We are in the Hadrian's Wall area because Tom wanted to see it. There was the refrain from Kathy and others "Why do you want to see a bunch of old rocks?". Well, here we are. We plan a circular walk with the help of our host, Malcolm. He produced a hand drawn map to guide us. It was supposedly a 5-6 mile walk that could possibly be as much as 8 miles, Malcolm hinted. Kathy is ready to hit the trail.
We start by walking down the road for about a mile and a half. Kathy is on a mission.
"They have lazy cows in England just like they had in New Zealand."
We are pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
Kathy is trying out the shoes that Marian loaned her for the first time. So, being ever cautious, she brought along spare shoes.
Lots of sheep as well as cattle.
There are lots of rolling hill pastures here in northern England -- beautiful and green.
We finally find the path that leaves the road. At each major junction on the map, there is discussion about which way to go. We probably spent an hour of the total trip standing and discussing (read arguing) about which direction to take.
We get up close and personal with the animals.
We cross the River Irthing as shown on Malcolm's map.
Kathy is not really fond of suspended foot bridges -- a little unstable. But she moves on bravely.
The River Irthing is brown with tannin and mud.
Tis a really nice walk along the river and through the fields.
We stumble on to what looks like a head stone by the river.
We find a couple of water falls.
After one of our many discussions about the route, Kathy reluctantly follows into a wooded area still following the River Irthing.
There are a few sign posts that guide us along the path -- some of which match the map.
The path gets a wee bit narrow, steep, rocky, and root filled.
Our walk becomes a hike.
There is a beautiful carpet of ferns in the forrest.
Small foot bridges.
Our first encounter with our goal of Hadrian's Wall Path. Another discussion of which direction to take on the path ensued. After a short delay, we were on the way again.
The Path crosses privately owned pastures with grazing cattle and sheep.
The lottery sponsors the Trail. An acorn is used as a symbol on way marks along national trails in England and Wales. It was also used in Roman decorative symbolism.
We have been looking for our first sighting of the remains of Hadrian's Wall for a long way. After all, it is the reason we are staying in this area. Tom gets a little desperate and will even declare stones on the foot path as part of the Wall. Turns out that we have been following a trench and sod wall that was an auxiliary part of the Wall.
A little ram that didn't make it.
There are these rock walls dividing the pastures all around. Kathy, also desperate to see The Wall, declares the pasture fences to be Hadrian's Wall.
Tom is easily sold on the idea.
The dirt has eroded away from the tree roots.
People gates on the path that prevent the escape of cows and sheep.
Doesn't look like these guys are interested in escaping.
A stone wall cross-over.
Taking a break and studying the map. Malcolm also loaned us a real map. Tom is cross referencing.
FINALLY, THE REAL HADRIAN'S WALL!!!!! After all the speculation about modern rocks, we both immediatley recognise the real thing when we see it.
OK, a little about Hadrian's wall. The Romans showed up in Britain before the time of Christ. They conquered in 43 AD under emperor Claudius. Hadrian became emperor in 117 AD. Around this time the Roman Empire had reached its maximum expansion and was coming under pressure on several fronts. One of the pressure points was presented by the barbarians from north Britain -- what is now Scotland. Hadrian made the decision to consolidate and defend rather than to continue trying to expand. As part of the consolidation and defence, Hadrian ordered a wall built across Britain just south of what is now the Scottish border. The wall was started in 122 AD and took 7 years to build. The Wall is 75 miles long. The wall was up 20 ft. high and up to 10 ft. wide. As mentioned before, in places, primarily west of the River Irthing, the wall was turf 11 ft. high and 20 ft. wide. Along the wall, there was a series of turrets, milecastles, and forts. The turrets were used for observation and signaling.
The Milecastles were planned to be located every Roman mile and hold up to a dozen soldiers.
It turns out that the section of the wall that we walked is the longest remaining section of the wall.
Another Milecastle.
A higher section of the wall.
A well-built thicker section.
Happy to have found the real Hadrian's Wall, we get a selfie in front of the wall.
We are fortunate enough to be walking a section of the wall that has a fort.
We are even luckier that it is a fort with a cafe that we can get soup, bread, and water and go to an indoor toilet.
A model of what archeologists think Birdoswald would have looked like. The fort held more that 800 Roman army men. The Roman military was relatively well paid for the area. A village grew around the fort to help the men spend their hard earned pay. The men could get food, drink, gambling, women, and more.
Now the Wall keeps some pretty lazy cows in place. These were lying in the middle of the path and were so lazy that they couldn't bother to move. We waded through.
A continuation of the longest remaining section of Hadrian's Wall. Turns out that the early English and Scots were some of first recyclers. After the Romans pulled out in the 400's AD, the locals didn't see much use for the wall and started using the Roman stones to build castles, churches, homes, and pubs. Thus, much of the wall was dismantled.
As well as the fort.
Back across the River Irthing on another foot bridge.
We reluctantly leave Hadrian's Wall and walk back toward Bush Nook along the road by the rail track.
Where the foot path crosses the track, there is a device that amplifies the sound of an on-coming train -- another protection from getting squished.
Finally back home tired but happy.
Back at sun room, we share a dinner table with Hans from Holland and Katarina from Spain. They are newlyweds on their honeymoon, walking Hadrian's Wall. They are both attorneys and linguists working for the European Union translating legal documents for the Union Court. It was fascinating talking with them and learning about the workings of the European Union.
A very nice couple, too. They left the dining room to go watch Holland win their World Cup Match!
The end of a very nice day. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
