Walking Hadrian’s Wall — roaming through history in the north of England

by John Scheleur, Arnold, MD

To mark my 60th birthday with something more than just an attempt to blow out 60 candles, my wife and I set out in September ’04 to walk across northern England, following the 84-mile path of Hadrian’s Wall. ‘Why in the world would a man want to travel over 3,000 miles to do this?’ you are asking. Well, he must have a love of history, a love of England and a love of the outdoors — and, according to my wife, be slightly deranged! It turned out to be a fantastic 6-day trip.

A bit of history

First, a brief history lesson. Nearly 2,000 years ago, in A.D. 122 during the Roman occupation of England, Emperor Hadrian ordered a wall be constructed across northern England to “separate the Romans from the barbarians” along the northern frontier, most of which is now Scotland. It eventually took the form of a wall averaging 15 feet high that served its purpose well for over 250 years.

Today only sections of the wall remain intact, but the path is complete, with the “National Trail Guide” by Anthony Burton following the wall as the Romans built it, from Wallsend on the east coast to Bowness-on-Solway on the west.

Walking in this direction violates one of the main rules of cross-country hiking: keeping the prevailing winds at your back, winds which on our trek reached 40 to 60 mph on two days. Still, as a hopeless romantic, I recommend doing it this way so you can end up watching the sun set on the little village of Bowness and the hills of Scotland across the Solway estuary. It’s all about making great memories.

Preparing for the hike

Information about Hadrian’s Wall, including companies to assist you in the walk, can be found online at www.hadrians-wall.org. We made our arrangements through Mike Swan (Brampton Cumbria; phone/fax 01434 382620 or visit www.walkinghadrians wall.com). Mike expertly handled all of the B&B bookings as well as the baggage transfer each day to the next night’s lodging. All we had to do was get there each evening!

To manage this, we started a walking regimen about six months earlier, gradually increasing the length of our walks, although we were never able to fit a whole day’s walk into our hectic schedules. Needless to say, we were never able to find time to do the long walks six days in a row, which was our largest concern. As it turned out, being in reasonably good shape, pacing ourselves and with the aid of modern painkillers, we made it!

While it is wise to have good hiking boots, rain gear and food and water, it is wisest to heed the old adage that, when walking, “one mile feels like two.” That the Romans built “milecastles” along the wall and our knowing that the Roman mile measured only 0.9 of ours didn’t make it easier.

The trail

From the industrial town of Wallsend, the trail makes its way down to the Tyne River as it flows along the rejuvenated quayside of Newcastle. The first day was mostly city/suburb walking highlighted by the Millennium Bridge. Day two was mostly pastureland.

Day three was the most strenuous, with a large number of hills and steep ascents and descents. Day four’s route was also hilly but somewhat less demanding.

Day five held more pastureland and suburbs as we arrived in Carlisle, and the final day offered mostly flat coastal land.

Practical matters

I’ll answer the obvious question: ‘Where are the toilets and places to eat along the way?’ The bad news — they are not plentiful. If you can go three hours at a stretch before needing a comfort break, you should be fine.

More bad news — it WILL rain! And it will be muddy and the winds will blow. And you will be going through a lot of cow/sheep pastures, if you get my drift.

Now you’re asking, ‘Why is this man putting his lovely wife through this ordeal?’ Here’s why.

Memorable happenings

We all love to travel, to go to countries where we can see wondrous sights. On this trip, the scenery we encountered was truly spectacular, highlighted by a number of rainbows when the rain stopped and the sun shone — just before the rain started again.

The remains of the Roman wall were ample enough to make us appreciate the engineering feat accomplished so long ago.

The small towns along the wall each had their own flavor. What happened when we left the trail to follow a small sign in Crosby-on-Eden to the Crosby Lodge was pure serendipity!

Instead of following the trail into the small hamlet of Crosby-on-Eden, we saw a sign with an arrow that said Crosby Lodge. As it was about 11 a.m. and we were thinking of lunch, we decided to turn down the lane to see just how far away the lodge was.

About 1,000 yards down, we saw the lady of the lodge at the entrance and we inquired about getting lunch. She replied that it was a little early for their regular service, but she invited us into a parlor that Agatha Christie herself might have decorated and said they would fix us something!

Seated in plush velour chairs, we enjoyed a most delicious lunch while they told us all about the history of the lodge and wished us well on our trek across England.

Meeting the locals

Unless you meet the people who live in a locale, you will never really get to know it. Walking through their farmlands and small towns, eating in local establishments and staying at B&Bs — with time spent over the breakfast table not only with the owners but with fellow hikers from all over England — were just the best of experiences!

We had time to share feelings about our lives and hometowns. We talked politics, religion, family — even cricket! We were able to form a comradeship around the same goal: completing the walk.

We all had started this trek in small numbers, but we ended up six days later a group of 15 new friends, celebrating over drinks and dinner at the Kings Arms pub in Bowness. A chill was in the air that blew in off the estuary that night, but there was no need for the fireplace in the pub — we could not help but feel the warmth!

As the evening came to a close, one of the gentlemen who had obviously downed many a pint in the Kings Arms in his day remarked that we should be really happy we did the Hadrian’s Wall walk, as we were making history. When he saw the puzzled look on my face he said, “Not many people have walked the entire wall from end to end. The Romans were never THAT crazy!”

Well, I guess I’m crazy enough to want to do it all over again someday. Excuse me a second, I think my wife is saying something. . . .