Long Wall and Tall Angel

Hadrian's Wall

Today we said goodbye to Scotland and drove south towards England. Damian had achieved his goal of having haggis which was actually quite nice (despite the ingredients).

On the way we stopped to see part of Hadrian’s Wall – the remains of the wall the Romans built to keep the Scots out of the Empire back in 122 AD. Apparently (at least according to the Scottish), the mighty Roman Empire could not tame the natives so they build a massive wall to keep the Empire safe.

About 120km long and between 5-6 metres tall, it stretched across the entire width of the British Isles with forts dotted along for extra defence. We went to one such fort called Vercovicium (near modern day Housesteads) where the ruins are still visible and open to the public. We were allowed to freely walk around the ruins which include signs of underfloor heating and drainage. Despite being left open to the harsh weather of northern Britain, the fort was still very visible with the various rooms and buildings it once contained.

Ruins of the Roman Fort

The wall itself was still very much intact, dividing the landscape off into the distance. You can walk along the wall and we did see lots of ramblers annoying the cows as they walked through the fields.

We headed further south, passing through Newcastle on our way to York. We passed nearby the Angel of the North - a massive steel sculpture 20 metres tall and 54 metres across. Unfortunately we passed too fast to get a decent photo - I've borrowed one so you can see what I'm talking about. Pretty impressive.

Angel of the North (not our photo)