A long day

I had a really long day today. I think that I have finally gotten over my jet lag and I had a good night's sleep at the Scotch Arm Mews in Brampton. The cabbie picked me up at 9 and took me back to Walton where I finished hiking last night. After about 30 minutes I headed off the trail to the Lanercost Priory the ruins of a monastery. It was recommended by my guide book. I always enjoy these monastic ruins as they are so peaceful. The monks knew a good spot to live. The priory was also important from the perspective of Hadrians Wall as much of the wall in the area was ripped up to build it. Looking at the monastery was really looking at Hadrians Wall.

I got to chatting with Emma the English Heritage worker who also did a lot of hiking and camping. I have been worried these last few days as they are calling for very heavy rainfalls and Gail force winds on Friday which is tomorrow. I was supposed to be hiking the Sils from Gisland to Once Brewed tomorrow which was one of the most scenic parts of the wall but also along a very high exposed rock formation. I told her the pace I was making and she suggested that as it was such a nice day to do both segments of the wall and then taxi back to Gisland for the night from Once Brewed. It hadn't been apparent to me that I would be able to get transportation back to Gisland. She suggested that I use Friday to visit some of the museums in the area. That seemed like a pretty good solution to my dilemma.

It was a beautiful day so I decided that I would make the most of it even if I was going to be tired by the end of it. After a while, I realized that the geography along the path had changed and that I could make the various ditches that the Romans had dug on either sides of the wall. I started looking for the wall and I finally saw part of the wall hiding in a patch of bushes. It was in the correct location and far to wide to be a farm wall. Making my way to Birdoswald more traces of the wall came into view. The bases of several turrets along the wall were preserved. After the Romans left these were used as homes or barns so weren't removed when they built the monastery. Finally as I approached Birdoswald there was a substantial segment of wall stretching for a good mile snaking down across a valley and up the other side for as far as the eye could see. It was very impressive standing at 2 metres in height and 2 metres. To think that he original wall had stood 4 to 5 metres. There was a museum for a Roman castle at Birdoswald but I would retrack tomorrow and visit it.

I made it to Gisland by 12:30 and Greenhead by 1 pm. By now I had completed 14 k and had another 13 k to do. The weather was holding so I thought that I would push on. The next part of the wall cuts across the top of a geographic formation known as the Sils. They rise 200 metres above the surrounding countryside. The north side are cliffs and the south side are very steep slopes. It was up the Sil to the top then down the other side before repeating on the next sil. It was like hiking in the mountains. The iconic photos of the wall are taken as it crosses the Sils. Parts were preserved and other parts were not. It is incredible to think that the Romans moved all the stone up to the top of the Sils. It was spectacularly beautiful and as it was getting on in the day there were hardly any hikers. In fact it was a little spooky at times. I fared reasonably well fueled with 2 chocolate bars, M and Ms and 2 litres of water. I made it to Once Brewed and contacted a cabbie. Only a 10 minute wait. For a 15 minute cab fare it was 30 pounds back to Gisland.

I stayed at Dacre house in Gilands. It looked like an Edwardian house which the present owners had refurbished and turned into a 4 room guest house. It was beautiful. I had an okay Currie at a local pub and was in bed by 9. All in all an excellent day having accomplished a good 27 k including one of the most picturesque parts of the wall in some very good weather.Read more