Haltwhistle and the Roman Wall
Saturday 6th March 1796
An AwayDay trip on the train to visit Haltwhistle and the Roman Wall
An organised trip which for £5 each would take us from Waltham Abbey to Carlisle and then on to Haltwhistle. The trip then continued to Alston but as we would have had only two hours at Alston we got off at Haltwhistle instead.
We walked through Haltwhistle and turned left over Haltwhistle Burn to take a footpath climbing behind the garage of a house into open fields. This first bit of a climb was tiring but soon we began to get used to it. We crossed fields with cattle, sheep and chickens to arrive at Hollin Crags Farm just before which were a herd of cows with the calves. We then headed across open fields towards Hallpeat Moss Farm. Turning a corner we could see the farm ahead with the Wall running over Winshields Crag in the background. We stopped for the view alongside a line of crags. Coming out of the fields we followed a minor road with windswept trees alongside to cross the B6318 and so on up to the Wall. The first part was a modern wall but was suddenly transformed into the Roman Wall signified by the perfectly square blocks neatly fitted together. Now we were up high the wind blew strongly and it was bitterly cold.
We followed the line of the Wall for several miles over Winshields Crag and down to Peel where the best section so far had a path along the top. A steep climb followed up Steel Rigg before dropping to my Milecastle 39 nestling in the little dip where at last there was shelter from the wind. On Highshields Crag there were climbers and although we had caught glimpses along the way we could now see Crag Lough from close to. A little further on the Lough was framed beautifully by pine trees as we looked on to Hotbank Crags. We had hoped to visit Housesteads Fort but the time had gone so quickly that it was now time to start back. We turned away from the Wall to head for Bardon Mill and followed for parts over the fields towards the Vindolanda - a Roman Fort. We unexpectedly came upon a Roman milestone at Chesterholm just before the fort. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit Vindolanda properly and so followed the valley towards Bardon Mill. Alongside the road we found snowdrops.
We finally arrived at Bardon Mill with 10 minutes to spare and caught sight of a beautiful view over the River South Tyne as the red ball of the sun sunk into the haze of the evening. The time had gone quickly but it had been a good few hours out. The wind and the hazy day had lessened the enjoyment slightly but still it was good to get out into the countryside.