We left Harrogate with a simple goal – cross Hadrian’s Wall and head into Scotland. Hadrian’s Wall is quite the piece of work, stretching from ocean to ocean between Scotland and England. From Ancient and Roman Britain:

‘It was begun in AD 122 on the orders of the visiting Emperor Hadrian to keep out the Picts who kept crossing into England and deliberately calling him ‘Adrian’ to wind him up. It took ten years to build because the builders kept leaving at lunchtime to work on another job. To be posted to Hadrian’s Wall was probably the bleakest posting a Roman Soldier had to endure. ‘Join the Army they said. Travel to interesting and exciting places. Stand about on a freezing cold wall waiting to be skewered by a screaming bearded Pict’

There are a host of sites to see, we settled on the Vindolanda settlement as our first stop:

The Roman army appears to have occupied the site of Vindolanda around AD 85, after the Governor, Agricola, had brought the northern tribes to bay at the battle of Mons Graupius. The Romans called the place ‘Vindolanda’, as many documents and an inscription confirm, perhaps because they were turning into Latin an existing native name, thought to mean ‘white lawns’ or something similar. The fort guarded the central section of the vital east to west supply route, known now as the Stanegate, and when the Wall was built some 40 year later, Vindolanda took its place between Housesteads and Great Chesters as a Wall fort. The early forts were built in timber, and required replacement every seven to eight years, even if there was no change in garrison, and the fifth such fort was constructed early in Hadrian’s reign.

It was a very interesting site where you explore the ruins and in the museum see the different finds from the site (they are still excavating). The most interesting part being the tablets, which have been identified as some of the most important finds in Britain. You can view the most interesting tablets here. A sample, a letter from a man to the Governor seeking mercy:

.. he beat (?) me all the more … goods … or pour them down the drain (?). As befits an honest man (?) I implore your majesty not to allow me, an innocent man, to have been beaten with rods and, my lord, inasmuch as (?) I was unable to complain to the prefect because he was detained by ill-health I have complained in vain (?) to the beneficiarius and the rest (?) of the centurions of his (?) unit. Accordingly (?) I implore your mercifulness not to allow me, a man from overseas and an innocent one, about whose good faith you may inquire, to have been bloodied by rods as if I had committed some crime."

Seems like this Roman leader subscribed to the old adage ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves’. He would have loved Terry Tate.

On the advice of the woman at admission, we skipped the other sites and went to Steel Rigg to walk a bit of the wall. After a day of rain, it was kind enough to let up and we marched up the very steep hill. Whenever I see structures like this I cannot help but think of the effort that went into building them. This wall ranged in width from 10-20 feet, in height from 10-20 feet high and stretched 117km. If you look at the below pictures, you will get a taste of the terrain. Far from level and midges everywhere.

A steep climb.

The wall is on the ridge (although dramatically smaller than it’s original height).

Many hours later we climbed in the car and crossed into Scotland. I knew when we had crossed over thanks to one simple observation (there was no sign), there were sheep EVERYWHERE. I do mean everywhere.

As we drove to Edinburgh I saw a sign ‘Scenic route to Edinburgh’ and I took a chance and pulled off the motorway. While it took an extra half hour, I was glad we did it. The landscape was breathtaking. It reminded me of Northern Ontario or the foothills of Alberta.

And then we arrived in Edinburgh.