Day 2 Hadrian’s Wall

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After a good nights sleep, we headed down early to the Newcastle Quay to park, organise the campervan and have breakfast. It was quiet Saturday morning as we parked below the one of the many bridges over the River Tyne. We took a walk along the river bank to the Millenium Bridge which of course has a horizontally curved deck which rotates 90 degrees vertically to provide clearance for boats to pass beneath. We returned to the van and made some breakfast before heading out of town north towards Hadrians Wall.

Our first stop on the wall was at Chesters where we visited the Roman fort with its underfloor heating system and Roman bath house - all very civilised for the Roma garrison’s who lived there 2000 hears ago. There was a fantastic museum at this site filled with stone columns and tablets as well as a number of everyday items excavated from the site including pieces of jewellery, knives, swords, body armour, waits and measures. The garrison at Chesters included 500 men and their 500 horses so the barracks were each designed to house 3 men and their 3 horses. We got the feeling from reading the information that the horses were more valuable than the men. As you can see by the photos, it was raining cats and dogs as well as blowing a gale When we were out in the field.

We then journeyed along the wall to Housesteds to visit another Roman Fort but this time with a long section of the actual wall intact. This site gave us an appreciation of how formidable the wall and fort would have been for those north of the wall. Housesteads also has the best example of a Roman latrine and we were impressed by the plumbing - a water reticulation system which flowed past the feet of the users before flushing the latrine pit below.

We then recommenced our journey northwards crossing the Scotland border in the early evening and making a brief visit to a very wet and blustery Edinburgh where we grabbed a bite to eat before making our way across the new Forth Road Bridge to Dunfermline where a night in the secluded industrial estate awaited

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Photos

Newcastle Quay
We parked under Sydney Harbour Bridge

Millennium Bridge
A stroll on the famous Newcastle Millenium Bridge

Northern Gateway Chesters
Tish stands on the remains if the Northern Gatewy at Chesters

Roman Bath House
Tish in the steam room of the Chesters Roam bath house where a fountain spilled water onto a hot floor below

Chesters Museum
Some of the stone artefacts recovers at Chesters

Hadrian’s Wall at Homesteads
Our first glimpse of the actual Wall

Hadrian’s Wall
Tish overllooks a long section of intact wall at Housesteds

Roman Latrine
The best preserved Roman latrine this side of Rome at Housesteds

Comments

[Barbara]

Hadrians wall
Been there as well ! I think we are having better weather than you at the moment. Can't believe you missed summer x

[Maureen]

Finally found time to concentrate on your travels. It sounds as though you are having a ball.