Hadrian's Wall Path

There's only one photo today. This is partly because it was raining for much of the walk. The other reason is that there weren't any masonry signs of Hadrian's Wall to be seen on today's walk. There were often traces of the ditch on its north side, but then ditched don't photograph that well, and one ditch looks much like another. The best trace of the wall and ditch was here, just after Bleatarn Farm: This was a twelve-mile walk, with a convenient stop-off halfway at the Stag Inn in Low Crosby. After that, the path largely follows River Eden, away from the line of the Wall. We continued to the Sands Centre in Carlisle, to get our sixth passport stamp.

Today was very rainy at first, which meant not many pictures were taken. Thankfully, we were well prepared with wet weather clothes. Stopping at  Birdoswald  was a chance for the rain to clear. It also meant a good look round the Roman fort. Afyer also stopping for a coffee, the weather had indeed improved, although not totally dry for the rest of the day. It was generally a gentler walk, mostly downhill and into better agricultural land.  All the way along the walk we have met many others doing the same walk, mostly chatty, and there is a great spirit of camaraderie among us. Today included charity walkers, many from Invictus going east. One solitary gentleman was doing the walk the fourth year in succession after a new hip. There are still traces of the Roman archaeology, not quite as frequent as on the crags. We arrived at Walton a little early and took tea at a nice tearoom.

Setting off again from Once Brewed (the name of the place, it is the pub that is called Twice Brewed) we walked up to Steel Rigg and resumed the journey westwards. It continued now across the crags, with many traces of the Wall evident, in places more substantial. The view south of the wall was dominated by the Vallum, with the Roman Military Road between. I thought here to have spotted some quarry pits along the Military Road. By now we are beginning to recognise what a turret or a milecastle should look like. We had seen Milecastle 42 from our accommodation last night but this was closer up. Gradually the crags became lower and the ups and downs less strenuous, but still with impressive bits of the archaeology. The pace of today's walk allowed more time for photos.By the afternoon we were off the crags and following, mostly the ditch, through pasture. This brought us to Gilsland. We are past the summit, the r...

A lot more wall today! As we progressed westwards, we found more and more occasions when we could see more of the Roman archaeology. The required pace of today's schedule meant I didn't take many pictures, but here's the Mithraeum at Borocilitia: After a while, the path left the road and we began to climb the crags of the Whin Sill, with the more classic views of Hadrian's Wall with its rugged backdrop. Housesteads Fort mesnty another stamp on the passport. This was the most strenuous part of the walk so far, but we made it to our rendezvous at Twice Brewed  with a few minutes to spare.

It rained today, a full day of light drizzle. Although still walking on the part of Hadrian's Wall which became the base for the military road, fortunately the poor weather was offset by seeing a little more of the Roman past. This was after stopping off at the Errington Coffe House, a popular stop for walkers, especially on such a rainy day. First were some better remains of the Vallum, which elsewhere had been ploughed out. After this, we had an official diversion of the path, which been in force for a year, to allow for some tree felling. We came out of woods to see foundations of a milecastle. To the north of the wall are remains of its ditch, a little variable in visibility, but from time to time along this stretch, impressive. There was then a short length of the Wall at Planetrees - And even more at Brunton where part of a turret is evident  We had our passport stamp at Chesters before our pi...

After a short walk along the Tyne, we were able to walk uphill to join the course of the wall again. At (the appropriately named) Heddon-on-the- Wall we were a able to see a proper bit of Hadrian's Wall, with shiny of the Vallum beyond. We had a coffee break at  Bell e Buon  in Heddon and bought a newspaper and some snacks nearby. For today's walk, the wall has been built over by the 18th century Military Road, so there's not a great deal to see - but just here and there are  signs of it at the roadside. Bits of Vallum and ditch come to light. We have had this trip organised by  Contours Walking Holidays , which today meant a pickup from the  Robin Hood Inn .Having arrived there nice and early, we had time for both coffee and beer before pickup.