Hadrian's Wall Path

We planned to walk the Hadrian’s Wall long distance trail from Wallsend near Newcastle to Bowness on the Solway Firth. Previously when we did these long walks we backpacked stating either in hostels or camping, but now we were a bit old for that and had other plans. Having got into ‘motorhoming’ a few years ago the scheme was to stay at a caravan site approximately half way along the route and use our motorhome and the local bus service. The idea was to park the motorhome where we would if possible finish our day’s stretch of the walk and travel by bus to the day’s start point. We found it preferable to have the ‘home at the end of the day’s walk and know that we were finished and not the other way round and depending on catching a bus at the end of a hard walk then finding we were either late or it had been cancelled. This wasn’t always practical and convenient parking of the ‘home also had to be considered.

The caravan site we decided on was the Haltwhistle Camping and Caravan site on a hill above the town at Burnfoot Park Village, Tel. No 01434 320106. There are 50 pitches some on hard stands others on grass but all level. The site had all the facilities and although busy was peaceful and quiet. Our motorhome is a 2009 Ace Airstream and gave us a very comfortable ride from Clydeside in Scotland down to Haltwhistle.

We intended to walk on average 15 miles each day and this would take 6 days. We broke down the route on the basis of roughly this distance, convenience of parking and frequency of buses as follows

Day1     Wallsend                      to  Heddon-on-the-Wall      15 miles

Day2     Heddon-on-the-Wall    to  Chollerford                     15 miles

Day3     Chollerford                   to  Milecastle                       14 miles

Day4     Milecastle                     to  Banks                            14 miles

Day5     Banks                           to  Carlisle                          15 miles

Day6     Carlisle                         to Bowness-on-Solway       15 miles         

Monday

The first section of the Hadrian’s Wall Path was easy along nice level tarred footpaths beside the banks of the River Tyne, except for the last 2 miles or so which took us up a long hill to our destination for the day, Heddon-on-the-Wall.

 We repacked the van after breakfast and drove to Heddon, it was just a village and I parked in a side street in a residential area. We caught a bus within 5 minutes and it took about half an hour to get into the centre of Newcastle and cost £5.80. It was another £4.40 on the Metro which took us to Wallsend. The walk began at Segedunum the fort at the end of the Wall now a museum and visitor’s centre. They issued ‘passports’ which we got it stamped there and at various point along the route. This qualifies you for a t-shirt.

From Segedunun the signposts directed us down to what looked like an old railway and the now tarred path made its way through a wooded area and eventually down to the edge of the River Tyne. There was a strong chemical smell and a warning sign told about the dangers of going on to the shore due to hazardous chemicals from a now defunct tar works. The smell did resemble tar and the ‘beach’ was black with it.

We stopped for lunch in the centre of Newcastle again beside the Millennium Bridge. There was a series of bridges crossing the Tyne and the iconic metal bridge, a smaller version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, had kittiwake seabirds nesting on the edges of spars and beams. They usually nest on rock ledges on cliffs so this wasn’t so unusual for them. They were also making homes for themselves on window ledges, gutters and chimneys of nearby buildings and were making the squawking noise that resembles their name.

           

It wasn’t long before we were clear of the city centre still on the lovely footpath by the river and coming into Scotswood. This had been an industrial area for coal, iron, steel and ship building, now all that was gone and has been converted to a business estate and posh housing. The route followed the

Scotswood Road

to Blaydon, made famous in the Geordie song the Blaydon Races.

After Scotswood the path took a loop away from the river to cross a bridge over the A1 motorway but found the Tyne again as it went through Lemington and Newburn. There were a number of people on the route doing the walk and all of them like us heading for Heddon for the first day’s stop. A large group from the military based in Portsmouth kept passing us then we would catch up with them again when they were stopped for their many drinks and smoke breaks. As usual the last miles are the longest as you approach your destination and a long hill didn’t help but at last we reached the motorhome all safe and sound.

Tuesday  

Day 2 of the walk from Heddon to Chollerford was in complete contrast to yesterday. We were now out in the countryside and the paths were grassy or gravel over fields and through wooded sections. The guide book said that the trail mainly runs beside the ‘thundering B6318’ and people don’t like it much because of this. The B6318 was busy for a minor road but the trail for most of the way was well separated by a wall or hedges as we hiked along the farmer’s fields.

I drove to Hexham which was about 15 miles away just off the A69 Newcastle road. I got the van parked in a municipal car park in the centre of town; it cost £2 for 9 hours, not bad.The terminus was just a short walk away for the bus to Heddon. There doesn’t seem to be any logic behind bus fares, it cost £4:40 each nearly double what we paid yesterday for roughly the same distance.

At Heddon before setting out on the path we had a slight detour to see and photograph the remains of the first section of the actual wall. It was only a small piece that was left after most had been cleared for farming or houses. Leaving Heddon we did go along a pavement beside the B6318 but it was only for about a half mile then we were on grass, although we could hear the traffic it didn’t disturb us. After about 30 minutes we came to a sign post telling us that it was the site of Rudchester or Vindobala Fort but nothing remained, the stones of the fortifications had been taken for the construction of a military road by General Wade which is now the B6318.

As we strolled along there was evidence in places of the ditch built as an extra defence to the wall but not any evidence of the wall itself. At Wittledene Reservoir we had a break and sat in the bird hide for observing our feathered friends on the waters of the reservoir, but at that time of the day there weren’t many about. We did meet there a bunch of Dutch hikers going in the other direction; they weren’t very fast having taken 10 days already from the Solway. Shortly after the reservoir we arrived at Robin Hood Inn and there was a stamping point to mark our passports. From the inn to Piers gate where we had our lunch stop the path was being maintained by workmen with heavy duty lawnmowers and strimmers cutting down the grass and weeds. They work for the Northumberland Highway Department that owns the section of the trail here and maintain it.

After lunch the trail ran close to the road on a track through the fields of the farms with sheep and cattle to negotiate. As the trail passed from farm to farm and field to field there was a stile to climb and there seemed to be hundreds of them..

At Planetrees there was a stretch of about 50 metres of wall, the first we had seen since Heddon. A bridge took us over the River Tyne again and we reached Chollerford in plenty of time for the bus. We continued through the village and reached Chesters an old Roman fort and another spot for stamping our passports. The bus stop was outside the fort and we were back at the car park in Hexham and motorhome, it was a shorter drive today back to Haltwistle and the caravan site.

Wednesday

This morning; the bus, the AD122 (named after the year Hadrian ordered the Wall) we were catching was at Milecastle Inn on the other side of Haltwistle about ¼ mile from the Wall. There was a large car park beside the Inn and Moira checked with the landlord who said it was alright to park there for the day while we walked. It took 35 minutes to get to Chesters where we finished yesterday and the bus taking a detour from Once Brewed to Vondolanda a Roman fort and museum that is a bit off the trail. When we reached Chesters Roman Fort we got started straight away, which began with a long climb with the route sticking to the pavement on the B6318 but soon as we cleared the village of Walwick at Black Carts we came across today’s first section of the Wall a long stretch going up a hill with its own turret. Throughout the day we were to see lots of the Wall, some just a small pile of stones others going for hundreds of metres. Surprisingly bits were in very good condition as they had been reconstructed in the 19^th century by a Newcastle town clerk, John Clayton. Other features that were highlighted by information boards were the Milecasles, a Roman mile or 1000 paces apart, with two observation turrets equally spaced between each Milecastle. The Romans were based at the Milecastles and patrolled the Wall between them. In front of the Wall was a large deep ditch which was evident along most of the walk with the path running above it a lot of the time.

It was quite easy going at this time with stiles to cross and gates to go through as we passed from one farm and field to another. This path led us to Brocolitia Roman Fort which had a car park at the side of the road with a tea and coffee van, the fort being mostly underground.  Further along the trail there were the remains of a Mithras Temple, the altar and about a foot of the walls still intact.

Shortly after leaving the temple we had a long hill to climb, not steep but steady. At the top we decided it was time for lunch and then on to Housesteads, a large Roman fort, for the stamping of our passports. The walk had been relatively flat up till now as we approached Sewingshield’s Crags it changed. There was a steep climb to the top of the crags and we got wonderful views to the north over Bromlee Lough and climbers scaling the rocky cliffs.

After Once Brewed it was more up and downs but we managed to avoid a lot of them by taking another low level path, the Roman military road, at Crag Lough, but we were up high again above the junction to Once Brewed with more rock climbers and a steep bolder strewn descent to the road.  From this junction there was more climbing and we reached the highest point on the whole route at Green Slack. There was a trig point and the height was 345 metres. The panorama from this point was the best so far with brilliant views of the rocky crags the Wall and the lake beneath.Onward it wasn’t all downhill we still up more ups and downs before reaching Milecastle 42 where the road took us down to the Inn, named after the Milecastle, and the motorhome. It had been a strenuous walk today and it was very warm, we were tired and glad to be back and that it was only a short drive back to the caravan park.

Friday  

I drove down to Milecastle Inn but this time continued down to the car park near the trail, it cost £3 to park there all day. I took some photographs of the ridge that we had come down the other day and the disused Cawfields Quarry which had been flooded and was now an attractive pond with ducks swimming about. Today we were catching the bus back to here because of the more convenient parking.

               

The going was a bit easier than yesterday and not so rugged, grassier but there was a ridge after the start up to Great Chesters Fort and some crags. We got on to a low level path and thought we had missed the main trail and climbed up to the ridge again above Walltown Quarry also disused and another pond. We had a lovely view from the top but then found that we had to go all the way down again to the path that circled round the pond.

There was another old Roman Fort and museum at Carvoran then the trail followed the huge ditch to the ruins of Thirlwall Castle, not a Roman relic but built in the 14th century, using stones from the wall, to protect inhabitants from cross border raids and cattle stealing or reiving.  From this point we crossed a railway line and the junction with the Pennine Way
. Now it was easy going as we crossed fields sometimes in the ditch and others on the mound beside it, there were long stretches of wall, some looked in very good condition but had probably been restored by John Clayton. The path skirted around the town of Gilsland and came to the remains and foundations of the Willowford Bridge over the River Irthing. The river had changed its course since then and the area was dry, a new bridge now spanned the river and had been installed when the Hadrian’s Wall Path was designed. Just after the river the guide book warned of a very steep hill and it was, when we got to the top the decision was lunch.     

The area was a Milecastle and plenty of Wall, there were lots of tourists and nearby was Birdoswald, the remains of another fort and museum, where we remembered to get our passports stamped.

From Birdoswald we had more good examples of the Wall, deep ditches, milecastles and turrets. The going was very easy now and any hills were gentle. We were making for the14:22 bus at the village of Banks and we pushed hard to make sure of catching it, the next one wasn’t until after 5:00. When we got to Banks Turret No. 52A there was a bus stop this was about ¼ mile short of where we had intended stopping but we got talking to some cyclists doing their version of the Wall and decided to take the bus from here.

 It took half an hour to get to Milecastle Inn as the bus route went in a loop round the centre of Haltwhistle. From the Inn we strolled down the road to the car park where we had left the motorhome and in 15 minutes we were back at the campsite

Saturday 3 July 2010

We had to change our plan for the walk as there were no buses tomorrow, a Sunday, to and from Bowness-on-Solway, so we decided to do that stage this morning out of sequence. We drove through Carlisle and on to Bowness. Bowness was a very small village on the Solway Firth and it was a nice clear morning giving us excellent views and photographs of Scotland on the other side of the river. It took 45 minutes to get back to Carlisle in the bus.

From the bus station we made our way down to the Sands centre on the River Eden and got our passports stamped at the sports centre close-by. The route today wasn’t very interesting as regards the Wall; there were no ruins, milecastles or turrets and only a few traces or examples of the ditches and mounds. It started running along the banks of the River Eden; the path was narrow and tended to go up and down, after the village of Grinsdale there was a nice bridge over the Sourmilk. We were hoping for a nice spot beside the river for our lunch but the path tended to run at the top of a steep bank and there was no convenient place then it left the river as it cut across a loop. When we reached the river again at the village of Beaumont which had a bench that circled round the trunk of an old oak tree in the village square, we stopped there for lunch. There was an attractive church that according to the guide book was built with stones from the Wall.

When we got going again there was a bridleway running between hedges until it met the road just before Burgh-by-Sands. This bridleway followed the line of the Wall and there were signs of the ditches and mounds. After Burgh-by-Sands the route took to the road, it was straight and boring. On our right was marsh land on the edge of the Solway Firth that was at low tide and sandy, to the left the verge rose up to a flat mound probably from the Roman activities which the path should have taken. All along the road there was warning of flooding and markers for water levels.

Notices and the guide book did alert us about the tide times but in the marsh land there were cows and sheep happily grazing so we didn’t get alarmed about any imminent danger.

This long slog went on for about 4 miles and finished when we reached Drumburgh where we moved away from the Solway and into the countryside again. The route ran down through country lanes and was more pleasant. When we reached Glasson the route again followed the mound and ditches of the Wall until it reached the Solway again at Port Carlisle. Now it was the final mile along the side of the Firth to Bowness and the finish where we got the final stamp on our passports at the King’s Arms pub. The motorhome was still safe and sound where we left it and we had a cup of tea before setting off back to Haltwistle.

                           

Sunday  

Today was our final day of the walk; we just had to fit in the section that we missed between Bank’s Turret and Carlisle. I parked the car down at the Sand’s Centre then we walked up to the bus stop. The bus went round the villages and houses as usual and it took ¾ hour to get to our start point and today is was pouring rain.

From the turret where we stopped yesterday we walked down the road to the village of Banks then into the country. There was a couple of small parts of the Wall shortly after Banks and that was it apart for many examples of the ditches and mounds but real evidence of the actual Wall seemed to be over. So from an historical point of view there wasn’t a lot and the scenery didn’t have many attractions. We were walking mainly through farms along the edges of fields with cattle and sheep grazing. Fortunately the stiles today were the gate type so we didn’t have to scramble over the boundaries in the pouring rain. With the rain the visibility wasn’t good, according to the guide book the Pennines should have been seen but we did get glimpses of the Lake District fells. We passed through a few small villages with names relating to the Wall, for example, Walton and Oldwall. There wasn’t much to photograph today and I took the opportunity at Walton to take a snap of the pub sign at the inn, the Centurion.

At lunch time the clouds began to break and thin, the rain went off and the sun was shining again and it was just after Oldwall when we had our lunch break. From Crosby the route mostly followed the course of the Eden and after Linstock crossed the M6 motorway then picked up the cycleway on the other side of the river into Carlisle. As always when you get into a big town or city the waymarkers disappear and we took a wrong turn but fortunately Moira knew where we were and got us to the car park at the Sands and the motorhome

It had been a very enjoyable walk with plenty to see as regards the Wall and some beautiful scenery. It had worked out very well centrally situated at Haltwistle and excellent public transport which ran accurately to their time table. The caravan site was excellent with all the important facilities and reasonably priced. We would recommend this method of doing the Wall to our fellow motorhomers.

THE TRUTH ABOOT THE WAALL

It was built for the Romans, way back in the past;
They built it with stone, and they built it to last.
Quite a change for the locals from digging for coal
And it kept a large number of men off the dole.

It was the Emperor Hadrian who started it all
When he ordered the peasants to build him this waall.
Just what it was for there was neebody sure
And the reasons he gave were a little obscure.

"This waall," said the Emperor, rubbing his chin, 
"Is to stop aall the Picts and the Scots getting in; 
Aa'm used to the Geordies, Aa knaa aall their tricks, 
But Aa just cannit stomach the Scots and the Picts".

They started the Waall on the banks of the Tyne
And they tried very hard for to keep a strite line.
There were thoosands of Geordies with shovels and picks
And the rate for the job was eleven and six.

The stones for the Waall came by bogie and barrow;
They were cut from the quarries at Hebburn and Jarrow.
They floated them over the Tyne on a raft,
(Them owld fashioned Geordies could certainly graft).

They travelled to Byker with nivver a spell
But they stopped for a pint when they reached the "Bluebell".
Then on across meadow and valley and dyke 
With nivvor a murmur of trouble or stike.

Onwards they went, heading West all the time,
Still trying their best for to keep a strite line.
In summer they struggled through bracken and heather
And they plodged in the darts during inclement weather.

They laid the last stone on the second of June 
and Hadrian said, "Lads, Aa'm ower the moon, 
Aa would like you to knaa that Aa'm proud of you aall, 
And Aa thank you aall kindly for building me waall".

A big celebration was held at Carlisle;
They had a grand neet and they done it in style.
The picks and the shovels were aall put away
And the workers were given an extra week's pay.

The Picts and the Scots were a little bit vexed
And voices were raised and muscles were flexed.
But their yelling and shootin' did nee good at aall;
It takes more than taalkin' to get past a waail.

And that is the story, believe it or not,
Of how they defeated the Pict and the Scot;
How the Waall was constructed for one man's enjoyment
And the North-East was rescued from mass unemployment.

Jack Davitt

References   Hadrian’s Wall Path   Henry Stedman     published by Trailblazer