Now we start our rather convoluted path through the northern part of England. I had found a really nice looking bed and breakfast near Hadrian's Wall early in our planning and reserved for two nights that were available. At that point, we weren't sure where else we wanted to go, so as we added destinations, we ended up doing a bit of backtracking, but it's worked out fine.
From Edinburgh, we took the train to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where we encountered our first rental car. The plan was for me to drive most of the time, but after the first day, that plan went out the window. 😜 Pat turned out to drive very well but it still required vigilance from both of us at all times to ensure that we turned into the correct lane, kept to the left, and made it out of the roundabouts as we travelled clockwise. Whew! Anyway, we made it out of Newcastle, even though the two Sat-Navs we had were giving us opposite directions for awhile. We ditched one and got on better. We arrived at Lanercost successfully and found it to be as charming as we'd hoped, being an old farmhouse next to a Priory. There were chickens in the yard and sheep over the fence.
Our room was fairly spacious for ancient house standards and the food and company here were excellent.
We set off in search of a Roman fort built on a section of Hadrian's Wall the next morning. It is called Housesteads, known as Vercovicium to the Romans. The fort is the best preserved of all 16 forts on the Roman frontier of Hadrian's Wall. The fort was begun around AD 124 and was occupied for about 280 years by up to 800 soldiers. We joined up with a free tour and learned some fascinating information about life in Roman times. There are just outlines of rooms and gates, so having an explanation of what we were seeing was very helpful.
After the tour and a look at the museum, we walked up to the wall itself. It's not very high any more, having been taken apart by locals who used the stone to build walls and houses throughout the centuries. The wall remains are protected from this now. Where we walked is the only place you can actually walk on the top of the wall; it's under trees and over the years mud and leaves have strengthened the wall section. Otherwise, there are two sides of the wall and the inside area was filled with rubble so it isn't strong enough to bear weight. There were some great views from along the wall.
Pat proved to be an intrepid driver but we had our share of adrenaline going most of the time!
The river near our B&B was lovely.
We moved on from here and went back north, getting into our convoluted but very enjoyable route.
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