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Published: March 6th 2013
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Leaving the Old Post House behind with their 1000 tea pots (just outside of Cockermouth, this pub was again booked through
www.britstops.com, parking was fine but no other amenities to use, food was a bit pricey averaging £15.00 GBP a meal – we cooked in the van), we aimed Georgie in the direction of Carlisle.
Woolly says – I was looking forward to this as Carlisle Castle is in my I Spy Ancient Britain book! We seemed to have left the small fields of the Lakes with their dry stone walls behind us and instead we passed through much larger fields with undulating landscapes, pretty in its own way but not so jaw dropping. Parking Georgie was dead easy at the castle and we had a short walk to the front of the building it find it was SHUT!!!! As the main gate was open we thought we would take a look and found that the Military Museum (£2.50 GBP each) was open and that we could walk round the walls of the castle. The museum was ok with hundred and hundreds of medals on display and lots of information on the Kings Regiment, but as it is
in the process of being moved, it was a little disorganised. The castle didn’t live up to my dreams, only one area wasn’t open to us and it only took a few minutes to go round all of it, very modern in build but I was able to cross it off on my I Spy book so I was a happy mammoth.
Getting back into Georgie was a welcome relief from the blustery winds outside and we set course for Hadrian’s Wall.
Woolly says – HIM again, WOW, he really did get everywhere, as we travelled towards the wall Jo explained a little about it, telling me that …………………………………………………………………………………………….
Pulling up on the car park (again no problems there) we couldn’t see much in the way of a wall, Ian told me that we would have to walk about ½ mile to get there, I immediately decided to save my paws and jumped into Jo’s jacket – a good move, it was as cold as ice outside. With Ian and Jo garmented up in hats, scarves, coats and gloves I stayed snuggly warm in my hidey hole. Climbing up a fairly
steep pathway we reached the outskirts of Housesteads Fort. At first it didn’t appear that big but as we walked higher we found more and more, it was easy to see the foundations of the buildings that would have stood here so many centuries ago and some areas were still in good enough condition to see what they might have been. I was very excited to find the Latrines, they didn’t look very comfortable to use. We were also able to see where the Commander would have lived and the barracks which would have housed 800 Roman Soldiers, they didn’t have much space! Reaching the top we could see Hadrian’s Wall stretching out to our right, big and sturdy it would certainly keep most people out. I asked Ian if we could get onto the wall and once he had finished laughing he told me that I was already stood on it – felt a bit silly – but as I stood proudly where Roman Guards would have stood before me I was able to tick my I Spy book for the second time in a day, result.
All three of us were icy inside and out
by the time we reached Georgie, so decided to make a stop at the Roman Museum we had passed further down the road, so glad we did…..
Woolly says – it was really good, with interactive displays and a good amount of info to read (not too much as I find I get bored if the information is to long!), there were plenty of Roman artefacts to feast our eyes on, the best bit though was the 3D film – I do look cool in shades! – called Through the Eye of the Eagle it detailed how the Forts around the wall would have looked and how the soldiers would have lived, it was well worth the £5.25 GBP each just for that, combined with the easy parking, it was a good place to stop off at, oh and the toasted teacake was pretty good too!!
Climbing back into our faithful stead we set the Sat Nav for The Pheasant Inn at Kielder water, Hexham, our place for the night, good old Brit stops, off to Pickering tomorrow, can’t wait.
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