Our Walk Along Hadrian's Wall Path

“Bright young sun, it looks like the morning's come And it's all come so easy like the heavens are wishing me well And those dawning eyes brought forth my own sunrise Well it's been a long time since the beat of my heart was a friend Oh well, It's been a long time since I felt I was breathing again”   Roo Panes, Home from Home   A Mistake En Route   Having now completed Wainwright’s Coast to Coast, the Pennine Way, West Highland Way, Great Glen Way and finally Hadrian’s Wall Path, we are utterly exhausted... and admittedly a great deal thinner than when we began.  Ultimately, it was too long a stretch completed in too short a time to be fully appreciated while on the trail.  Each trail – especially the final three- deserved more space and time than we were able or willing to give them.  Each landscape, community, and regional history asked for attention, but by the end, we were moving more by momentum and routine than out of curiosity or the ability to refl...

“To visit a country without exploring it’s history is like going to a 3D movie and not wearing glasses.” Rick Steves Why We Failed Hiking Hadrian’s Wall When we reached Hadrian’s Wall Path, we thought we knew what we were doing. By then, we had already crossed and trekked Britain repeatedly on foot - coast to coast, ridge to ridge, glen to glen. We were in shape, experienced, and accustomed to the routines of long days on the trail. We knew how to carry our packs, deal with the weather, deal with uncertain conditions, and keep moving when things became challenging And yet, despite completing the full distance from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway, we left Hadrian’s Wall with the distinct feeling that we had failed to succeed. Not because we lacked strength. Not because the walking or the terrain overwhelmed us. Not because we gave up. Instead, this feeling arose because we did not give the Wall what it required most – time to explore and time to appreciate it properly. Most guideboo...

“Hadrian’s Wall was a border, but it was also a place where borders were crossed.”   English Heritage, Hadrian’s Wall: History and Stories Website   Understanding Hadrian’s Wall   Before setting out along Hadrian’s Wall Path, it is worth taking a moment to understand the nature of the route, the history it follows, and the remains that still shape the landscape of northern England.   Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail crosses England from east to west, or west to east, depending on the direction one chooses to walk. The route runs for 84 miles, or roughly 135 kilometres, linking Wallsend near the River Tyne in the east with Bowness-on-Solway and the tidal flats of the Solway Firth in the west. Along the way, it crosses Northumberland and Cumbria, following the line of one of Britain’s most recognizable ancient frontiers.   The National Trail itself took about ten years to develop and officially opened in 2002 as Engla nd’s thirteenth National Trail - somewhat ...

“The road must eventually lead to the whole world.”   Jack Kerouac Hadrian's Wall    For nearly three centuries, Hadrian’s Wall marked the northern edge of the Roman world. Across the hills of northern England, the frontier stretched from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth, a line of forts, milecastles and turrets that once divided Roman Britannia from the lands beyond.   Today, the wa ll survives only in fragments - scattered stones, earthworks, and the faint lines of fortifications tracing the ridges of Northumberland. Yet by following its course from coast to coast, it is still possible to walk the very edge of the Roman Empire on Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail. With the Time Remaining   With only five days remaining before we needed to return to Southampton to board Queen Mary 2 for our voyage home to North America, we decided to spend that time walking this ancient frontier.   There is no denying that by the time we reached the eastern edge of En...