To Rome and Back: A Lester’s Tale Part Two

 

One of the first trips we took when Kevin first moved to the UK was a trip to Northumberland to see Hadrian’s Wall. (To Rome and Back: A Lester’s Tale) What was supposed to be a simple road trip turned into an epic saga when we were unable to find the wall. (How we missed the wall when it is huge and well marked is beyond me).    Therefore,  when we thought about what we would do with Mumsy when she was here over Thanksgiving, it seemed like a good idea to try and find the elusive wall once again.

This time, we had post codes, maps and advice from fellow travelers.  Instead of being an epic trip over misty mountains with the tricksy Gollum GPS, it turned into a civilized drive on the highway. If only Frodo had a GPS and detailed directions, his trip to Mordor would have been far less eventful.

We started out the morning with a visit to Vindolanda Roman Fort.  An auxiliary fort, Vindolanda served to protect the Stangate (Military Road) that spanned between the River Tyne and Solway Firth and followed behind the legendary Hadrian’s Wall.  The fort holds two claims to fame.

1. The largest remaining Roman ruins in Great Britain
2. The oldest example of ink writing found in Britain

The site was quite impressive and it featured a really great introductory video that discussed the history of the site and a reconstruction of what the site once looked like.  It also had a great “Bird’s Eye View” of the wall. The only disappointing part was that the museum was closed for refurbishment.  However, this was probably the best news Kevin had ever heard as his tolerance for museums is much less than mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lassie –go get help. Kevin’s fallen in the well

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reconstruction of the old timber fort

 

After visiting Vindolanda, we decided to head just up the road to Vercovicium (for those of you uncultured Non-Latin speakers -Homesteads Roman Fort).   Not to be outdone by Vindolanda, this fort has its claim to fame in the fact that it is the most complete Roman fort remaining in Britain. I found it to be far less impressive than Vindolanda.  However, this may have been due to the fact that I was wet and cold at this point and in need of some food. 

Although Vercovicium was less exciting for me based upon the actual site, what did set my heart skipping was the wide stone wall heading off into the countryside.  Finally, we had found Hadrian’s Wall.  Given its impressive size and large spans, I am still shocked we couldn’t find it.   Since we were all wet and freezing we decided to save exploration of the wall for the next day.