Romans and Roamin'

 (A slightly delayed blog this morning - wifi didn't allow for downloaded photos till I got to Skipton)

Looking south from the Wall

I was the only person in the B&B that night, and breakfast was a serve-yourself affair, so I made a pot of coffee and took most of it in a thermos as I set off for a Roman morning. The general track of the Wall is shadowed by B6318, which runs in an almost straight line from Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. You can walk it if you have 6-8 days and good legs – it’s 135k.  Definitely not for me – but there are bits of it that can be walked. A few sites of garrisons or mile-camps have been excavated, and some are accessible for free (though you pay for parking) and other are run by English Heritage.

The temple is shared with the sheep

I began by turning east along the B road, and I could see on the north side where the Wall paralleled the road – only fragments of the actual Wall are left, but the vallum or trench on either side is still very clear. For a short way the road actually runs over the Wall site, and then it appears on the south of the road.  One of the unstaffed sites is there. Carrawburgh was a garrison of 500 soldiers, and is on a very overgrown patch of land;  the outlines of foundations can be seen when the grass is mowed, but it’s basically a mound that hasn’t had the full archeological treatment yet. Just outside its boundaries, they have discovered a small Temple of Mithras which has been fully excavated and signed.

Temple of Mithras

There are two larger excavation sites further west, Housesteads and Vindolanda, and I decided to go to the former. It’s actually on the line of the wall, whereas Vindolanda was more of a staging point for reinforcements. Vindolanda is more accessible for tourists, and has marketed itself for “the Roman experience”; Housesteads is further away from the road, and apart from a good museum display and signage, has largely been left to speak for itself.

Climbing the hill to Housesteads

The Granary

The walk to reach it has confirmed that I need to rethink some of my walking plans; I am less steady on my feet than I was last time I did this, and I have to concentrate very carefully on where I’m putting my feet on uneven ground.  Not to mention all the sheep “presents” one doesn’t want to step on! I remembered it was a walk – I hadn’t remembered how much of a walk it was, and how uphill.  In fact, the entire fort is built on the hill, and those soldiers must have spent their lives climbing!  I arrived just as it was opening, and went into the museum to pay my admission – and the rain swept over! However, it wasn’t much more than a shower, and gave me time to investigate the museum and watch the short video presentation before venturing onto the site. 

The Eastern Gate

Everyone wants to see the latrines!

It’s extraordinarily small, for a garrison that is supposed to have held 800 soldiers – plus families outside the wall. Hypocausts and heated floors were for the commanders and the hospital, so each century of soldiers was pretty close together. It’s clear that they weren’t all in one long barracks, but in a series of small huts – easier to keep warm, I guess. 

The (repaired) Wall marches away from the fort

I spent something over an hour on the site; it wasn’t cold, exactly, but it’s exposed, and I decided that I needed to make my way back to the car and my thermos. SatNav proved a Godsend again, and sent me off by all sorts of little back roads (one of which overlooked Vindolanda). I just love driving English back roads – they’re so empty and so winding. Driving a stick shift is really helpful for steadiness.

Looking across at Vindolanda

Memories of family picnics in places like this

My route took me through Alston and down towards Middleton in Teesdale. Mum’s cousin Robin lived in Durham for awhile and put us on to a holiday cottage that we returned to several times – it was called HoneyPot, and the nearby farm was Unthank.  I wasn’t sure I’d recognise the turn-off, but I wanted to drive up to CowGreen reservoir for the first of the Tees waterfalls, and I suddenly spotted the road I wanted. These little valley houses don’t change!

HoneyPot (on left) and Unthank

Going back to the turnoff, I went on up to the reservoir. The first waterfall is called Cauldron Snout, and it occurs just below the dam. 

Cattle grids everywhere - as are the sheep!

Cow Green reservoir

The parking lot is about 2 km away, so it’s a good walk. I decided not to risk the ominous clouds and get to one of the lower falls. However, when I got to High Force, the middle one, it looked a bit like the crowd at the top of Wreck Beach – there were at least two tour buses in the parking lot. Low Force it was – I parked at the visitor centre; went through – and the skies opened up as I started to cross the road.  No waterfalls for me! (except the rainy ones)

West Burton village

Back in the car, and on with the journey – through Barnard Castle, Richmond and Leyburn, which sounds very towny and busy, except that there were long stretches of empty roads. SatNav had me on a main artery only once, and it was good to get off it!  Finally, I made the turn to the village of West Burton, where I had a room at the Fox and Hounds. It’s an utterly charming village, on a no-through-road, and feels like time’s stopped.  

Inn yard - view from my back window

My room is up a very weird little set of stairs in the back courtyard – it may be a converted stable loft, or something like that.  I’d originally planned to dump my stuff and go somewhere else, but I decided to blog a bit, have a meal and a walk – and I found the waterfall I’d been looking for all afternoon.  Such a nice way to end the day!  (though I’m also enjoying watching Andy Murray at Wimbledon...)