The Hadrian's Wall path

After three years living in our motorhome Daphne we decided we were up for a challenge and along with our Dachshund Otto we set out to walk or cycle our way along the Hadrians wall path. We started in the north east of England in Newcastle upon Tyne hoping to complete the 85 mile long path to Bowness-on-Solway on the north west coast in a fairly leisurely way. We were of course taking Daphne along the route to sleep in and cook in. The logistics of undertaking the Hadrians wall path along with our motorhome would prove to be interesting and added to the challenge. 

In our ignorance we always thought Hadrian's wall marked the boundary between Scotland and England, however this is not the case. It was built not only to firmly encase the Roman empire but also to manage trading whereby people could move freely through and around the wall without being attacked by Barbarians. After 1900 years a surprising amount of the wall remains especially as so much was used to build local houses, farmsteads and field walls over the years since the demise of the Roman empire. 

One thousand nine hundred years ago Hadrian's wall was completed by the Roman army. It stretches across the smallest width of Britain marking the boundary of the Roman empire. To walk this path was a challenge we have talked about for a long time and we could not quite believe we were going to start. The weather was windy and there was a chill in the air as we made our way to Sededunum Roman Fort and museum on the outskirts of Newcastle https://segedunumromanfort.org. to the start.

We cycled from the museum into Newcastle city centre along the designated Hadrians wall path which hugged the river Tyne and we enjoyed a brief visit to this vast metropolis. Otto was safely ensconced in the front basket and Daphne stayed in the free museum car park until we got back later that day. Five miles of the path completed (a lot more in reality as once in Newcastle city centre we cycled all around and then back to the museum retracing our route) we headed off to find a campsite as near to the wall as we could. 

We stayed at the friendly picturesque Wellhouse farm http://www.wellhousefarm.co.uk/ for two nights.

We followed route 72 to take us back into Newcastle and find the point we had left the day before. 

The path took us alongside the river Tyne and even passed the railway pioneer George Stevenson’s birthplace cottage https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/george-stephensons-birthplace . He and his family shared the humble cottage with four other families.

 

Once we found the acorn sign depicting the main walking path for Hadrians wall we then followed the signs back to our campsite located just one mile from the route. We felt like proper explorers even though the route is well signposted, however we were yet to find much in the way of the remains of the wall. 

And there it is... our first Turret

We got to the town of Wall before we saw a substantial amount of the wall! After walking alongside the military road from East Wallhouses we visited Brunson Turrett and Chesters bridge abutment which used to span the bridge over to Chesters Roman Fort. It was interesting to see how much the river had moved after nearly 2000 years. Emperor Hadrian led the Romans from AD 117, he decided to focus on securing the Roman Empire rather than expand it as his predecessors had, and is most famous for leading his army to build the wall in AD 122 and try to encourage some security and safety for his people. 

An Artists impression of the wall with turrets and mile castles every Roman mile. 

The next few sections were our favourite. We started to really see and imagine what life may have been like 1900 years ago. The lambs were cute and the daffodils were out. We walked mile after mile of outstanding countryside following the line of the wall and occasionally seeing forts and remains of castles in the Northumberland hillside. 

Housesteads https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/housesteads-roman-fort-hadrians-wall/ is one of the vast Roman forts along the Hadrians wall path and you can clearly see rooms in the fort that housed up to 10,000 soldiers and their families, including the communal toilets.

The single iconic Syamore tree is apparently the most photographed tree in Britain! It features in films such as Robin Hood: Prince of thieves, many music videos and TV programmes.  As the wall is celebrating its 1900th birthday the tree features (along many other iconic views and stories) in an exhibition in Carlisle (above is one such example). The path there follows a substantial part of the wall, sits high above Northumbria and gives fabulous views. However this comes with the cost of steep hills and paths to climb up and down. 

A much needed beer was needed in the Twice brewed pub and brewery to recover. We were welcomed by the site of Daphne in the car park as we had caught the AD122 bus service https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/travel/bus earlier to our last stop and walked back to Daphne. We were even able to stay overnight and use the simple but effective showers and toilets in the shipping container in the pub car park. This pub is pretty much the half point of the walk and a great stopover. 

After reaching the halfway point we continued to walk and cycle the next few miles following the path towards Gilsland and looking out for the welcome site of “honesty sheds”. These are set up by farms or residents along the more rural parts of the Hadrians wall path and provide refreshments that you pay for via a coin honesty box left in the shed. 

We were now heading towards the Northumberland border with Cumbria and the logistics were getting interesting trying to get back to Daphne at the end of each day. Some days we had to cycle the route there and return pretty much the same way, other days we could take a train and cycle back and sometimes the bus was available for a similar journey walking the route. 

As we neared Carlisle in Cumbria it became apparent we were loving this challenge. It’s not easy and we certainly underestimated the ups and downs however it was great fun and we were learning so much, we loved every minute.

Carlisle was a wonderful city to visit with a castle, beautiful gardens and the aroma from the McVities biscuit factory to keep you hungry! Not long now and our efforts were rewarded with views over the estuary towards Scotland from the very top of Cumbria. 

One last push and we made it! We walked and cycled the Hadrians wall path from Newcastle to Bowness on Solway, a distance of 85 miles following cycle route 72 or the acorn long distance walk signs. It was a happy day!! 

Safely ensconced in our motorhome Daphne we rested our weary feet. We watched the sunset over the estuary reflecting on our journey along the wall. Roman soldiers from all over the vast Roman Empire slaved for many years to build the wall and history had allowed us to learn about it and in a small way become part of it. 

We used the Knife edge guidebook above and purchased a Hadrians wall path passport to stamp our journey along the way. We recommend the path, allow as much time as you can to enjoy the history along the way and if you are interested in museums then it’s worth joining English Heritage. 

Thank you for reading about our challenge, we hope it has inspired you to do something you have always wanted to do. Take care xx