by Melissa Gardiner
It was a bright spring morning as my walking partner and I took our first footsteps along the path of Hadrian’s Wall. It’s an 84-mile trail across the north of England from Wallsend near Newcastle on the east coast to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. Or that’s the most popular route, we were travelling west to east as it fitted in better with our travel plans. The Hadrian’s Wall Path is a World Heritage site, passing through historic towns and villages, and sticking very closely to the path of the Roman wall built in AD 142, primarily to protect Roman England from troublesome Scots north of the border. It also passes through some of England’s most notable archaeological sites, dotted across rolling hills and at times, wild, rugged countryside.
Carlisle
We managed to complete the trail in seven days, walking between 12-15 miles each day and stopping in decent bed and breakfast accommodations or cozy country pubs along the way. There were a number of historical highlights, with the Roman city of Carlisle first along the way. Carlisle is a bustling border town on the banks of the River Eden. Its impressive medieval castle sits high on a hill overlooking the city and is open for tours and visits to its dungeons. We arrived in Carlisle late in the afternoon and after a shower and a bite to eat, enjoyed a few drinks in some of the historic pubs dotted around the center. The King’s Head was the pick of the bunch.
After Carlisle, it was a few days hard walking and taking in the sights of the countryside that runs between the border city in the west and the vibrant city of Newcastle in the east. We spent a night in the quaint market town of Brampton and then headed towards the Housestead Crags, some of the toughest walking on the trail. The trail is well sign-posted for walkers even in the remote areas and we regularly saw plaques marking points where the original wall stood. There are still a few small stretches of the original wall that can be seen, as well as mounds and trenches which now evidence where the wall once ran.
Newcastle
The second half of the trip saw us heading down from the hills towards the north-east coast. Our final day walking took us from the quiet village of Wylam along the banks of the Tyne, right into the heart of Newcastle. It’s an impressive city as you walk along the Quayside area and underneath the magnificent Tyne Bridge. Newcastle has been a major port for centuries and whilst the docks are no longer as busy as in the past, the city has partly re-invented itself as a tourist destination and a starting point for cruises to Northern Europe and the Arctic. Passenger ferries to Holland and Belgium also run out of Newcastle as well. The Hadrian’s Wall trail ends a couple of miles past the city center at Segedunum Roman Fort in the suburb of Wallsend. This has an impressive visitor center with a viewing tower looking over the wide area of excavated fort on show. We saw barracks blocks, command posts and an 80 metre stretch of the original wall as we wandered around the site, tired but delighted that we had completed the trail.
Roman Forts
The historical highlights of the trip however were the old Roman forts that we came across along the way. Hadrian’s Wall is a route for lovers of history and architecture and the forts and the visitor centers that accompany them will not disappoint enthusiasts. Housesteads Roman Fort is found on an escarpment above the trail route. There are substantial remains of the 2000-year old fort and the views out over the rugged crags were spectacular on the clear day that we visited. The site has a museum and exhibition and we wandered through the remains of barracks that once housed over 800 soldiers. In Cumbria we passed Lancercost Priory, an Augustinian Priory which dates back to 1169 and still functions as an Anglican church, as well as paying a brief visit to the remains of Birdoswald Roman Fort – not as impressive as Housesteads but with impressive interactive displays and a full height model of the wall it’s worth the detour from the trail route.
We also stopped for a night in Chollerford, a picturesque Northumberland village and visited the nearby Chesters Roman Fort on the banks of the River Tyne. This was a cavalry fort and there are also remains of Roman baths and steam rooms nearby. As with the other forts along the route, there was an informative visitor center with knowledgeable staff to chat to.
We ended our walk with a look around Segedunum, weary but delighted to have finished the trail. We’d seen history and magnificent rural scenery along the way, but on the final leg of the trip it was time for a metro back into Newcastle city center and an evening enjoying its famous nightlife.
One For the Road – Newcastle Pub Walk
If You Go:
Along with the other places in this article, you may also want to visit:
♦ Durham Cathedral, known for being one of the finest and best examples of Norman architecture in the world
♦ Lindsifarne, home of the monastery of St Cuthbert. Visiting this small, tidal island off the North East coast is a rare and sacred pleasure and will need careful planning, but will be worth every moment.
♦ Monkwearmouth-Jarrow – Visit the remains of the Monastic dwelling of the Venerable Bede, responsible for the creation of the epic tome “Ecclesiastical History of the English People”
♦ Lanercost Priory
♦ Housesteads Roman fort
♦ www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrians-wall-path
♦ www.english-heritage.org.uk
♦ Art Cruises: www.iglucruise.com/art-cruises
Photo credits:
Hadrian’s Wall Image by David Mark from Pixabay
Housesteads Roman Fort by Eleonora Pavlovska from Pixabay
About the author:
Melissa Gardiner is now a freelance writer, but prior to this she worked within the travel industry as a tour guide, specializing in sites of historical interest throughout the UK. She has a keen interest in ancient history and loves seeking out places of interest to write about that she feels will interest others as much as herself.
However, first I just had to drop in at the Historic Dockyard. It is here that a variety of naval museums are located such as the Royal Naval Museum and Mary Rose Museum. As mentioned the Historic Dockyard includes the HMS Warrior, which can also be considered a museum. Whilst you’ll need tickets for the ships, you can still enter the dockyard without tickets.
After exiting the Historic Dockyard, the Millennium Promenade will take you to Gunwharf Quay right next to the train station. The Gunwharf shopping precinct is a more recent addition to Portsmouth that opened in 2001. It includes a bowlplex, cinema, Grosvenor Casino and a Holiday Inn Express hotel at the Gunwharf Quays Plaza which is ideal for any longer stay in Portsmouth.
Modern Portsmouth soon gives way to Old Portsmouth along the Millennium Promenade which links Gunwharf with Portsmouth Old Town. This is where the trail gets interesting! After leaving Gunwharf, I reached the Renaissance Trail section of the Millennium Promenade. The Renaissance Trail passes through Portsmouth Old Town and ends at Clarence Pier.
Southsea Seafront begins at Clarence Esplanade, and the Victorian seafront continues for about four miles. At the esplanade I reached Clarence Pier and its fair that includes the small Skyward roller coaster, dodgems as well as miniature golf. However, the fair remains closed until March. Although the adjacent arcades are open, and they also include the Coffee Cup café and Wimpy Bar. The Premier Inn and Holiday Inn are two nearby hotels next to Clarence Pier which could be suitable accommodation for visitors.
One of the highlights of the Southsea Seafront is perhaps the D-Day Museum at Castle Field. This is a museum that documents the 1944 D-Day landings in France. It includes the Operation Overlord embroidery which is an 83 meters long D-Day textile. Outside the museum an American Sherman tank and a British Churchill tank are also displayed.
Up until the Middle Ages large tracts of East Anglia lay under water. Only the higher land was free from flooding. I could never understand why the cathedral town of Ely is referred to as an ‘isle.’ A hilly place surrounded by land and no water in sight, it certainly isn’t an island. But once you know the historical geography of East Anglia, it becomes clear. Slowly, slowly the wetlands, the lakes and water systems were drained and reclaimed from the sea. Since then, man and nature have been at war. In the main, man has won. Clever, he’s built dykes, installed pumps and constructed defences. But nature is a force to be reckoned with. Man has fought the sea, and the sea has, on occasion, won.
Recently, I returned to East Anglia for an autumn break with my family. All the time I had lived there, I’d never visited the Norfolk Broads. The Broads are made up of rivers and lakes and wetlands. The area, rich in wildlife, is popular with visitors for boating, kayaking and canoeing as well as cycling. Between the wetlands, there are pretty villages wrapped in the folds of gently undulating countryside: thatched cottages, dwellings of flint or warm brick, traditional pubs and duck ponds.
And so it was when we visited Aldeburgh on a cold, bright day in November. Fishing boats had been shored up on the pebbled beach; guest houses were winding down and closing up for winter; the beach was a place for a brisk walk, head down against the icy wind, coats pulled close around the neck. Dogs were allowed on the stony beach again.
We stopped off at Sea Palling, another seaside resort devastated by the storm of 1953. The sea had breached and ripped through a section of the protecting sand dunes and carried away the Longshore Café. Several other homes, a bakery and a general store were smashed up too. Villagers clung to the roofs of their homes as the ocean engulfed them, waiting to be rescued. Seven people died and thousands of acres of land were destroyed. We sat in the café-cum-amusement arcade, drinking bitter coffee and reading the faded newspaper cuttings adorning the wall. It made for sobering reading among the duke-box pop and random slot machine sounds.
And slowly the sea has been ravaging the coastal land around Happisburgh, continuing to threaten this modern day village. On one day in 1845, a field was drilled with wheat; by the next morning it had disappeared. In 1855 a farm and its out-dwellings had yielded to the ocean too. The North Sea has continued to eat away at the coastline over the decades at a steady pace. In 1953, a bungalow, 15 feet from the sea one day, was dangling over the edge of the cliff the next.
The picturesque city of Worcester in Worcestershire, the West Midlands of England, is a modern city with a fascinating past. From its early begins as a Roman fort on the River Severn in the first century, down through the ages Worcester has been noted as an important centre of British history, known as ‘the place where Liberty was fought’.
I’ve visited Worcester on several occasions and always enjoy touring around the town. It’s a fairly easy walk to see most of the sights. The city still retains many historical buildings. The Greyfriars, a merchant’s house on Friar Street, is a beautiful timber panel house dating from 1480. The gracious Queen Anne style Guild Hall on High Street was designed by Thomas White, a student of Christopher Wren. There are some exhibits inside. And at the Commandery, which has functioned as everything from a hospital to a military headquarters for King Charles, you can take an audio tour focusing on the Civil War history. On one of my visit to Worcester I went to the Royal Worcester Porcelain museum where I purchased some samples of this fine china. Worcester is also the home of the Lea and Perrins factory where traditional Worcestershire Sauce is made. Be sure and stop at one city’s of the very old Tudor-style pubs to refresh yourself!
The grandest architectural landmark in Worcester is the imposing Worcester Cathedral which had its beginnings in 1084. Located on the banks of the River Severn, its spires dominate the skyline of the city. The mediaeval cloisters of the cathedral are among the most remarkable in England. The cathedral has the distinction of having the tomb of King John who is most famous for agreeing to the Magna Carta. During his reign from 1199, he controlled an empire that stretched from the south of France through regions of England, Wales and Ireland. When he died in 1216, he requested to be buried at Worcester. The cathedral also has a memorial to Prince Arthur, the young prince Arthur Tudor whose younger brother was Henry VIII. Because of his chancery in the cathedral, Worcester was spared destruction by Henry during the English Reformation.
Arkwright was born into the world in 1732. When his mother looked upon her new-born child, it’s unlikely she thought, “My son’s going to change the face of Britain forever,” but this is exactly what Richard Arkwright did. Because of him, the countless small-scale cottage industries that criss-crossed the British countryside largely disappeared to be replaced by huge factories that sprang up in villages, towns and cities across the land.
Arkwright: opportunist, designer, engineer, entrepreneur, ruthless negotiator, business magpie and self-made man, developed among other things: the spinning frame, the water frame and carding engine. He established the great mills that still line Britain’s waterways. And although some mills existed before Arkwright came to the fore, it was Arkwright who created the modern factory – a hundred years before Henry Ford was born. He is the father of the Industrial Revolution.
His employees were fiercely loyal to Arkwright. After all he provided them with money, homes, even a week’s holiday (as long as they didn’t leave the village). He also refused to employ children under the age of seven. But he was a strict and fearsome autocrat; a man of his times.
Across the valley from Masson Mill (now a shopping outlet housing a small Arkwright museum), you can see Willersley Castle. Arkwright tiring of the gloomy Rock house situated in a narrow, shady valley, bought a large tract of land from Florence Nightingale’s family and set out to build an elegant mansion on the sunny side of the valley. However, as luck would have it, the house burnt down on completion and Arkwright had to wait a further two years before the rebuilt house was complete. But fate was to conspire against him and poor Arkwright died before he could ever move in.
Few venture here, yet it’s a place of strange decaying beauty. The first mill was built here in the 1600s. By the height of the Industrial Revolution, there were at least seven mills crammed into this narrow dale. Arkwright, of course, was at the centre of Lumsdale’s expansion.
Climbing high above the dale, I look down at the waterfall that spills a hundred feet. Transparent pebbles of water bounce into the air. Below, the stream is bracken-brown. At the water’s edge, great green and russet slabs of stone sculpt the valley, like heavy, angular communist monuments.
