Walking Along Hadrian's Wall

The modern Scottish-English border is about fortyenjoyable affair walking in England's northernmost
miles to the North of Hadrian's Wall, running alongcounty.
the upper edge of the Northumberland NationalThe terrain of the route along Hadrian's Wall is of
Park. In the times of the Romans though, the linemoderate difficulty, with undulations more than
that runs roughly East to West betweensteep slopes. Covering about ten miles per day on
Newcastle and Carlisle marked the boundarya guided English walking break, you can take in
between the civilised world and that of theviews of the graceful surrounding landscape, with
barbarians to the north.evidence of fortresses and outposts along the
The section of Roman wall that can be exploredway while passing through some of the most
on a walking holiday in England is just part of thebreathtaking scenery in Britain. The middle
former empire's giant frontier, known as "thesections of Hadrian's Wall, in particular, have not
limes," which extended across northern Europe.altered much since Roman times, and there are
There are sections of Roman wall in Germanyparts where you can imagine what it must have
and there's an equivalent blockade in North Africa.been like to guard the border in those times. It is
The fact that the surviving walls in Africa,this combination of historical significance and
hundreds of miles away, closely resembles themarvellous scenery that rightly makes Hadrian's
brick formations of the bastion in Britain isWall the most popular tourist attraction in
evidence of the military efficiency of the RomanNorthern England.
legions that oversaw the construction of theseThe guided walks offer accommodation along the
walls.way, such as at the Battlesteads Hotel in Wark,
By walking along England's Hadrian's Wall Pathwhich is about halfway along the wall. It is a cosy
walkers can see a UNESCO World Heritagecountryside inn and restaurant with a selection of
protected site, preserved as a monument of theorganic drinks and cask ales. Pieces of Hadrian's
Roman occupation of Britain and testament to theWall were used in building the hotel.
ingenuity that created the walls, ditches, forts andThe walk closes on the west coast of England at
watchtowers across a seventy-mile stretch ofBowness-on-Solway, which is a pretty village on
land.the Solway Firth. The Firth separates the two
Guided English walking breaks along Hadrian's Wallmodern countries of Britain at Bowness, so
usually begin in the small Northumberland village ofwalking in England here puts you within a few
Heddon-on-the-Wall, ten miles from Newcastle.yards of Scotland, just as a legionnaire would
The village has long uninterrupted sections of wallhave been when patrolling the border almost two
and marks the beginning of an easy-going andthousand years ago.