Hexham; Tuesday, 27 July, 2021

Another early breakfast and start to be out of the hotel and up to the bus station in time to make the first AD122 of the day and head up onto the wall. My first stop was about 20 minutes out of Hexham at the site of the Brocolita fort. Very little of this site has been exposed, but what has been uncovered and can be looked round is the temple to Mithras, located just outside of the main fort walls.

I had a look around the temple, and then wandered along a short part of the Hadrians Wall walk back to the bus stop to pick up the next bus out along the wall.

My second stop of the day was to the fort of Vercovicium, perhaps better known by it’s English name of Housesteads. This is the most dramatic of the forts on the wall, with the fort being built on the slope of a steep hill, the ridge of which forms part of the natural barrier that the wall took advantage of. If anything this site would probably have been even bleaker in the winter than Birdoswald as there’s fewer trees, a more barren landscape, and even on a warm summers day quite a keen wind whipping round the site.

I spent quite some time wandering round the site, taking in both the museum and the ruins, before heading back down the half mile or so to the visitors centre on the main road to pick the bus back up.

From Houststeads I caught the bus back towards Hexham and my next stop of the day at the fort of Cilurnum, more commonly known these days as Chesters. This is an interesting fort as it actually straddles the wall, with the line of Hadrians Wall running through the fort, rather than forming the northern wall of the fort as it does at Housesteads and Birdoswald. Part of that is because the site was not only a fort on the wall, but also guarded one of the weak points – where the barrier of the wall met the power of Mother Nature at the Tyne. Here, a fortified bridge was built, and the fort helped to protect this.

Along with an incredible museum charting the number of artifacts found from across the line of the wall, the site is also famous for housing one of the most complete Roman Bath Houses in England.

I had a long look round the site, before stopping for a late lunch in the little tea shop on site, and then heading back to the bus stop. Whilst I was only about 15 minutes from Hexham here I was actually heading in the opposite direction. I took the bus out along The Wall using it as a way of quickly seeing some of the major roadside attractions – such as the Black Cart Turret and then, the other side of Housesteads, the stunning Sycamore Gap, where the ridge that the wall is built upon dramatically dips down with a large sycamore tree – thought to be several hundred years old (but no where near as old as the wall) stands almost slap bang in the centre.

The bus continued on to The Sill and then the AD122 does a loop which varies each hour – sometimes heading down to Vindolanda then down into Halthwhistle before returning to the Roman Army Museum and then back to The Sill, the alternate hour the bus does the route in the opposite direction serving the Roman Army Museum and Haltwhistle before reaching Vindolanda. The bus I was on headed down to Vindolanda first and before doing the loop through Haltwhistle and coming back to The Sill.

I stayed on the bus through the loop and continued on back along the wall, having another chance to take in the stunning views of Sycamore Gap and Black Carts Tower before returning back to Hexham.

Back in Hexham I had a bit of a wander around town before popping back to my hotel to freshen up and then heading out in search of dinner.