Definitely walking the Wall

Today I’m half way through the walk and it was the toughest of the days so far – not because of the distance but because it suddenly wasn’t flat any more, it was a constant up and down. As well as that you there was the weather to contend with. The day started with fog and ended with sunshine with a pelting rainstorm or three in between. The crags were steep and particularly treacherous when raining with slippery stones and mud.

This is where you see the real wall – long stretches behind and in front of you giving you a very good indication of just what an amazing feat of engineering Hadrians Wall was. Sadly great chunks are now part of local farms, houses and churches as generations pilfered the easiest material they could find, the stones from the wall.

The views from the top of those crags were stunning, it’s obvious why the Romans built their wall here – you can see for miles and the steep crags meant that they could easily defend their territory from the wall and the forts along it. No-one could approach undetected.

This part of the wall lies in the Northumberland national park with stunning oak and sycamore trees, amazing wildflowers and bodies of water called loughs. Lots of birdlife too. This is where I’ve seen the most walkers – many of them only tackle a couple of sections and this is one of them.

The Roman forts were a whole other story. There were several of them visible today, the most amazing being Vindolanda. That site has been built on since before Hadrian so there is 2000 years of history there, and it's still being excavated and slowly revealing its secrets.

The artefacts found there and still being found were stunning – from painted glass fragments to items of clothing and jewellery to pottery much of it in amazing condition. It’s a fantastic place to see just how the Romans lived and played. Extraordinary.

Well, 5 more days to go. Weather forecast isn’t great but that isn’t going to deter me. I’m about to go into Cumbria where the landscape will change again. A bit less of the wall but more Roman ruins to explore.Read more