In the second century A.D., most of what is now Britain was a part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Hadrian decided to establish a permanent frontier across the narrowest part of the island from what is now Newcastle to the Solway Firth, and ordered the construction of a wall, made of stone in the eastern area and turf in the west, approximately 15 feet high and 10 feet wide at its base. The wall featured small fortress-like castles (really gateways) every mile and lookout towers at intervals between them. There were also larger forts at approximately 7 mile intervals, and broad, deep ditches on either side of the Wall.
By the fifth century, Roman power had declined and the Wall's usefulness along with it. In the ensuing centuries, large portions of the Wall were plundered for use by residents in the construction of other buildings. However, in the past few centuries conservation efforts have been undertaken and large sections of the Wall have been preserved . The Wall has been declared a World Heritage Site, and in 2003 a walkway along the path of the Wall was declared a National Trail.
Early in 2006 several friends, mainly Reston Runners, decided to walk the 84-mile Trail. Because lodging in towns along the Trail is limited, only12 persons per group can be accommodated. Thus, two groups, one of 11 and a second of 12, walked the trail beginning a day apart. What follows are accounts written by the two groups' coordinators, Joe Fleig and Anne Filson, and a link to an illustrated trip diary by Will Fraize of Joe's Group.
The official start of the Trail and the Wall begins in a Newcastle suburb named, aptly enough, Wallsend. A few of us had arrived a day early and toured the remains of a Roman fort there, but my entire group (Charlie and Julie Bond, Norm and Barb Happ, Fred Massey and Sue Whitsitt, Bob Lambert, Will Fraize, Lea Gallardo, and Connie Slack, and myself) stopped at the Fort (named Segedunum, or Strong Fortress) only long enough to get our "passports" stamped. These passports, when stamped at intervals across England, would indicate that we had walked the entire width of the country. Setting off along the quay of the River Tyne, we walked about 12 miles before getting off the pavement and onto a more Trail-like pathway. Since we were lodged in different locations, the members walked different distances that day--some as much as 19 miles--before reaching our first night's lodging near Heddon-on-the-Wall
The second day was misty, but not really rainy, and, fortified by a "full English" breakfast (juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, broiled tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, toast, and coffee) we enjoyed walking through fields dotted with gorse and hawthorn until we ended the day's 15+ mile walk at Chollerford; we were barely into our Inn and sampling some of the local ale when it began to rain heavily.
On the third day the terrain became what a British gentlemen whom we met termed "bumpy" and even a bit "craggy." The remains of the Wall, which up until now we had seen only in short lengths, appeared for longer stretches and the path followed it: up and down, up and down, for about 13 miles, and we were happy to get a ride from the Trail to our lodging at the Saughy Rygg Farm outside of the towns of Steel Rygg and Once Brewed.
The fourth day's walk began with several climbs until we reached the highest point of the Trail, about 1100 feet above sea level. The day's weather began as mist and fog, but cleared nicely by mid-day and we were treated to some beautiful scenery. The remains of the Wall were with us almost all day; we marveled at the labor required to build it on such forbidding terrain--up and down in as close to a straight line as possible without any concession to the steep peaks and valleys along the way. We covered a little over 11 miles and stayed at various locations around Gilsland. Connie Slack was happy to be lodged at the Slack Farm Inn, an organic dairy farm.
The fifth day's walk, to the Centurion Inn at Walton, was relatively easy, covering only about 8 miles. We arrived at mid-day, early enough to walk around the quaint town and still settle in for a typical English Sunday dinner of roast beef and plenty of side dishes. The Inn was located almost atop the remains of the Wall.
Our sixth day's walk, the 12 miles from Walton to the bustling large town of Carlisle was beautiful and sunny. We walked mainly through farm fields, but saw no traces of Wall, despite the fact that our maps showed that for much of the day we were walking with a few yards of its original location. Our lodging that night was in a large former Victorian home.
Our final day's walk was a relatively flat 13 miles, from Carlisle to Bowness-on-Solway. Much of the walk was into a strong wind along tidal land, with several ominous warnings about the possibility of a higher than normal tide covering our path. Fortunately, all we encountered were some friendly cows and sheep who were happy to yield the right of way to weary walkers! Arriving in Bowness in mid-afternoon, and getting the final stamp in our Wall passports, we happily posed for pictures beneath a sign, announcing in English and Latin, that we had reached the end of the Trail.
The second group of Hadrian's Wall Path walkers began the hike Thursday, September 14, the day after Joe Fleig's group had set off. A bare bones summary of the seven days includes these notes: DAY 1--city walking from the Roman fort at Wallsend just upriver from the North Sea, through and out of the big city of Newcastle. DAY 2--marching beside the centuries old Military Road, Roman-straight because it was built right over Hadrian's Wall. DAYS 3, 4, and 5--up, down, up, down, way way up, way way down multiple times in open, green countryside all amazingly next to the 2000 year old stone barrier, the wall of Roman emperor Hadrian. DAY 6--down to ye olde Carlisle with its castle. DAY 7--a long hike (slog in rain, in fact) along the Solway Firth, an estuary of the Irish Sea, to the village of Bowness and the last of Hadrian's wall, here reduced to a long mound of sod.
What this summary doesn't hint of were the ubiquitous cows and sheep (right on the path) of many colors, sizes, and sexes, some with impressive horns; the long pastoral views through 360 degrees; the morning fogs softening the surroundings and then all that unexpected sun; the stiles (!); the picturesque villages hanging on through centuries; the flowers and painted doors adding splashes of gaiety to gray stone buildings and evidence of farm animals underfoot; and, oh yes, the pubs and (mostly) delightful bed-and-breakfast farms and hotels.
When our memories of place and time fade, we'll still remember our companions. John "Lab Retriever" N. pulled us along, far out in front, leading the way with his bright yellow Reston Runners vest. Agile-footed Maria N. ate the most blackberries and also won the Best Cheerer-Upper award--is there a cause/effect here? The Best Sport award went to Sharon K. who, despite painful shin splints, never complained and made it to the Bowness end of the trail and even before nightfall.
Sharon had drawn Trix K. and Richard N. into our fold. Trix photographed ancient barns and decrepit cowsheds, and we expect to be invited to see her artistic impressions of these in her next gallery show. Richard helped us navigate the ways of his home country and challenged us to keep pace with him, pint for pint, in pubs. David B. did the best at keeping pace, and his other claim-to-fame was his lip-smacking pleasure over haggis, blood-pudding, and other debatable foods. Meanwhile, several times in pubs, Jane B.'s food order, odd or not, was overlooked, and she was always the hungriest! Even so, at trail's end, untiring Jane wanted to keep on trekking.
Judy M. entertained us with an urban woman's take on the rural world we'd entered and kept us hopping with her fast pace on level ground, but she nearly met her match on the Whin Sill, the geological hard rock formation much more precipitous, hill after hill, than anything the path literature had hinted at. Pat D-K.'s heartfelt and often repeated "Ooooh, this is sooo beautiful!" kept our eyes open to the loveliness of the countryside when we had forgotten to look up from the tough going underfoot. Then when the rest of us were showering and licking our wounds at day's end, sparky Katie L. would set off to explore the town and see MORE and report back at dinner.
Katie and Karen L. were our pathway nurses, and did we need them! "Where's Karen?" was the daily cry as Karen savored the sights at her own pace and then always arrived at the end of the day as she had assured us she would. Karen was also a thoughtful and fun roommate. (Thanks, Karen!) As for me, Anne F., I was content and grateful to complete another long hike through a glorious and interesting environment with wonderful companions.
Anne Filson, Silver Lake, NH, September 30, 2006
For a detailed look at one hiker's daily view of life on or near "the Wall." go to Will Fraize's Website .