Hadrian's Wall Walk, Day Six

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  Bowness-on-Solway, England, United Kingdom
Sunday, May 3, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, we walked the majority of Hadrian's Wall. Once in Carlisle, we felt let down that we had not completed the walk even though we had decided a long time ago not to do the full walk. However, whilst walking, I had already decided that as there was a bank holiday comoing up in May, I thought that we could walk the last stage, and also go back and see all the Roman forts and other things that we missed.
 
Once this was decided, there was a little countdown, and a week after our French trip, we were on our way up north.
 
The first port of call was Chesters Roman Fort in Chollerford. Inside the grounds, at first it didn't look like there was much there, but as we walked through the grounds, the ruins were quite extensive. The bath house was apparently the most complete in the UK. It all seemed to look good, including the walls. The last part that was there was the museum. There was Roman findings discovered by John Clayton. They were pretty impressive.
 
Down the road, was a piece of wall that we had seen from afar and so we had a quick look before we went to see our last Roman site of the area. Across the river from Chesters was the leftovers of a Roman bridge, but all that is left are the abutments. They were pretty impressive but we were here to see a phallic symbol that was carved into the stones to ward off evil. As nobody was around I thought about measuring up to it, but as it was really muddy everywhere, I had to give that thought a miss !!!
 
Back on the road, we followed the line of the wall. It was interesting seeing where we had walked, and it made you feel like you should get out and do the whole thing again !!!
 
The next stop was in Once Brewed. There is a Roman fort there called Vindolanda. Our walking guide book had said that there isn't much there, but that makes it special is that the amount of finds found here. They have found writing tablets and according to the British Museum, these are the most important finds in all of the UK. Some say that there is still at least 100 years of digging, and as the finds are at least six metres underground, the anoxic conditions at these depths have preserved thousands of artifacts that normally disintegrate in the ground, thus providing an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Roman life - military and otherwise - on the northern frontier.
 
We drove onto Birdoswald to see more of the wall that we had walked past. There were two more phallic symbols and some writing. The first one I found easily. Eventually the second one came into view. As I had spotted all three, Lucy started to worry about my penis fascination !!! The script engraving was not much to see, so we drove on until we found a campsite.
 
We pitched our tent at Burgh-on-Sand in a farm. The lady who ran it said that the next morning she would follow us to Bowness-on-Solway, drop our car off, and as she had an equestrian event in Perth, she would drop us off in Carlisle. Bonus
 
Day 6
 
Start - Finish
 
Carlisle - Bowness-on-Solway
 
Distance - 25 Kilometres
 
After being dropped off, it took us an hour before we could find the track !!! There was no wall, and we followed the line of the vallum. The villages that we walked through were nice, and there were churches built out of the wall so we took the shots. After a while, the wind whipped up into our face. It was hard work, trust me. Not long after, we reached our goal. We took our photos, and the local pub gave us a certificate of achievment, which was an added bonus.
 
Now would I walk it again? Simple answer. Yes.
 
Chester
 
The following morning, we packed and left and made our way down to Chester. Another Roman town, as you can tell by the name, plus it has the most complete wall surrounding a English town.
 
The town itself, inside the walls that is, there are loads of Tudor style buildings, with a massive cathedral, but we were here to walk the walls. Half of them are Roman, whilst the other half are Medi-evil. The Roman ones were great, and as we moved onto the next section, we read our guide that we had and at the race course, it stated that the river use to come up to the walls, and down below us, was an old Roman wharf. As we made our way around, we eventually came across what was the largest Roman amphitheatre in the UK. There wasn't much to see, but it was another ticked off of the list.
 
And with that done, it was time to leave
 
And Finally
 
Completion, it was great, but Chester was an added bonus.
 
 

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

001 Chesters Fort	002 Chesters Fort	003 Chesters Fort	004 Chesters Fort
005 Chesters Fort	006 Chesters Fort	007 Chesters Fort	008 Chesters Fort
009 Chesters Fort	010 Chesters Fort	011 Lucy at Chesters Fort	012 Chesters Fort
013 Chesters Fort	014 Chesters Fort	015 Chesters Fort	016 Chesters Fort
017 Stone Carving at Chesters Museum	018 Stone Carving at Chesters Museum	019 Relief at Chesters Museum	020 Stone Carving at Chesters Museum
021 Relief at Chesters Museum	022 Roman Brooch at Chesters Museum	023 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	024 Lucy at Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford
025 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	026 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	027 Lucy at Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	028 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford
029 David on Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	030 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	031 Roman Bridge Abutment, Chollerford	032 Roman Bridge Abutment, Chollerford
033 Phallic Symbol, Roman Bridge Abutment	034 Phallic Symbol, Roman Bridge Abutment, Ch	035 Looking Back at Chesters Fort	036 Roman Bridge Abutment, Chollerford
037 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	038 Hadrian's Wall, Chollerford	039 Vindolanda Fort	040 Phallic Symbol, Birdoswald
041 Lucy and a Phallic Symbol, Birdoswald	042 Phallic Symbol, Birdoswald	043 Phallic Symbol, Birdoswald	044 Campground, Burgh by the Sands
045 David On the Hadrian Trail, Day 6	046 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	047 Lucy On the Hadrian Trail, Day 6	048 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6
049 Large Fungus, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	050 David on The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	051 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	052 David on The Hadrian Trail, Day 6
053 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	054 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	055 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	056 David on The Hadrian Trail, Day 6
057 Lucy on The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	058 Drumburgh Castle, The Hadrian Trail, Day	059 Lucy on a Beach, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	060 David on a Beach, The Hadrian Trail, Day
061 The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	062 Yacht, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	063 Old Harbour Walls, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	064 Sign, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6
065 Sign, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	066 Sign, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	067 The End, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	068 David at the End, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6
069 Lucy at the End, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	070 The Shirt, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	071 The Shirt, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	072 The End, The Hadrian Trail Day 6
073 St Michaels in Bowness	074 Gravestone, Bowness	075 St Michaels, Burgh-by-Sand	076 Gravestone, Burgh-By-Sand, The Hadrian Tr
077 Our Tent, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	078 Dinner, The Hadrian Trail, Day 6	079 Clock, Chester	080 Lucy on the Wall, Chester
081 David on the Wall, Chester	082 Plaque, Chester	083 Tower, Chester	084 Wall, Chester
085 Tower, Chester	086 Lucy on the Wall, Chester	087 Tower, Chester	088 Chester Castle, Chester
089 Lucy on the Wall, Chester	090 Bridge, Chester	091 Alms Houses, Chester	092 Tower, Chester
093 Amphitheatre, Chester	094 Entrance Gate, Chester	095 Tower, Chester	096 Entrance Gate, Chester
097 Chester Street	098 David in Chester	099 Chester Cathedral	100 Chester Cathedral

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