Day 18: Hadrian’s Wall

We start the day with a song for Oma Miriam and we only leave at 9:30 because Olga has an urgent work meeting (to her defense: it’s a special summer in Brussels with the presentation of the budget and programmes for the next mutiannual phase).

As we’re literally staying along Hadrian’s Wall we got to explore it some more. Since we’re on the western edge of the wall, there is only one way to go: East.

So our first stop is the Roman cavalry fort of Chesters. There we see the remains of the baracks and stables together with the best preserved bath house in Brittain. The kids do another treasure hunt and run from ruin to ruin to find all the hidden letters.

Next stop is the parking at Steel Rigg. We hike up the ridge along the remains of the wall. We ask Cleo of she wants to see the chopped down Sycamore tree and since she does, we walk up and down the hills towards Sycamore gap. When we drove past two years ago the tree was still standing. It’s hard to explain to Cleo why somebody would chop down a tree.

We return on the lower path and get back in the car to drive to the last fort of the day, the Birdoswald Roman Fort. This is one of the best preserved forts along the wall and next to the fort is the longest surviving stretch of Hadrian’s Wall. The museum has some interesting displays and videos which give a better understanding of the wall. There is also lego for the children to try and built their own wall.

Outside we circle the walls of the fort and let the children play with the alarm bells at the northern gate to warn the rest of the visitors. The fort was mainly staffed by legionaires from Dacia, modern day Romania but outside the Northern gate was an encampment of Frisians. It was a truely multicultural operation.

Our final stop is the Lanercost Priory from the second part of the 12th century. Here we are once again following in the footsteps of the main character of our holiday, King Edward I. He conquered the Welsh and built most of the castles there. He stayed here while on campaign against the scots and sieging down yesterdays castle of Caerlaverock. To connect all the dots, he died in the marsh in the village next to our holiday park.

We drive back there and do some laundry and have fun in a skelter and cycle around the park.