I headed back North to Newcastle so that I would be there on the weekend - the only time the Hadrian's Wall sites are open in the winter. I saw little of Newcastle itself, although I did wander around the central area which had a fabulous display of lights, and walked over the Millennium bridge. Over 2 days I crossed the 4 different bridges (which are within a couple of kilometres of each other) by foot, car and bus. I also caught bus down to Wallsend, literally the end of Hadrian's Wall, where the site of a fort has been partially excavated. I wasn't that impressed (I'm getting very fussy), but I enjoyed the station map on the nearby metro which showed the station names in Latin!
I headed out early to see as many of the sites along the Wall as I could fit in. I ended up doing 5 and did a quick visit to a 6th to get an idea of what was there. It had snowed overnight which wasn't a problem on the main highway but made travelling on the secondary roads very slow. I haven't driven on an icy/snowy road before, so I was very careful.
First stop was Birdoswald where I saw part of a fort remains, a section of wall and a small museum. It was one of the 3 English Heritage sites I saw. All of them were interesting but seemed quite amateur. Ironically the other 2 are run by an independent trust without any government funding and, I thought, had much more exciting and detailed presentations. The first of these was the Roman Army Museum. It's not actually on the wall, but the displays were engrossing and excellent for anyone aged 6 to more than 60. It had a number of video displays, including a 'soldier' explaining what was needed to join the army, finishing with the oath of allegiance to join, and an amazing 3D flyover the wall with reconstructed images that really helped to appreciate the amazing challenge and achievement. A series of vignettes of a group of soldiers presented their daily routine, training, expeditions etc. and Hadrian spoke about his life. The finds came from its associated site, Vindolandum, my next stop. It is south of the wall by a few miles, as the first fort on the site was built long before the wall was contemplated. The excavations showing are only the top layer of 7 different layers of forts. The first 3 or 4 were wood and as the wood rotted they demolished the fort, hacked the posts to the ground, covered it all in turf and started again. Because of this layering, an anaerobic layer was formed where all the leather, material and metal have been perfectly preserved. They discovered the layer accidentally and the issue with uncovering it is the preservation of material as it comes up. One of the most exciting finds were letters written in a cursive script. When the first ones were found, the writing was visible but by the time they were taken (quickly!) to the university they had faded, they were taken to the hospital for infra red examination and could be read. They have found a number of them ranging from lists of troop numbers to an invitation to a birthday party.
They would like to do more excavation but it is time consuming and tricky and they are not allowed to disturb the top site, so the areas are limited. All the excavation is done by volunteers, each summer from July to September (weather permitting). Once the dig results have been recorded, it is all covered over again, in keeping with current practice. They have done geophysical explorations also but the overlapping layers of forts makes the results difficult to read.
The museum was amazing! They had a huge display of shoes, many with intricate leather work, some with hobnails still in place, children's shoes and a beautiful sandal which had belonged to the Commander's wife. There were also leather goods such as tents, saddles and horses' face pieces complete with bronze decorations. The letters were projected one at a time on to a screen with the script and translations. To see them all would take at least an hour. There was also an excellent documentary about the finding of the letters. I spent an engrossing hour in the museum alone.
Time was running short as I headed to Housesteads, which IS on the wall. The site has been excavated, and what remains gives a clear representation of the fort setup. Better than Birdoswald. I could also see the wall weaving across the hills into the distance. It would be great to walk some of it in the summer :) The museum was limited, but it was worth the visit to see the fort. The last site was Chesters and the fort there was too far from the office for me to see in the limited time. The museum had a lot of stonework, much more than the other museums, but was quite a old fashioned display. See how picky I'm getting?
By now it was 4 pm, the sun had set, and it was time to get the car back. The shot days are challenging when the to-do list is long.
I headed out early to see as many of the sites along the Wall as I could fit in. I ended up doing 5 and did a quick visit to a 6th to get an idea of what was there. It had snowed overnight which wasn't a problem on the main highway but made travelling on the secondary roads very slow. I haven't driven on an icy/snowy road before, so I was very careful.
First stop was Birdoswald where I saw part of a fort remains, a section of wall and a small museum. It was one of the 3 English Heritage sites I saw. All of them were interesting but seemed quite amateur. Ironically the other 2 are run by an independent trust without any government funding and, I thought, had much more exciting and detailed presentations. The first of these was the Roman Army Museum. It's not actually on the wall, but the displays were engrossing and excellent for anyone aged 6 to more than 60. It had a number of video displays, including a 'soldier' explaining what was needed to join the army, finishing with the oath of allegiance to join, and an amazing 3D flyover the wall with reconstructed images that really helped to appreciate the amazing challenge and achievement. A series of vignettes of a group of soldiers presented their daily routine, training, expeditions etc. and Hadrian spoke about his life. The finds came from its associated site, Vindolandum, my next stop. It is south of the wall by a few miles, as the first fort on the site was built long before the wall was contemplated. The excavations showing are only the top layer of 7 different layers of forts. The first 3 or 4 were wood and as the wood rotted they demolished the fort, hacked the posts to the ground, covered it all in turf and started again. Because of this layering, an anaerobic layer was formed where all the leather, material and metal have been perfectly preserved. They discovered the layer accidentally and the issue with uncovering it is the preservation of material as it comes up. One of the most exciting finds were letters written in a cursive script. When the first ones were found, the writing was visible but by the time they were taken (quickly!) to the university they had faded, they were taken to the hospital for infra red examination and could be read. They have found a number of them ranging from lists of troop numbers to an invitation to a birthday party.
They would like to do more excavation but it is time consuming and tricky and they are not allowed to disturb the top site, so the areas are limited. All the excavation is done by volunteers, each summer from July to September (weather permitting). Once the dig results have been recorded, it is all covered over again, in keeping with current practice. They have done geophysical explorations also but the overlapping layers of forts makes the results difficult to read.
The museum was amazing! They had a huge display of shoes, many with intricate leather work, some with hobnails still in place, children's shoes and a beautiful sandal which had belonged to the Commander's wife. There were also leather goods such as tents, saddles and horses' face pieces complete with bronze decorations. The letters were projected one at a time on to a screen with the script and translations. To see them all would take at least an hour. There was also an excellent documentary about the finding of the letters. I spent an engrossing hour in the museum alone.
Time was running short as I headed to Housesteads, which IS on the wall. The site has been excavated, and what remains gives a clear representation of the fort setup. Better than Birdoswald. I could also see the wall weaving across the hills into the distance. It would be great to walk some of it in the summer :) The museum was limited, but it was worth the visit to see the fort. The last site was Chesters and the fort there was too far from the office for me to see in the limited time. The museum had a lot of stonework, much more than the other museums, but was quite a old fashioned display. See how picky I'm getting?
By now it was 4 pm, the sun had set, and it was time to get the car back. The shot days are challenging when the to-do list is long.
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