Hadrians Wall Country 3: Walltown Crags

After our short, soggy stroll from Brampton the AD122 bus fetched us from the gates of Lanercost Priory and we continued our journey east.

After only a few minutes we spotted the Roman wall for the first time and not just the occasional stone either, but substantial sections plus every so often the outline of a turret. Much of it is not much higher than the foundations on a house, but the road follows the wall for miles.

We passed through the lovely villages of Gilsland and Greenhead, noticing from the map there are 3 YHA hostels along this stretch of the bus route, all within easy walking distance of Hadrians wall. One of the hostels is even built within the walls of a Roman fortress. We agreed to make a point of exploring more of this gorgeous countryside in future years.

For the night we had booked accommodation in the hamlet of Once Brewed. However, we still had time for a walk along the way at Walltown Crags, an old quarry which has now been landscaped and opened as a country park.

This lake would have been an open pit from which the stone was quarried in Victorian times (the last company to use the site was Tarmac). The crag we climbed is rising behind it.

In this part of the country you look at every wall with awe and wonderment, but I'm pretty sure this is only a drystone wall built to keep the sheep in.

Now this is more like it!

After a short but very steep ascent, we reached the ruined wall at the crest of the crags. Even here, where the cliffs drop off to the north, the Romans were careful to keep the wall high and solid. Today long stretches of the stones here remain sturdy, up to 7 or 8 feet high.

A stiff wind blew off the moors from the north. South of us the landscape was softer, with trees and pastures, but in any direction we looked it was hard to spot any signs of human habitation. Then we found a small Roman enclosure. This is where I filmed a clip which I've featured earlier.

Thankfully it was dry, but as you can see still not sunny.

The lack of good light inspired me to tweak this photo so it looks more like a watercolour, let me know what you think?

If we had the time we could have carried along the ridge, enjoying the views. Apparently there is also a castle nearby, according to this map.

Time again though to catch the bus. Next stop, the bizarrely-named Once Brewed!