Hadrians Wall

Friday 29th September

Travelled south along the coast in very wet weather. Stopped for lunch at Alnmouth, rain was easing and some blue sky visible so we were able to take a nice walk to the broad sandy beach and around to the River Arn. We then went inland to a very small village called Rock and were able to find a row of Estate Cottages which are still occupied and looking much the same as they have for well over a hundred years - very Old England.

 

Our drive for the next 2 hours took us through more lovely farming country to our B&B in an old telephone repeater station, way out by itself near Hadrian's Wall. Unfortunately there was a mix up in our booking, not ours, and we have ended up in a small room with a 3/4 size bed - it's going to be cosy! The surrounding country is like you imagine Wuthering Heights to be like. We managed a short walk up to the top of Steel Rig and saw some of the wall before dinner in the pub at Twice Brewed, which is not far from Once Brewed.

Old Repeater Station

 

Unfortunately Merilyn's cold, which she has had for over a week, has developed into a hacking cough which is causing her some distress, but she is still determined to get out there and make the most of each day.

 

Saturday 30th September

 

Richmond were well in front in the AFL Grand Final when we went to breakfast (getting updated scores on the Internet), and Merilyn feeling 'not so happy' because of her cough - she felt much better after an eggs, bacon, mushroom and tomatoes breakfast and some coffee! We are getting to like this start to a day! We had a wonderful day - minimal driving and a lot of time exploring and learning about Hadrians Wall. Spent 3 hours at 'Housestead' in the morning - a Roman fort right next to the wall with ruins of many buildings, a museum containing items found on the site, and good explanation boards and a video. We were able to walk on the wall to Milecastle 37 - there was a small "castle" built  in the wall for troops every mile of its length across England.

 

 

 

After 'Soup of the Day', our usual lunch, at the Twice Brewed Pub we walked alongside the wall for about an hour. Up and down hills, amazed at its construction - it was built in about 120 AD and was  built at the edge of the Roman Empire to keep out the barbarians from the North. We passed the ruins of Milecastle 39 and finally reached the point where the wall dropped deeply into a gully before rising up the other side and right in the middle of the dip is a large Sycamore tree - apparently it featured in the film 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves". The sun had come out, it was warm and we were greatly enjoying being outdoors with wonderful views all round. Trout for tea in a very small; atmospheric pub and another short wall walk to finish off the day - Merilyn still coughing but really loved the day.