled users at the Castle Car Park in Carlisle, but as always, a lack of actual disabled spaces.
Arrived at Twice Brewed around 3pm. and were shown into our cabin, which had step free access, a large adapted bathroom and a massive bed. However, there was no disabled parking space directly outside of the cabin. The bed was actually too high that Lucas had to help me on and off! The bed was also made up of two single beds put together, so not the most comfortable to sleep on. The bathroom was a full wet room, with large rain head shower and handheld showerhead, shower seat and a non slip mat were also nice to have.
Our dinner was booked for 5pm in the restaurant area of the inn. Beer battered haddock was a 9/10 for me, but Lucas wasn't keen on his chicken burger. We both had hot chocolate fudge cake for dessert which was gorgeous.
We then headed to the lecture room, with step free access, to receive a rather existential talk on the universe and meteorites by two experts from the Kielder Observatory. Unfortunately, the rain didn't stop for us and we were not able to use the telescopes to stargaze outside, but we did head into the planetarium for a virtual 360 view of the night sky. When the talks were over, the sky did clear up a bit and we were able to see the North Star shining brightly in the sky, but only for a few minutes (perks of being in the North of Britain!).
After the event, we headed in to the pub, right next to our cabin, for a nightcap of the Sycamore Gap IPA, brewed on location in their tiny brewery.
All in all, a successful first day of travelling, and not too many hurdles, other than the weather.
