I grew up in the North-East of England in a family which loved local history. For us, there was only ever one Wall (you could even hear the capital letter) and that was Hadrian's Wall or the Roman Wall as we tended to call it.
We rarely took holiday's away, but over the summer we would make numerous trips in our old Anglia van (later replaced by a Triumph Herald) to various sights along The Wall. My favourite was always the stretch between Housteads and Steel Rigg car park, where the wall undulates over the scarp and dip of the Whin Sill, with spectacular crags to the North and the countryside dipping into the Tyne Valley to the South. Fifty years later, there are few sights in the world more guaranteed to simultaneously bring a smile to my face and lump to my throat than this little corner of Northumberland.
As I had to be in Northumberland for work this week, I took a little detour to my happy place and went for a run.
I started from Steel Rigg and headed north on the road for about twenty yards before turning through a gate to the right. What starts off as a farm track eventually becomes a faint track across the fields, but it's easy enough to follow. The path runs parallel to The Wall and you have great views of the small lough (Northumbrian for loch), with the crags climbing behind it and the wall running along the top. It's a beautiful sight, but it must have been rather humbling to the Scots who looked up to this symbol of Empire when it was first built.
After about a mile and a half, the path crosses a stile after which you can turn right towards Hotbank Farm. I turned left and carried on for another mile or so and picked up the Pennine Way, which took me back onto the wall. It's a bit of a slog up to the wall and then the two and a half miles back to the car park consists of a savage series of dips which are great to run down, but a bit of a grunt to climb up. The little bits of flat on the tops are glorious and you can really stride out.
The round trip took me a little over an hour, but it was absolutely glorious and I even got a bit of hazy sunshine, which isn't bad in February.
We rarely took holiday's away, but over the summer we would make numerous trips in our old Anglia van (later replaced by a Triumph Herald) to various sights along The Wall. My favourite was always the stretch between Housteads and Steel Rigg car park, where the wall undulates over the scarp and dip of the Whin Sill, with spectacular crags to the North and the countryside dipping into the Tyne Valley to the South. Fifty years later, there are few sights in the world more guaranteed to simultaneously bring a smile to my face and lump to my throat than this little corner of Northumberland.
As I had to be in Northumberland for work this week, I took a little detour to my happy place and went for a run.
I started from Steel Rigg and headed north on the road for about twenty yards before turning through a gate to the right. What starts off as a farm track eventually becomes a faint track across the fields, but it's easy enough to follow. The path runs parallel to The Wall and you have great views of the small lough (Northumbrian for loch), with the crags climbing behind it and the wall running along the top. It's a beautiful sight, but it must have been rather humbling to the Scots who looked up to this symbol of Empire when it was first built.
The view from the Scot's side.
After about a mile and a half, the path crosses a stile after which you can turn right towards Hotbank Farm. I turned left and carried on for another mile or so and picked up the Pennine Way, which took me back onto the wall. It's a bit of a slog up to the wall and then the two and a half miles back to the car park consists of a savage series of dips which are great to run down, but a bit of a grunt to climb up. The little bits of flat on the tops are glorious and you can really stride out.
Shoddy brickwork! It's looking a right mess after a mere 2,000 years!
The round trip took me a little over an hour, but it was absolutely glorious and I even got a bit of hazy sunshine, which isn't bad in February.
 |
| Looking down to Crag Lough. I used to go rock climbing here when I was young and fit. |
Comments
Post a Comment