Hadrian's Wall and Sterling

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Boy do we have great news for you. A Roman ruin! Yep, HP and Bird briefly left Scotland for the north of England to survey Hadrian's handiwork. We also took in a Roman fort along the wall. Not much left of the fort, but we must recall the Romans abandoned poor England to the barbarians (yeah the folks who were our great...grandparents). These barbarians were a good deal less civilized than the folks who took over Roman provinces on the continent, thus they preserved little. As for the fort, largely only the foundation remains, but we can see portions of the 73 mile long wall rather well, and in fact took a little stroll on it. Yes, of course, there was snow about, but wind was absent and temp above freezing. No problem after Iceland.

After the Wall we returned north landing in Stirling, Scotland to view it's castle and a couple of other things before returning to good 'ol Sautee tomorrow afternoon. Too bad, I'm beginning to become marginally competent at driving on the wrong side of both the road and car.

There is another Roman Wall in the UK, this one in Scotland constructed by the Emperor Antonine about fifty years after Hadrian build his and well to the north, but it was a very temporary affair largely utilizing wood and earth. We decided to skip it.

A brief comment about English food. We were rather critical of English fare in London and Gibraltar. Perhaps as we failed to locate a traditional pub. Several have now been discovered and, no the food is not Ritz quality, but it is certainly okay; we like it. In fact we are out again tonight to an English pub.

For those of you wondering BB is safe and sound back in Marietta. She had a sunny day in Copenhagen, while we were in rain and snow. We understand the city "is beautiful". For more detailed info contact BB.

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Photos

Center of the Fort
Included in this shot is the commander's quarters, food storage, and hospital. No you do not want to become sick during this time.

Grainery
Notice the stone columns throughout. These supported wooden floors to protect food supplies from moisture.

Wall Trailing Out to the West
Here the Roman's made use of natural topography for defense. The wall varied in size; at some points up to 20 feet high and 18 feet wide.

More Wall
The wall to the east of the fort. There were a total of 16 forts along the wall and numerous other places were garrisoned.

Sheep
On the walk back to our car we encountered these sheep. There are a ton of sheep in Scotland and Northumbria, the north portion of the latter is where the fort was located.

William Wallace Monument
This is one large bunch of stones; much larger than it appears in the picture, including 246 steps to the top. BTW Braveheart got a ton of the events wrong. Robert the Bruce never betrayed anyone; he fought the English just as furiously as Wallace.

Wallace's Sword
This is the actual sword Wallace used during the Battle of Sterling Bridge in 1297.

Scottish Countryside
Took this from the top of the Wallace Monument. We were informed that snow is quite unusual here; prior to this none in the last five years.

Stirling Castle
Another picture from the top of the monument. Again the picture does not capture the size. This is a large castle used both for defense and living quarters of Scottish royals.

Stirling Bridge
William Wallace defeated the English in an ambush at the Battle of Sterling Bridge. This is not that bridge; Billy's bridge was wooden and destroyed during the battle. This bridge was constructed nearby in 1510.

Turret At the Gate
The pot marks in this turret are the result of cannon and musket fire by Oliver Cromwell's army during a seige in 1651.

Royal Apartments
One of the locations occupied by royals for their private quarters.