Hadrian's Wall

We left Penrith to a very overcast and misty morning, and headed the scenic (and very long) way to Glasgow. This route would take us to see Hadrian’s Wall (yes, I know we’d already seen Adrian’s Wall, this this one is far older). But in order to see it, we first had to cross the impressively rugged Pennines Range. From 6^th gear to fifth, then to fourth, down the third, and quite often second, we kept climbing, and climbing until we were quite literally in the clouds. As a result, we could see nothing, and that included cars coming in the opposite direction. Not too much trouble if your average Pennine road was like those back home in Oz, but these roads were barely built for two sheep traveling abreast (well, they are exceptionally woolly sheep).

The view from the Pennines

Eventually hitting the crest, then down the other side and the fog began to clear to reveal one of the most magnificent, yet barren, landscapes imaginable. Not a single tree in sight, too cold for them to grow. Even the sheep here had beanies and scarfs.

From the Pennines we traveled through beautiful Northumberland, what the English call ‘border country’. I won’t try describing how majestic it was, suffice to say all I could speak to Alison was, “want farm here, want farm here’. It was traveling through here we came across our first grouse, the first of many in fact. A beautiful bird, particularly the male of the species, these birds have been bred for hunting, and they are so big and lazy they can’t even be bothered getting out of the way of oncoming cars (hence the many squashed grouse on the road – I’m not normally partial to road kill, but grouse pie for lunch sounded, well, grouse).

After what seemed forever, we finally arrived at Hadrian’s Wall Information Centre and, you guessed it, the paid car park. A lot of people only walk as far as the wall, take a few snaps and then drive on, but Alison and I decided to walk as far as my ankle would allow us. Now, we are not just talking flat, tourist-friendly paths here. The walk along the wall goes both up and down at what can only be described as precipitous angles. How the Romans managed to build this is beyond my comprehension. The landscape here is unforgiving, and the weather matches it in every way. This is harsh country, and I think walking through it adds to the sensations the wall evokes.

Hadrian's Wall - this part is quite low, but originally most of it was up to six metres high.

The surrounding landscape from the Wall

Some sections of the wall are almost vertical - what a feat of engineering!

 

Don't look over the edge, it is a vertical drop hundreds of feet down.

That's me fighting off the northern tribes (although I look a little like a Roman scarecrow)

Emperor Hadrian had this wall built around the first century AD in order to keep the feral Celtic tribes to north out (he had obviously visited quite a few Glasgow pubs around closing time). The wall is some 80 miles long, and stretches from coast to coast, at pretty much the United Kingdom’s narrowest points. Apparently, the wall employed up to 15,000 men to build, and hundreds more to protect and maintain it once finished. Having walked just a mile or so, we will always remember this special place and have gained a genuine appreciation for these incredible engineers.