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Wednesday. July 26, 2006
We were ready to leave the hotel at 8AM as the room temperature never dropped to a comfortable level to sleep soundly. We thought we might stop at Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest, but opted to drive straight on to the hotel in Newcastle. We have been "burning the candle at both ends" for 10 days now, getting up early and going to bed late, trying to cram as much as we can into these two weeks. And myself, thinking these hotels surely have a washer and drier for guests to use, find myself recycling unwashed clothes. We figured we would get there early enough to find a Laundromat if necessary. Surely one of these places would have facilities to wash your own clothes.
Nottingham to Newcastle 160.5 miles
We arrived just before 1PM at the
Express By
Holiday Inn
NEWCASTLE CITY CENTRE and they allowed us
to check in early. Of course, there was not a guest laundry. The
hotel said they would let me use their housekeeping laundry once the maids were
finished. ReJeana opted for a nap but it was too warm in the room for me
to sleep. I complained about the A/C not working properly, but the staff
said their units were not capable of handling the 95 plus heat wave they were
having. Oddly enough the lobby was comfortably cool. I thought about
plopping into a chair in the lounge and catching a nap but decided against it.
I sleep with my mouth open, snore and drool. It sucks getting old. I
never did any of that when I was younger. So I occupied my time coping my
photos over to my laptop and watched Sky News, the British equivalent to the
Clinton News Network.
By 4PM I was bored to tears. Jeana was still sleeping soundly and I was ready to go somewhere. The housekeeping laundry was still in full use and not expected to free up before 7PM. So I woke Jeana up and said lets go find Hadrian's Wall.
In case you did not know,
Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Hadriani) was a stone and turf fortification
built by the Roman Empire across the width of Great Britain to prevent military
raids by the tribes of Scotland to the north, to improve economic stability and
provide peaceful conditions in the Roman province of Britannia to the south, to
define the frontier of the Empire physically, and to separate the unruly
Selgovae tribe in the north from the Brigantes in the south and discourage them
from uniting.
The name is also sometimes used jocularly as a synonym for the border between
Scotland and England, although for most of its length the wall follows a line
well south of the modern border — and neither the Scoti tribe nor the English
lived in Britain at the time of the wall's construction.
The wall was the northern border of the Empire in Britain for much of the Roman
Empire's rule, and also the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. In
addition to its use as a military fortification, it is thought that the gates
through the wall would also have served as customs posts to allow trade
taxation.
A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section,
and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot. It is the most
popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply
as the Roman Wall. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English
Heritage describes it as "the most important monument built by the Romans in
Britain".
First we stumbled upon this place called Chester's Roman Fort near Chollerford, England which was a popular tourist attraction.
Newcastle to Chester's Roman Fort 26.5 miles
Chester's Roman Fort
Chester's Roman Fort is located about 0.5mi/1km west of Chollerford is the best preserved Roman fort, Cilurnum, designed for a cavalry unit of 500 men. The surviving remains include gates, barrack blocks, the headquarters building, stables, bath-houses and hypocausts (under-floor heating systems). In the entrance hall of Chester's House is an excellent collection of Roman material from the site. On the opposite bank of the North Tyne are considerable remains of a Roman bridge.
The bath house
ReJeana in front of an buried section of Hadrian's Wall
Jim in front of an buried section of Hadrian's Wall
Inside the gift shop they had this magazine with a picture of the wall in the foreground of a magnificent sunset. I asked where was this taken. They said its at a place called Steel Rigg. I had no documentation on this but they gave me directions, saying it was about 10 miles away.
Since we returned home from the trip I've found no website that accurately states where Steel Rigg is. Close as I an get to it is the Once Brewed Northumberland National Park Centre.
Chester's Roman Fort to Steel Rigg about 12 miles
There is a sign in the parking lot for Steel Rigg, which is the only thing I found which identifies that you are actually there.
Looking down the valley from the parking lot at the wall.
Looking up toward the parking lot.
The wall continues up the hill and to the left. ReJeana said she would be ok walking in her clogs, I did mention she should have brought her sneakers, but she forgot.
The wall can be seen at the top of the ridge
In the valley looking up the ridge
What I believe to be a turret along the wall. It is too small to be a mile-castle, I think.
Steel Rigg to Newcastle 33.2 miles
We made it back to the room by dusk. The A/C had not chilled the room significantly, but we did not care. We were tired and fatigue overrode my concern for comfort.
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