Maps 88, 87, 86, 85: Hadrian’s Wall Path

27 -31 August 2024

This National Trail is an 84 mile (135 km) long route following the line of the Hadrian’s Wall UNESCO World Heritage Site across northern England, from Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria on the west coast. The prevailing wind means that the route is walked more often from west to east but the wall was built from east to west and so, historically, it makes more sense to start from Wallsend.

Map 88 – Wallsend to Harlow Hill

The first adventure turned out to be getting to the start at Wallsend! I arrived at Newcastle railway station from Morpeth, having been dropped off at the railway station. I had decided to catch a metro train to Wallsend was delighted to see one arrive with “Wallsend” as the destination. There seemed to be some confusion and I think I was meant to alight at the next station and catch a metro replacement bus to Wallsend as the line between Monument and Wallsend was closed for maintenance. However as the front of the vehicle advertised Wallsend, I stayed on. My journey turned out to be long going all the way to the coast at Tynemouth and North Shields before ending up at Wallsend. However eventually I arrived and found myself outside Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum and a nearby tiny segment of Roman wall. There is also an excavated site of Roman Baths just off the route.

My route for the day turned out to be mostly on surfaced paths but off road. I began by following the north bank of the Tyne, still polluted as a result of previous heavy industry including coal tar extraction and lead works.

I arrived at the redeveloped Newcastle Business Development Area. This area has been turned into a vibrant city waterfront with a huge new Arts Centre on the Gateshead side of the river. The presence of a beggar sitting by the Millennium Bridge was a poignant reminder of reality. The iconic Tyne Bridge and Swing bridge followed in rapid succession, by which time it was pouring with rain and I sought shelter in a conveniently located Wetherspoons for coffee and a desert.

It was soon time for me to move on. Fortunately the rain had eased a little. I passed under more bridges and continued through redeveloped business areas. There is a point where it’s possible to spot the Anthony Gormley Angel of the North sculpture in the distance but I didn’t see it. A series of interpretative boards describe the industrial history of the area, especially the contribution of Armstrong (he retired to Cragside near Rothbury where I had been walking a couple of days previously). He developed hydraulic systems and in particular invented the hydraulic cranes which promoted development of the docks. Eventually he owned a 230 acre site manufacturing hydraulic machinery, building ships and employing over 20,000 people – the pre-eminent industrial achievement of Victorian Tyneside. Of the old staithes (landing stages for ships) only one remains.

I passed a steel sculpture depicting a collier with his lamp, pit pony and children in memory of the 38 men and boys killed in the Montagu View Pit disaster in March 1925.

Eventually I reached a stretch of the riverbank opposite a rowing club and headed the short distance away from the river to the Keelman and Big Lamp Brewery Hotel, my accommodation for the night. The keelmen, often paid in beer, handled the movement of coal along the river, becoming extinct once the staithes were built.

I was still on map 88 the next morning as I walked through the edge of the Tyne Riverside country park (site of an old battle involving the covenanters)and along the Waggoners Way (an early railway line route along which ran the Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly, the oldest surviving locomotives in the world).

A steep hill led me past some huge houses and into Heddon on the Wall. I visited the church (evidence of Roman masonry pilfered from the wall to build the chancel), where a volunteer was already busily mowing the churchyard in readiness for a film crew visiting the next day. However the main site of interest in the village was just off my route so I made a diversion: the longest surviving section of the broad 3m wide wall. Later the decision was made to narrow the wall to 1.80m so it could be completed more quickly. The surviving piece is around 100m long with up to six courses of stones.

In 1752, General Wade destroyed Hadrian’s Wall near Heddon to construct his military road. The part that I had seen was probably preserved only because of a kink in the wall that didn’t follow the line of the road. Leaving Heddon, the Hadrian Wall way follows the very straight B6318, the line of the military road. The ditch alongside is the only evidence remaining of the wall.

Map 87 – Harlow Hill to Housesteads to the Roman Army Museum near Greenhead

There seemed to be a lot of route very close to the B6318 and in terms of the wall there wasn’t much to see. Even the forts could only be made out as undulations on the ground. I wasn’t the only person who was feeling mildly disappointed with the route as I met a solo walker saying the same when she overtook me while I was eating lunch. The sight of a red squirrel was a welcome bonus but unfortunately I was a bit slow with my camera.

However, I diverted off the route at Heavenfields to visit the tiny church of St Oswald in Lee in the middle of the field. There is a Roman altar stone next to the font. The wall and much of the church was constructed from wall stone.

I walked on and over a fence in a field full of cattle, I could see a length of the wall. However, for me that would be on the walk the next day. I had a two mile diversionary trek off the route downhill on footpaths and a minor road to my overnight accommodation at Acomb.

Unfortunately the next morning, that meant I had a two mile uphill walk to be back on the path. The cattle were in the field but had moved away from the wall remnant. This was interesting: the foundation had been built on the wider 3m specification but the wall had been completed later on the 1.8m specification and it was possible to see the transition.

Having not seen much actual wall, I diverted from the path to visit Brunton Turret. I wondered why the walkers coming towards me weren’t so keen to make the diversion, but, as I was to discover, they had already passed many fine stretches of built wall. This turret is thought to have been only partially built when the decision to narrow the wall was made. Hence given the turrets and milecastles were built in advance of the wall, it was one of the last turrets to be built.

I reached a diversion to Chesters Bridge where the wall had crossed the River Tyne. On the other side of the river, I could see the remains of the Chesters bathhouse. An American couple I met there had spent quite some time searching for a phallic symbol on one of the stones. A plan on an interpretive board highlighted the spot and I found it immediately! Obviously I called the couple over who couldn’t quite believe my luck (or skill) as they were sure they had already looked everywhere around. However, they couldn’t deny that it was obvious once found.

I left quickly, aware that I had a long trek still ahead of me. It was like famine to feast as I passed so many pieces of wall, turrets, towers and forts and even the remains of a Roman temple. The path undulated and there were some magnificent views both of long stretches of wall and of crags. This was what I had expected the path to be like.

Eventually I arrived at Sycamore gap where there were numerous people looking at where the iconic tree had been. It is a sad sight to see that only the stump remains. However a few areas of growth give promise that eventually there will be a grown tree in the gap once more.

I was already on Map 86, which has an overlap with 87 between Housesteads and the Roman Army Museum almost at Greenhead.

Map 86 – Housesteads to the Roman Army Museum near Greenhead to Crosby on Eden

The magnificent views, lengths of wall and accompanying turrets and milecastles continued. I climbed over Winshields Crags, at 345m the highest point on Hadrian’s Wall.

Soon after this I descended to the site of Mile Castle 42 and clambered up some steps to view this mile castle from above.

It didn’t look too far to my final destination for the day at Greenhead. I was getting tired and looking forward to arriving. Unfortunately this was the point where I encountered frisky cattle with calves everywhere. No field seemed safe! I diverted off the footpath through some nearby fields then discovered that there was a bull in the next field. I was beginning to think that I would need to backtrack and divert along the B6318 although I was concerned about there being too much fast traffic. However eventually I managed to divert downhill round the edge of a crop field and then return to the ridge.

It was after 7pm when I arrived at Greenhead so I had been out and about for almost twelve hours. Nonetheless by the next morning I was feeling well recovered. I regained the ridge near Thirwall Castle which looks suspiciously as if it is built of stones plundered from Hadrian’s Wall.

I reached Gilsland where I saw reputedly the best preserved mile castle on the wall. A man walking his dog told me he goes there most days and also told me that it’s an amazing place to see dark skies and hence the Northern lights.

There was more to see as I left Gilsland – turrets, wall fragments and the remnants of a bridge over the River Irthing. I knew that I had to make the most of it as it wouldn’t be like this for much longer.

I looked at Birdoswald Roman fort from outside its boundary fence as it wasn’t open yet and has an entrance charge.

There were plenty more turrets and mile castles to look at without charge. I reached Pike Hill Signal Station where there’s a car park by the road. The interpretative board states clearly that the wall is fragile and in danger of collapse if people walk on it. It was disappointing to see a young family where the parents were encouraging their children to climb on the wall as long as they didn’t go too high! Do they really think it is their “right” to take photos of their children climbing on a historic and irreplaceable monument? if this irresponsible behaviour continues there seems to me to be a risk that we will all have to peer at the wall through fences so it doesn’t get damaged.

At Hare Hill there’s a tall section of wall – a Victorian rebuild. Close to here I met a support team for a couple of runners who are planning to complete the wall trail in two days and later I saw the runners heading towards me.

I stopped and bought a snack from one of the many honesty box kiosks on the route. Next to Dovecote bridge as I approached the village of Walton, I spotted a turfed over piece of wall. This is a section of sandstone wall excavated in 1983 but covered again twenty years later when it was realised that the red sandstone would not withstand exposure.

I ate my lunch sitting on a seat next to a pleasant waterfall. Soon after that I arrived at a village where there was a refreshment chalet. I was tempted by the coffee but not food as I had only just eaten. During my stop I had a conversation with an American woman who had been in Scotland and was fitting in her walk along Hadrian’s Wall over six days or so before travelling to London for some work-related business. She also gave me what turned out to be helpful information about the bus service from the end of the walk at Bowness on Solway to Carlisle.

Further footpaths followed through fields of sheep and cattle before I arrived at Crosby on Eden and the next map.

Map 85 – Crosby on Eden to Bowness on Solway

The road through Crosby on Eden is on the old Roman Stanegate. The route then passes over meadows close to the River Eden and into Linstock village. A roadside walk and then a dedicated cycle path next to the road lead to Rickerby Park, bought by the Citizen’s League in 1920 and now a popular open space. I crossed the impressive footbridge built as a memorial after the First World War. I had arrived in Carlisle.

A walk through Bitts Park followed where I saw a prominent statue of Queen Victoria. I walked past the imposing castle and the cathedral to reach my hotel in central Carlisle. I had booked to stay here for two nights and walk the remaining section of the long distance trail as a day walk before returning to the city.

I was the first hotel guest at breakfast – 07.00am on a Saturday. I had already left the hotel by 07.40 and set a cracking pace with less to carry in my rucksack and a very flat route. The weather was the best it had been for the entire walk. The bus timetable from Bowness suggested that I wouldn’t be able to get a bus back until the one leaving Bowness at 18.58 so I was considering walking back as well – around twenty eight miles in total.

There isn’t any actual wall to see on this stretch. The path follows the River Eden before going through some villages. A land slip on the riverside path between Kirkandrews and Beaumont meant that the route is diverted along a road.

I arrived at Beaumont opposite St Mary’s Church, the only parish church built actually on the wall.

Somehow I missed a turning on to a path and walked two long sides of an isosceles triangle to Burgh by Sands. However I did have the bonus of a good view of the marshes, notwithstanding that I would have plenty of views across the marshes later in the day.

It was when I saw the bus times on the bus stops in Burgh that I realised there seemed to be a lot more buses than listed on the timetable. I remembered that the American lady I had met the previous day had mentioned about the bus route being a big circle in both directions so I wondered whether in fact any time that the bus went past there was a possibility to catch it to Carlisle – but sometimes it would go further from the city initially depending on where it was on the circle and which direction it was travelling,

I had concerns about the tidal section but these turned out to be unfounded. There is only a problem when the high tide is around 9m or more and on this day it was just 7m. These are predictions rather than accurate levels and in particular can be influenced by wind speed and direction. However, it wasn’t a windy day.

I followed the tidal road. Cattle near the road didn’t seem to take any notice – I assume they see plenty of people. I stopped to look at the views and have a snack sitting on a seat in a small enclosed area (it keeps the cattle out) at Boustead Hill junction. There didn’t appear to be many birds around.

I completed the crossing of the tidal part of the route, reaching Drumburgh. Drumburgh “castle”, predictably built using recycled stone from Hadrian’s Wall is actually a farmhouse with some castellations on the west end of the roof.

I followed a track then a muddy path to Glasson. Some walkers coming the opposite way commented on my apparent speed and I pointed out that I could envisage the end. The bus times on the stop here confirmed my previous thoughts about the bus travelling in a circular route and there being more opportunities to catch a bus than the printed timetable would suggest. There was also a notice saying that the timetable is about to change – on 2nd September.

A further path took me past a caravan site and then I reached a path between the foreshore and the road to Port Carlisle. I had reached the final stretch – a length of tidal road, with views across the estuary to Scotland, to the end of the trail at Bowness on Solway. I studied a couple of interpretative boards then headed for the official path end where there is a pavilion.

I would have spent more time in the village where there is a bistro and visitor centre, but the next bus was due in only ten minutes at 13.27. I realised that catching this would give me some time to wander round Carlisle and visit the cathedral. The bus deposited two walkers then was almost empty when I got on. I enjoyed a pleasant but convoluted journey back to Carlisle, initially further out along the estuary road, and all for the standard single bus ticket price of £2.

I had completed the National Trail walk. In retrospect, I would have allowed more time on the stretch between Heavenfields and Hare Hill as well as factoring in time to visit some of the visitor centres, museums and the better preserved forts with admission charges. However, in my short visit, I had certainly covered a lot of ground!