These are for Cee’s Black and White: Places to Walk or Hike, Brashley Photography’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Wordless Wednesday.
Hadrian’s Wall Walk
Tag Archives: Hadrian’s Wall National Trail
Cross countryside
Last summer my husband and I walked across northern England on the Hadrian’s wall trail. The Lens Artists prompt: countryside, prompted me to go through my extensive collection of photos from that trip. There is one photo above from each day that is representative of the type of countryside we saw that day.
Where fairies live
Perhaps because we mostly have alder and evergreens locally I was quite fascinated by some of the trees, mostly I think they were sycamore, or plane trees, that we saw while walking Hadrian’s Wall National Trail in England last summer.
I think I love them because they remind me of fairy stories.
Walking the wall
Here are a few from one year ago today, when we were walking between Carlisle and Crosby-on-Eden.
Just follow the signs…
Sometimes easier said than done!
Continue reading Just follow the signs…
Landscapes along Hadrian’s Wall Walk
Sometimes the land shapes what humans do and sometimes human endeavors shape the land, sometimes a bit of both.
Back to the Wall
I never finished the series of posts I intended to write about walking Hadrian’s Wall last June.
Here is a gallery of pictures from the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail between Housesteads Fort and Chester’s Fort.
In this stretch, while not including the highest point on the walk, it passes something equivalent to the Continental divide in North America, the texture of the clouds changed, and it got way less windy.
Son of a Beach’s Which Way Photo Challenge
The Sycamore of Sycamore Gap
The sycamore of sycamore Gap along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumbria is the most photographed tree in all of England. No surprise since it is perfectly framed by the dip in the terrain, which allowed it to grow by protecting it from the sometimes brutal winds of the area. The day we were there was a little blustery, giving us just a little taste of reality.
Here are my takes on this famous tree.
Hadrian’s Wall Walk: Steel Rigg to Housesteads Fort
We took an extra day on our walk in the middle of our trip, an area which is remote and therefore more intact sections of the wall and forts. If you ever do the walk think about it. It give you lots of time to enjoy the area, and to take a break during the storms.
In this area the wall is built along the edge of cliffs. It is fairly vigorous walking, and some of the steep, rocky areas are a bit treacherous when wet.
This section contains a lot of lovely scenery, even on a cloudy day, including the most photographed tree in England: the sycamore of sycamore gap. It is a striking site: a large healthy sycamore tucked into a gap in the cliffs.
The walking part, for us, was from the Steel Rigg visitor center to Housesteads Fort.
Housesteads Fort
Housesteads Fort
Turret on Steel Rigg.
Housesteads Fort
We took the bus from Housesteads past Steel Rigg to Vindolanda. Vindolanda is not to be missed. If I had it to do over I would have opted for 3 nights at Henshaw Barn so we had a full day there.
Vindolanda is a very large fort and the civilian settlement that built up around it, still under excavation, along with a well done museum of the finds. Including personal letters, miraculously preserved and located that give insight into daily life.
Traces of the Past
Our recent walk along the Hadrian’s Wall National Path in north England was a bit of a scavenger hunt for traces of the past, specifically sign of Roman Britain.
Walking along the vallum near Gilsland.
Even over a thousand years later the arrow straight defensive ditch is visible.
The shape of the vallum and some mounds of un-excavated ruins at “vallum farm”.
Sometimes it could be seen in the shape of the land, with lines just a little too straight to be natural, or bumps and lumps where there were none others nearby of the same shapes.
Hare hill.
Long stretch of the wall east of Housesteads Fort, I think this area is Sewingshields.
At other times jagged stone piles jutted out.
At the easiest times the National trust provided outlines of what was where and informative signs that made it easy.
For Paula at Lost in Translation’s Thursday’s Special: Traces of the Past
