Hadrian's Wall Travelogue: Part 8 (Carraw to Humshaugh)

Carraw to Humshaugh

Carraw B&B to Mingary Barn (aka Chollerford B&B)

7.63 miles

Carraw B&B was absolutely excellent -  very rural but modern, open, clean interiors. We stayed in the annex and the amenities were luxurious.  Dinner was homemade cream of onion soup with crusty bread, fruit, cheese, and pate. Perfect! 

Rained overnight and woke to off-and-on showers so donned rain gear for the first part of the walk.  Our first stop was the  Brocolitia Fort, outside of which were the remains of a temple to Mithras, built by the Roman soldiers from the fort.  Another sacred spot that inspired whispering despite the passage of time since people worshiped here.

Late morning it stopped showering enough to shed the rain gear, which became unbearably hot as the material just doesn't breathe. 

We planned only a short walk for this day as we wanted to spend all afternoon at Chester's Fort in Chollerford where the English Heritage was hosting a Roman Cavalry event with reenactors. We arrived just in time for the 1 pm performance and got to see a small unit of soldiers fully outfitted and with a centurion (commanding officer) drilling them. I was particularly excited to see them create a shield wall, about which I've read so much. Next came three Cavalrymen, two of which were wearing Cavalry helmets with full face masks.  The announcer, who was part of the reenactor group explained everything they and their horses were wearing, and then they did some drills with spears and shields in full armour.

The fort itself is incredibly well excavated. Here we saw the tallest walls, and the bath house down by the Tyne even had the cubbies in the changing room where people could leave their clothes while they bathed. You could also clearly see each of the rooms, with some of the baths still partially there--you could actually progress from the warm room, to the hot room, hot baths, and then the cold room. 

I also really loved looking across the Tyne to the remains of the abutments of the Roman bridge that crossed the river at this point. 

We ate sandwiches and drank lemonade at the fort cafe, and then toured the museum, which was basically a warehouse of artifacts found on the site--hundreds of altars and tombstones, as well as pottery, cavalry horse armour, etc.

After the fort, we walk into Chollerford and had a drink at the George Hotel, which used to be a coaching inn back in the Georgian days.  Very pretty garden that faces the Tyne--enjoyed the sunshine and had my first shandy (lemonade and ale), which I liked quite a bit!

Then up the hill to our B&B in Humshaugh. Dinner at the Crown Inn, which was packed on this Saturday night, and then a good night's sleep at the Mingary Barn, which was actually an old stone barn, modernized for 21st century living.

Hadrian's Wall Travelogue: Part 4 (Lanercost to Greenhead)

Lanercost Priory to Greenhead

9.5 miles

Lanercost B&B to Greenhead Hotel

43 flights of stairs according to my Garmin Fitbit wannabe--steps not accurate because I used trekking poles for some of the day.

Lots of climbing--hills, stairs, stiles--up and down all day.

Started with another communal meal--breakfast at B&Bs are that way, and I opted for pancakes this time and bacon while Jeff had yet another English breakfast, but no beans this time. Good thing we're walking all day!

Climbing Hare Hill we stopped and watched birds at a bird feeder and identified a Siskin. 

Saw the wall first at the top of Hare Hill (and did a selfie) after which we stopped at remains of turrets and milecastles on our way to Birdoswall Fort, the first Roman fort that has been excavated at this end of the wall. Beautiful vistas of the Pennines to the south, and rolling grassy hills covered with sheep and cattle all around.

Saw some very shaggy cows near Birdoswall. As we neared the fort, we walked along the wall for a good stretch. After arriving, we had lunch in the cafe, then we toured the site--the cafe is in the tower next to the Bastle house. We ended up getting a guide book at each fort/museum and did some reading in them each night.

Here is the Bastle House on the Birdoswald Fort site--it operated as a farm until fairly recently.

The plaques at all the sites are really good--here's a great example.

We walked to the very back of the fort perimeter, and looked down a steep incline to the Irthing River below. Absolutely gorgeous.

Started walking again around 2 pm--needed the trekking poles for long steep climb down to the river. Crossed the new Willowford bridge (1999--helicopter placed it) and then went on to see the remains of the Roman Willowford bridge. River must have changed course over the last 2 millennia as the bridge abutments were far from the river itself.

Long, tiring trek to Gilsland--lots of steps and hills and climbing. Diversion through Gilsland and so backtracked to Poltross Burn milecastle. Met up with tour group and listened in a bit. This milecastle was built on a hill so interiors needed steps within one side of room to the other.

Took break and drank water, ate trail mix and used camp stools soon after Poltross Burn milecastle, before final leg to cutoff to Greenhead. Young man gave us directions to Greenhead shortly after we came down off trail and were looking at map. 

Greenhead hotel was pretty shabby--not on same level as any of the BBs, but okay for one night.

Here is an image of the ditch, which runs north of the wall and is part of the overall defensive zone of the wall.

Hadrian's Wall Travelogue: Part 3 (Park Broom to Lanercost)

Park Broom to Lanercost Priory

Park Broom Lodge to Lanercost B&B

10.7 miles

27160 steps

Got a late start--around 10 and rainy.  Had to stop and put on rain gear--rookie mistake--don't mistake rain for mist. It rained most of morning. Crossed paths with some wall walkers. Walked through lots of fields of cows and sheep with kissing gates at each field end.

Rain stopped midday--bought candy bars at "Stall on the Wall" and ate them, and then stopped at Newtown at a honesty stop where we shed our rain gear and had a cup of tea and some jerky and trail mix and rested at the picnic table. 

Dry afternoon - walked up and down hills and fields and passed through many gates.

Saw Lanercost Priory in the distance and walked down to it. Very pretty setting with beautiful flowers. The B&B has a great garden and they keep chickens, and they make or local source all their food. Nice big room (the River room), overlooking the River Irthing, and beautifully done up. A real treat after the cabin the night before.

Arrived late afternoon and toured the Priory ruins (they close at 6 pm) and St. Mary Magdalene church (the part of the church that wasn't ruined and still functions as a church) before dinner. Priory ruins wonderful--especially seen through glass at back of church.

No sign of Hadrian's Wall yet, but expect to on day 4.

Hadrian's Wall Travelogue: Part 2 (Beaumont to Park Broom)

Beaumont to Park Broom

11 miles, with several diversions due to the 2015 flood of the Eden River.

24995 steps

Left Roman Wall Lodges after a panini breakfast with tea/coffee. Here's our rustic cabin--comfortable with everything we needed for a good night's sleep.

Backtracked up the road to St. Mary's church in Beaumont and then walked along roads, through fields, and along the Eden River. Saw a blackcap warbler in Kirk Andrews on Eden and a marsh tit (a lot like our chickadee except the songs/calls are different).

Most of the other people on the trail were locals going for a walk with their dogs. We saw a bunch of birds swoop out of a hedge and the passing farmer said that meant rain within an hour, but it only sprinkled slightly.

Saw lots of wild foxglove, daisies and other wild flowers. When we took the diversion through the Carlisle suburb of Newtown, we saw lots of hydrangeas and roses.

In Carlisle, we went to Direct Sports (lucky it was open on Sunday as many shops and restaurants were not), and replaced my backpack buckle with that on a inexpensive waist pack that we bought. Then we hit the cash machine outside of the Crown and Mitre hotel and had lunch at the Dutch Uncle. Shared a delicious sausage/basil pizza and steamed fish--Jeff had a Carlisle Bell ale from the Carlisle Brewing Company.

After lunch we headed to the Sands Centre, where we stamped our Hadrian's Wall passport in the cafeteria, crossed the river (another diversion), and walked through Rickerby Park. Saw a few Wall Walkers but most of the others were locals enjoying the sunshine, blue skies, and light breeze.

Saw three mute swans along the river--two adults and a cygnet, who were shy and swam away when we stopped to watch them through our binoculars.

The trail was mostly through parkland with a stretch along a road--we crossed the M6, and then walked through Linstock, which was all residential.  Next came farm roads where we saw a buzzard circling above a field.  

There was another diversion at Park Broom, which took us to our hotel, situated on a busy road, that we had to dart across.

Lovely big room, but right on a busy road. Went down to dinner and had a drink while we waited for our meal and chatted with the landlord; I had chicken with chorizo sauce and Jeff had steak and ale pie, and we swapped midway through. Both were delicious and then we had pavlova for dessert.

Went for a walk in the garden and then watched birds at the bird feeder--saw lots of goldfinches, which are a different bird from the American goldfinch. Not much yellow, but very striking and colorful.  

Carlisle - we actually visited Carlisle before we started walking, and loved it. The castle was our first stop, and where we bought a 14-day international visitors pass for English Heritage sites.  Virtually all the places we are visiting and EH sites, so it was well worth the 64 pounds we paid for two passes.

The photo above is doodles made by bored medieval guards.

Carlisle Castle is old and apparently one of the smaller castles. We were pretty jet lagged, but still enjoyed walking around, climbing spiral staircases, and remembering scenes from The Princess Bride were the Farm Boy and Inigo Montoya engage in sword fights while racing up and down the stairs.

We visited Carlisle Cathedral that evening (btw, the sun sets much later this far north--it was still-outside-and-read light at 10 pm) and had the place to ourselves. We still whispered. Regardless of your faith, I find most people whisper in sacred places.  It was absolutely lovely and peaceful and the best way to visit a place like this. They locked the doors after we left

We visited Tullie House Museum the next day, and it was fabulous. The exhibition on the Roman Cavalry was superb and the docent talked with us for a good half hour, explaining everything. The exhibits, especially the dioramas, were exceptional. The main exhibit on Roman Britain was also superb--they had a standard Roman tent that housed 8 soldiers set up with all the kit available to examine.

Here's a Roman Cavalry Helmet - found by a detectorist!

In addition to the castle, cathedral, and museum, we really enjoyed Carlisle. Nice pedestrian area in the city center with lots of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed The Shabby Scholar and The Dutch Uncle, which are affiliated, the best--good variety and easy to access. 

Hadrian's Wall Travelogue - Part 1 (Bowness on Solway to Beaumont)

Stats:

Bowness on Solway to Beaumont

Shore Gate House B&B to Roman Wall Lodges cabin

12 miles (26403 steps)

After months of planning and training, my husband Jeff and I are officially walking the Hadrian's Wall Path, west to east, from Bowness on Solway to Wallsend.  

Bowness on Solway is a hamlet on the Solway Firth, and marks the western border between England and Scotland. Wallsend is a suburb of Newcastle, not quite on the North Sea and no longer on the border since the Romans preferred straight lines while the England/Scotland border angles up and to the right from Bowness on Solway to just above Berwick upon Tweed.

We flew into Manchester from Denver, via Newark, and then took the train to Carlisle through the Lake District.  We stayed the night in Carlisle, getting over jet lag and visiting the Castle, the Cathedral, and the Tullie House museum. Early in the planning stages, I had thought we would do this sightseeing when we walked through Carlisle as part of the Wall trek. So glad we opted to visit these wonderful places first instead as we didn't have time to sightsee in Carlisle at all when we passed through...more about that later.

We then took a cab (30 pounds) out to Bowness on Solway. Took a walk to the nature preserve and had dinner at the King's Arms. Jeff is sticking to local ales and tried the Cock-a-Hoop ale.  Janet is sticking to Chardonnay. Our B&B was Shore Gate House where we had a room on the top floor and looked out on the Firth and watched the tide come in. We spotted lots of new birds (for us!) including blackbirds, black-headed gulls, and curlews.  

After a hearty breakfast we started walking, stamping our Hadrian's Wall passports at the start/finish hut and walking through town and down the road. Our pace was pretty slow because we birded along the way, seeing our first lapwings and a gray heron, as well as white egrets and cormorants, plus swallows (same as our barn swallow), house sparrows, and house martins (another new bird).

We also chatted with people on the trail--mostly locals out for a walk, and had our picture taken by Roger, who custom outfitted his signpost to include mileage to our village of Niwot, CO.  He was also fun to talk with--he is retired and we visited the Methodist church where his wife provides tea/coffee for hikers.

Rookie mistakes - we missed a turn and had to walk along the road instead of on top of the Vallum on our way to Glasson, but a nice lady in the Lock Smiths House pointed out the way. I discovered that half of my backpack's bottom strap clasp was missing, so we had to rig a way to fasten it.

We stopped for a short break at Drumbrugh and shortly after we got back on the road, we passed the Drumbrugh Castle, which was a bastion house during Reiving days.

It was very pretty where we walked along a ridge overlooking the salt marsh where cows and sheep were grazing, and some were up on the trail, but scampered away as we approached.

Had a late lunch at the Greyhound Inn in Burgh by Sands--the barmaid served us even though we arrived after 2 pm. Had chicken, bacon, leek pie, with chips and mushy peas.

Stopped at St Michael's after lunch, which has been a church for over 700 years, built on the site of a Roman fort. It has a Pele tower and was used for defense during Reiver raids. Took a picture of Edward I's statue--he died there on July 7, 1307 on the Solway Firth, and was carried back to St. Michael's where he laid in state before being carried to London for burial.

Made our way across fields of sheep to Beaumont, where we had to ask a farm girl in a tractor directions to Roman Wall Lodges. In the course of our first day, the trail took many forms, but the most important thing was to look for the acorns marking the trail.

Took naps and showers and had tea in our rustic cabin before heading off to dinner at the Drovers Rest, where the steak was excellent and so necessary for restoring tired muscles.  Slept great, knowing we had completed the first leg of our trek.