Hadrians Wall Country 9: Newcastle

Newcastle is a magnificent place, in my opinion ranking alongside Bristol and Edinburgh as the most handsome of all British cities. It is blessed by a spectacular position on the River Tyne gorge which is criss-crossed by numerous bridges. And I'm not saying all this just because it's Christian's hometown.

Your first visit should be aboard a train so you can cross the river at height and approach the medieval castle keep that stands guard over the station.

As for us, we were aboard the AD 122 bus for the last leg of our trip along the Roman wall, our 3-day rover tickets ready to expire. It was such a contrast to see the wall in an urban setting, running alongside council estates, being crossed by pedestrian bridges and standing next to a busy highway.

No better place to end our Hadrians Wall trek than at the train station's fine refreshment room, the Centurion. A relic of another empire, it is a grand Victorian space supported by Corinthian columns and decorated in floor to ceiling terracotta tiles.

We schlepped our backpacks past the velvet chairs and parked ourselves on a leather settee to enjoy a drink. Emerging from the vast gilded chamber, we blinked at a rare sight: sunshine!

The first cloudless weather of the entire trip and we had all of Newcastle to explore!

We went down to the glorious quayside, This is one of Britain's finest waterfronts, where church spires and bridges overlook Victorian warehouses and mills that have been converted into hotels, offices and art galleries.

The Sage Centre (AKA 'the slug') slinks along one riverbank. Several concert halls are housed inside and it is the home of the Northern Sinfonia, making it the Sydney Opera House of England.

The Baltic flour mill is now home to an art gallery which is often nicknamed the 'Tate Modern of the North'. Both the Baltic and the Sage are in fact in Newcastle's sister city of Gateshead, on the south side of the Tyne, but the bridges knit the cities together.

A quick look at the time..

...and yes, the sun is still shining!

I don't want to give the impression that Newcastle is a perfectly preserved Victorian city (in fact, it's better known for its Georgian streetscapes).

Quite a lot of brutal 1960s concrete intrudes on the skyline, though some of these less elegant buildings have been demolished, reclad or spruced up.

The regeneration of the city has a long way to go in parts, which is much the same for any English city these days. A lot of progress has been made though these past 10 years to bring people and life back into Britain's city centres.

Nearly sundown by now and I think I've spotted a lovely pub to start the evening! Plenty more photos and more musings on the city coming soon.

Hadrians Wall Country 8: Hexham, Slaley & Corbridge

I think the photos of Hexham speak for themselves. It was not our first trip there, but it was nice to re-acquaint ourselves with the town. We had a pint, watched the Olympic mens 100m dash and went for our next bus (NOT the AD 122 for a change).

We veered off course from the wall to spend the night at a pub near Slaley, south of Hexham. I was quite alarmed at the people queueing for the bus (hairy-legged grans and other types, no doubt all bound for Consett). Thankfully they remained on the bus when we alighted at the Travellers Rest country pub.

An old farmhouse long converted into a pub, the Travellers Rest sits adrift in fields and forests with no other sign of habitation in any direction. We were abandoned by our bus, the last one for the evening (and the last one for the weekend, more on that in a bit).

The barman did not ask for our names and I knew why soon enough. The pub only has two rooms upstairs and we were the guests for the night. I was surprised then when he asked if we wanted to book a table in the restaurant. We confirmed we would stay for dinner and quickly made ourselves at home.

The accommodation was nearly luxurious, especially compared to the night before, with an en-suite roll-top bath, a proper wardrobe, telly and elegant decor. All very clean and incredibly quiet to boot.

Downstairs we started the evening with a delicious pint of Wylam's Golden Tankard, a zesty ale. Within an hour the pub was full to bursting, with every seat taken by diners and the bar hidden by a herd of horsemen and local farmers (I could tell by the short, sensible, parted hair...and that was just the women).

The meal was almost a repeat of the previous evening, but only because many of the dishes featured fish or shellfish which I usually avoid. So again, I started with a tomato soup, but this one was made with sweet peppers as well (and too much salt, unfortunately). Christian had button mushrooms in a creamy tarragon sauce to start, while for his mains he had sliced pork loin wrapped in parma harm and topped with grilled mozzarella. It's the type of thing I've cooked before, but with chicken breast and pesto which gives it some moisture, and Christian said it was a bit of an odd combination.

My own main was chicken breast, with the same creamy tarragon sauce that had featured on the mushrooms. Vegetables on the side included steamed spuds, green beans, carrot and roast potatoes. I thought it a bit redundant to have two types of potato and I was disappointed the roasties were cooked from frozen.

My sweet was the same as the night before, a sticky toffee pudding which was the best part of my meal. The presentation throughout the meal was restaurant-quality, as you can tell by Christian's lime tart. It was made in an individual case and arrived with an assortment of fruits and cream all dusted with icing sugar.

Of course all these frou-frou extras don't come cheap. Including drinks our meal came to £45, which was quite a bit more expensive than the night before. Add in £50 for the room and the mid-August gloomy weather, is it any wonder the Brits flee these shores for cheap sea-n-sun-n-sand breaks in the Med?

All through our meal jumped-up electro tunes were playing on the sound system. Fortunately, we could not hear any of it in our room. It was pitch black outside and I had a wonderful night's sleep, aside from one spell when I got a bit warm and stuck my leg out from under the covers. I then wondered if that would prove too tempting for any resident ghosts and when one of my pillows fell onto the floor, it stayed there.

Sunday dawned cloudy and cool, but dry. 'Bright' as an English forecaster would say, though these clouds looked anything but.

For the first time I can ever recall on my travels, we were asked what we'd like for breakfast. What a concept. I knew we were the only guests and breakfast was included in the price, but I quelled my desire to call for champagne and strawberries. Instead, Christian had a huge pile of scrambled eggs (at least 4 or 5 went into them) while I had thick bacon, scrambled eggs, beans, tomatoes and toast.

Good thing we had a big breakfast, because we had another long walk ahead of us. There is no bus service through these parts on a Sunday and this meant hiking to the nearest bus stop, 5 miles away in Corbridge. This map gives you some idea of the route, except that instead of following the road we cut through Dipton Wood, the large forest in between.

Trudging along muddy tracks through a thick forest while beset by flies brought to mind the Blair Witch Project, stories about the Jersey Devil and other unpleasant things. So no, I did not take many photos as we hurried along, except this flowering heather did catch my eye.

I did not manage any photos of Corbridge because of the gloomy skies, which is a shame because it is a lovely town with an old church surrounded by pubs, tea shoppes and independent stores. All these bar the church were shut this time of day, but we didn't have long to wait for our bus. Next stop: Newcastle, the final stage of the journey!

Hadrians Wall Country 7: Just photos of Hexham

Hexham is a thriving market town dominated by its old abbey church, the foundations of which go back about 1300 years. Much of it was built from stones scavenged from nearby Roman forts and the wall.

Almost unique among English churches in my experience is the fact there is a painting at the altar.
The church is a treasure house of woodcarving, painting, sculpture and stained glass.

A barbarian quite literally getting the boot!

The old gatehouse later served as courthouse, but is now home to offices and an art gallery.

Typically English! Try to visit sometime.

Hadrians Wall Country 6: Chesters Roman Fort

Back downhill from Housesteads, it was time again to catch the AD 122 bus heading eastbound. The sky was clearing and the summer sun was burning through at last, but I was a bit depressed by the lack of good light I'd had so far on this trip. Even a sunny day does not necessarily mean good photo opportunities, especially at midday when there aren't many shadows and colours are bleached out.

Chesters Roman Fort was only a few miles down the road, but the landscape changed quickly from exposed grassy moorland to enclosed glades and wooded riversides. Chesters guarded the Roman bridge over the north branch of the River Tyne.

From this map you can see the river crossing and you'll notice a country house now overlooks the site. The house is the ancestral home of the Claytons. After buying the estate in 1796, the family patriarch treated the Roman fortress in his garden as a bit of a nuisance which was levelled out and grassed over, with whatever statues and carvings that turned up being tucked away into his private collection. His son John (born 1792) took great interest in these old stones and in later years he took time off from his law practice and position as town clerk for Newcastle to study the local Roman history in more detail.

John Clayton literally put Hadrians Wall on the map. Recognising its importance and realising how much of it had been lost to vandals and scavengers, he set about buying land along the route in order to survey it, excavate it and preserve it. It is thanks to his efforts we can all appreciate such a well-preserved section stretching between Chesters and Housesteads.

He worked on digs well into his 90s, recovering some spectacular statues which are on view at the Chesters museum. Altarpieces, pottery, plus bronze and iron relics are also on view.

Outside and the site has a fantastic riverbank position, which inspired this short videoclip.

One of the best preserved sections of the fort is its bath house, which I was stood overlooking when filming the clip.

Some experts say these niches would have sheltered statues.

The main headquarters buildings still has some of its courtyard flagstones in place and you can clearly see how the underfloor heating operated in the commander's house. Hot air from a fire would circulate around these columns which would have supported the floor.

Sandwiches, ice creams and snacks are served in a cabin nearby where we had lunch. Back out on the main road while waiting to catch the bus I saw this beautiful tree.

Next stop, the abbey town of Hexham!

Hadrians Wall Country 5: Housesteads

Day two of our Hadrians Wall trek dawned with high clouds promising a dry day. We had had a good rest at the inn, although chatter and music drifted up from the pub downstairs till late. Not too loud, but noticeable.

The door to our room was the first one as guests came up the stairwell, so we heard everyone trundle up to their rooms. Later, as the beer kicked in, there was a veritable cattle stampede for the loo, but if I'd brought my earplugs I would not have noticed any of it.

Eight in the morning and it seemed all the overnight guests arrived for breakfast at once. That meant it took awhile to be served our hot portion of breakfast (eggs, tomato, bacon, beans, etc) but there was cereal, juice, coffee etc to keep us going till then. The sausages seemed to be a cheap supermarket brand, as was the white bread. It's a shame when a pub does not support the local farmers, bakers and butchers.

We dawdled a bit before striking out on the longest hike of the trip so far, a 4-mile ramble down country lanes to the Roman village of Vindolanda then through sheepfields to the Roman fort at Housesteads. This map roughly shows the route, except near marker E we cut across the fields to reach marker F (the Housesteads ticket office).

Vindolanda was a settlement before the construction of the wall, which is why it does not sit directly on Hadrian's frontier. It sits slightly outside the Northumberland National Park boundaries and is operated by a private trust. When we arrived at 9.15 that morning, we would have had to wait 45 minutes for it to open. We decided to save our pennies for another day and push on, as the clouds seemed to be breaking up.

Further up the road we got a free peek of the site anyway (I recommend clicking the above photo).

The scenery is lovely in these parts and aside from a passing mailvan we didn't see a soul. For a spell, we walked along the route of the Stangegate, the Stone Road built by the Romans. Zoom in on the map I've provided a link for above and you'll see it labelled leading east from marker E.

We crossed the highway with care and climbed up to the Housesteads ticket office run by English Heritage. Once through the gates we had to climb still further, so I was nearly knackered by the time we reached the hilltop fort.

Housesteads is the most intact Roman fort in the British isles and enjoys a spectacular hilltop site.

The views stretch in all directions, over fields and moors and forests, with hardly a house or road to be seen aside from what the Romans themselves left behind.

About a thousand soldiers would have been based here at any one time, in addition to the civilians who would have lived near the barracks. I think the stones above would have supported the floor of a granary.

In Roman times it was known as Vercovicium, which some people translate as 'The Place of the Fighters'.

The Romans were renowned for their hygiene and even on this remote hilltop which had no natural source of water except for rain, they managed to install a bath house and this latrine. Loo with a view!

Hadrians Wall Country 4: Twice Brewed

We boarded the AD 122 bus at Walltown Crags for the last jaunt of the day, to the oddly-named Once Brewed visitors centre. An infomation point for the Northumberland National Park, it is also home to a YHA hostel. We would have stayed here in one of their private rooms, except for the same price we found a room a short walk down at the road at the Twice Brewed Inn (anyone else detecting a theme here?).

We plumped for the inn because of the pub downstairs and the promise of a hot breakfast in the morning. It may look a bit swank from the website, but it's a no nonsense country inn with basic accommodation, water pumped from an on-site well and showers down the hall.

Check out the view from the room...


What you don't see in the photo is the road that runs directly under the window, but as I expected in this remote part of the country there was no traffic after dark.

The inn does its best to save water and electricity, but I was not impressed by the motion detector lights in the WC. Don't sit on the loo too long or you're left in the dark... when the only thing moving is not in a position to set off any motion detectors, trust me.

First stop was the bar, which had five handpumped beers, a choice of ciders and a good selection of bottled ale. I'm mystified why it is not in the Bud Gear Hide... er, Good Bear Tide... GOOD BEER GUIDE, even.

Next, time for our first hot meal of the day. I started with a chunky tomato soup, while Christian had a bit of haggis. He followed with a whole trout which came out face and all, while I had a steak pie and new potatoes. Afterwards I still managed a sticky toffee pudding with a dollop of ice cream and Christian had rhubarb crumble with custard. The portions were large, the prices reasonable and, although the plates lacked a restaurant-style presentation, the food was delicious. Breakfast the next morning was in a similar style: plenty of choice, with big servings of fresh food.

The inn sits a short walk away from the most famous stretch of the wall, including Crag Lough and Sycamore Gap, so we decided to take a peek after our big meal.

The hills rise and fall like waves, with Hadrians Wall surfing across the top.


Sycamore Gap is where you can see the Robin Hood tree, so-called because of the scenes filmed here in Kevin Costner's movie.


Instead of following the crest of the hills back (and risking a tumble down the cliffside), we headed downhill to the lower slopes which were flat but boggy.

By now the sun had set entirely and it was probably a mile back to the inn, its twinkling lights on the horizon the only sign of civilisation now that the Roman wall had faded into the black night.

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!

Hadrians Wall Country 2: Brampton & Lancercost Priory

Time for another travel update. As you may recall, we started our trip through Hadrians Wall Country in Carlisle, with the idea of walking or using public transport to cross the northern top of England from coast to coast.

The key to this trip was the AD122 bus service which is laid on for tourists from late March or April through October. The bus links all the important sites of Hadrians Wall and often has a guide on board describing the landscape and explaining the history. Other bus services can be used along parts of the route, so the idea is that you can chop and change at your convenience, flashing your 'rover' ticket as you do.

The trouble with bus services in the UK is that they have been privatised and are owned by companies out to make a profit. We are told that a free market leads to competition and lower prices, but it has been my experience it leads to a worse service and higher fares. This is because the bus companies only want to operate along the busiest routes, at a frequency that maximises their profits.

Beforehand we could complain about public transport to accountable, elected officials - but these days we are at the mercy of faceless corporations who are beholden only to shareholders who want dividends, not fairness. What little government influence remains ends up in the form of tax incentives, with taxpayers expected to subsidise private companies to run extended hours and maintain a skeleton service to smaller villages.

Privatisation has also had a detrimental affect on tourists trying to travel around this country. It is difficult to track down information about fares and connections because of the need to approach each transport company individually. Because they are private companies, the bus operators do not like to share information with their competitors or sometimes even disclose their own discounts. A website like Traveline does attempt to offer a route planner, but the fare information is non-existent so budgeting is impossible. And

This all meant it was almost impossible to buy our bus ticket to start the bl**dy trip out of Carlisle. We boarded a bus (not the AD122, mind) that would have been included in the rover ticket. The driver had no idea what we were talking about and could not have sold us the rover ticket anyway (he said). We called in at bus station's ticket booth. This at last set the wheels of bureaucracy in motion so 15 minutes and £30 later we had our two rover tickets valid for any specified bus in the region for the next 3 days. By now the 11am bus to Brampton had left.

We trudged back to another bus stop near the train station to wait for the AD122, thoroughly peeved at the tattooed squadron of knuckle-draggers that seem to comprise the majority of Carlisle's population.

The AD122, a small bus built to navigate narrow country lanes, arrived on time with a guide on board. He used his microphone to point out places of interest and offered some trivia, but we were hardly on board for 15 minutes before pulling into the town of Brampton. We wanted to start our walk here and thanks to the guide's local knowledge he made sure we alighted next to St Martin's church. According to him, the stained glass inside was not to be missed. Outside, we saw this reminder of the area's Roman past.

It was an unexpected surprise to step inside to see all the windows were done by one of Britain's most famous Victorian artists, Edward Burne-Jones.

The interior had the feel of an art gallery, with plain white walls and simple stonework enabling visitors to admire the windows.

The church's own website has photos and descriptions of each of the windows. You can enlarge my own snaps by clicking on them.

The photo at the top of today's entry is what you might expect to see in Brampton's tourist literature. It certainly has all that you would want in a small English town: old-fashioned streetlamps and chimneypots, a church tower, the Georgian windows of the local pub...

...and rain clouds! Zooming out offers a different perspective, but all these cars mean that the shops are busy and that the locals aren't heading off to the nearest Asda (Wal-Mart's UK brand).

This particular eatery didn't look too busy (who'd want to go to the 'All Alone Cafe'?), but a few doors down we found a chippie that dished up huge slabs of breaded cod atop fresh chips. After fortifying ourselves, it was time at last to begin our walk. On cue, the mist and rain descended, so our waterproof hoods went up.

Thankfully it was a short stroll of about 2.5 miles and we were protected by thick woodland most of the way. After following a ridge that on a clear day would have had lovely views, the path descends to a stream and keeps to the water's edge as it flows down towards the priory. This part of the trail was muddy and slick, but passes several rapids and waterfalls. Click here for a full-colour map and guide for the walk.

Emerging from the woods, we crossed an old bridge and saw our first glimpse of Lanercost Priory.

B&W photo for a change (because of the grey skies)

This ancient complex of buildings includes a small church nearly 300 years ago inside the ruins of a much larger priory, practically all of which was constructed from stone looted from Hadrians Wall. The church is free to enter when it is open, while the ruins are an English Heritage site. One of Christian's perks from work is that he has free entry to English Heritage sites, which was good because we only had 20 minutes before the bus was due (if only we'd been able to catch the bus we intended...never mind).

By virtue of being in ruin, there is not that much to see of the 850-year old priory, though some old carvings have survived. Click over to this site for more history about the place, plus photos taken on a sunny day.

Next stop: our first encounter with the Roman wall!