A Roman history lesson

........by R. Holyoak, and what a day we have all had. The idea by Richard to skip Skiddaw and venture to the Vindolanda Roman fort was very much worth it.

After about  2 mile walk to the fort with a short cut across a footpath that was supposidly there we were all taken back by how good it was presented......and that was just the reception.

Walking through to the fort we were left speechless at the magnitude of the fort and what had been excavated over the last 40 years. It was only a few hundred yards before we got to the archaeologists excavating new ground and we stood in awe of new discoveries being made and what these discoveries could lead to. They say that to expose everything they need to carry on digging for at least the next 200 years which gives you an idea of the scale it once was.

We carried on down to where they had made a replica of what Hadrians wall would have looked like with a turret. We climbed up to the top and you could get an idea of what the centurians would have experienced.

We sauntered down to the museum and cafe leaving Richard exploring the fort......he was like a kid in a sweet shop with unlimited funds!

The setting of the musuem/cafe was surrounded by exquisite scenery and with sun shining through made it a fantastic area to sit and have a can of pop before going to the museum to gorp at some more Roman History.

There was so much to see it probably took an hour to get round the whole museum inc a video on tablets that were still preserved and handwriting visible all in latin.....it sent shivers down your spine.

We saw a picture of Emperor Claudius who funnily enough looked remerkably a lot like Paul. 

After the museum we sat and had some lunch with the main debate being about a small piece of material and whether it was green or blue! This provoked Richard to go onto the details of colour blindness and what fraction of segments etc etc etc.......... At this point Russ asked round for a gun.

We then cracked on to the fort with Richard our tour guide and history teacher for the day and seriously you could have spent hours there as the fort was full of interesting carvings and engineering that was beyond belief. It is again hard to put into words everything we came across and is definitely a place to visit because you certainly get value for your £6.25 entrance fee.

The day finished off with a double scoop of northumberland ice cream before we set off back to prepare for tomorrows walk.

If i've missed anything out I do apologise but i'm sure Russ will fill in the blanks :-)

Happy reading and enjoy some of the pics from today

Morning report from Winshields

We'd originally planned to climb Skiddaw in the lakes on the last day of our trip, but we've decided on a change of plan.

There's a wonderfully preserved Roman fort a few miles from our current location called Vindolanda-in fact its described in the guidebooks as being the most significant and well preserved Roman find anywhere in the world. Consequently, we've decided to detour to take this in today and ditch the Skiddaw climb-which had no connection to Hadrian's Wall in any case. Hopefully we'll get plenty of good photos so stay tuned to the blog.

Not a bad view to start the day.

Bring on the Wall!

For those who know me it's not often I'm left speechless, but today I've been left incapable of speech more times than I could shake a centurions sword at! I'm fairly widely travelled and have worn the soles of my walking boots down in many areas around Britain, but today's walk has presented some of the most picturesque, beautiful scenery I've seen-I kid you not. I know the world always looks better in the sunshine, but the stretch of Hadrian's Wall between Chollerford and Once Brewed is absolutely breathtaking.

We set off from Chollerford at 8am, leaving Simon to sleep off his sunstroke, and immediately started to climb steadily. It was a murky start with low cloud losing the battle against an increasingly strong sun. By 8.30 the mist had dispersed and the sun already had enough heat in it to burn the back of my neck. It wasn't long before we met up with wall-a hugely impressive and thought provoking structure. The effort required to build without mechanised equipment is simply unimaginable in our modern Molly-coddled society. In contrast to the first few days, the wall stayed with us for most of the day and snaked its way into the Northumberland National Park. I hope the photos I've sent to Dawn to put on the blog do it and the scenery justice. For a national trail described as 'one of the easiest' it certainly didn't feel like it on this stretch as the wall ascended and descended sharply, so sharply on some occasions that we had to scramble-not the easiest of things to do with a wardrobe on your back!

One of the highlights for me as a movie fan was Sycamore Gap-the spot made famous in Kevin Costner's epic 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' where Robin gets set upon by Guy of Gisbourne and his men whilst trying to protect a young boy who climbs the now famous Sycamore. So excited was I that I mugged a small child for his bow and arrow so that I could have a piccy taken in the pose of my hero!

So, trail weary, but immeasurably happy we arrived at Winshields Farm in Once Brewed and now I sit and write at its only hostelry the Twice Brewed Inn where the free wifi makes amends for its miserly portions of food-certainly not big enough for hungry hikers which is a real shame.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Russ

What a day!

 

  

News from Twice Brewed

Barbara (Russ's mum) and myself were enjoying a lovely chicken salad when Russ and the gang popped up on FaceTime.  How lovely was that - quite put us off our tea!!

All joking aside they are at Once Brewed in a pub called Twice Brewed waiting for their tea to arrive, they all look really well and happy - including our resident grump Simon - love you really mate ;-)

Here are a few of the pics that Russ has taken over the last couple of days.

More pics

The wow factor

Day 3 - Sycamore

We left the campsite just after 8 this morning, leaving Simon in his tent getting his energy rebooted.
The walk started by passing Chesters Roman Fort  which was our 3rd stamping point for our passports. Jacko still hadn't mastered the technique though.
The road continued up a steep hill as the sun was just breaking through the low cloud giving some very good effects on the far hills. We continued climbing until we reached the next section of the wall, which for just a wall took your breath away! Hadrian's wall carved its way through some beatuiful gorse in full flower which made the scene even more spectacular.
This section of the walk provided us with vast sections of the wall and as you can tell from the few pics posted some unimaginable scenery, and i'm not talking about Richards legs.
We stopped for lunch at Houseteads Roman fort museum and this fort was immense as you could clearly see the sheer size of what was left.
This was also another stamping point and at the 4th time of asking Jacko managed to get his stamp within the circle.....technique mastered?? We'll find out tomorrow.
After lunch the views got even more outstanding and the undulation of the hills.......got even steeper. The words ow and ooh got used more frequently as this was really taking its toll on the feet. Ground was cambered with rocks everywhere so we were really put to the test.
It didn't put our spirits down though and we eventually came to a point that for me was just beyond belief, because I love the film. It was filmed in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.....Sycamore Gap and when we got there photos of plenty were taken. A family with a young lad were there and he was mad on the film so he had bow and arrow with him. Russ was first to get his photo taken with the bow and arrow under the tree (his idea bless) so we all had a go....great fun.
The walk ended with more up and downs but it was worth the hardwork as we reached the highest point of the entire wall. You could see 360 degrees of unspoilt scenery staring magestically at us. I had to take a video!
It was a long walk down hill to the campsite where we were greeted by Simon in the beaming sunshine.
Good news is we have to climb back up the hill tomorrow morning.
Keep posted
Andrew

Had to add more

Can't put into words how stunning the scenery is......and its supposed to get better!