Hadrian’s Wall walks

I’d forgotten about my blog. I suppose that, by the end of the summer, I’m pleased when I don’t have to update it every day…. One of the plus sides of coming home and getting back to normal! A few recent likes, completely out of the blue, reminded me about it, and I clicked to reminisce about what we did last year. All the memories came flooding back… all our adventures in Holland, France, and hiking Tour du Mont Blanc… Brilliant! This is why I write it, even when it does become tedious during a long trip.

Looking back made me realise I haven’t been very good at recording our trips since the summer, and I felt inspired to update the blog. Otherwise, by the end of next year, I’ll have forgotten what we did in the North East and at New Year. My head’s like a sieve! My blog contains my best memories!

The first trip I need to record is our October half term break, during which we went up to Hadrian’s Wall, then across to the Northumbrian coast. I’ve always wanted to visit Hadrian’s Wall again, since a memorable trip with my Latin class in school, and our teacher Mr Rank. I hate to admit that the strongest memory of that trip is my fascination with the toilets in the Roman fort at Housesteads!

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Anyway, I’m going to try keep this short and, hopefully, let my photos tell the story. We stayed at Hadrian’s Wall Camping and Caravanning site and were pleased when Bertie’s pitch was right next to the duckpond with some pretty ducks with fancy feather hair dos paddling around.

The next day, the weather was beautiful, if rather chilly, and we did the walk I’d been looking forward to. We parked Bertie at Steel Rigg and walked along Hadrian’s Wall, past Sycamore Gap (remember the famous tree in the Robin Hood film?) to Housesteads fort and back. Unsurprisingly, the Roman toilets at the fort weren’t as amusing as they were to my teenage self, but the walk was fantastic… perfect weather and great views, history and beauty. I even managed a couple of photos of ‘the tree’ without getting too many tourists in the shots!

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That night was freezing, although we were warm and cosy in Bertie, with the heating on, under 2 double duvets. The frost on the campsite was thick and very beautiful when we woke up.

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We left the Hadrian’s Wall campsite and headed for the coast, stopping to visit Wallington House, another National Trust property, on the way. The house itself was really busy with families visiting for half term and the halloween events, so we decided to head off for a walk, as far away from the crowds as possible. Once again, the autumn colours were really vibrant and the place was well worth a visit.

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After our walk, we set off for Craster on the Northumbrian Coast, where we had a wander around and stopped for a beer before heading to the campsite at Dunstan Hill. There’s so much to see and we were looking forward to the next part of the trip, exploring the Northumbrian coast. I look forward to writing that up in the next blog.