Hadrians Wall

There's no better place to get away from the hustle and bustle of The Lakes than taking a drive up to Hadrian's Wall. Both are now National Parks but they are as different as chalk and cheese. Me and Sal were the only people in the car park and we only met two other people in the couple of hours we were out which would beggar belief in The Lakes. The similarity it does have with The Lakes though is that the view is always the same but never looks the same from one day to the next due to the changeable light and weather conditions.

A lot of the wall is built on The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill which is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite which runs through County Durham and Northumberland. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Northumberland National Park and stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick and is one of the key natural features of the North Pennines. A major outcrop is at the High Force waterfall in Teesdale and Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, Lindisfarne Castle and stretches of Hadrian's Wall all strategically take advantage of high, rocky cliff lines formed by the sill.

It was a windy day with sunny intervals and fast moving clouds when we were there which made it ideal for photography. We parked near what is considered to be the best preserved part of the wall; the Walltown Crags area. Its only a short stiff walk up to the wall and then you can follow the crest for as far as you wish. There are two trails which run roughly parallel; Hadrians Wall and The Roman Military Way so you can go off on one and return on the other. The Military Way doesn't have the ups and downs of Hadrians Wall it tends to stay on a more even keel but this means it lacks the interest and the far reaching view over Northumberland which the wall has. The Pennine Way also follows this part of the wall before veering off northwards to The Cheviots and Kirk Yeltholm on the border with Scotland.

I adore wild places and Northumberland must be the wildest area in England. Apart from the odd farm, there aren't any signs of civilization for as far as the eye can see. The view northwards just seems to go on forever and the light changes by the minute. I suppose the only evidence of man's meddling in this area is the large conifer plantations which spread right up to and beyond Kielder Forest on the Scottish Borders but even they seem to add to the wildness of the area.

You really do get the feeling that you are alone though and still in the world of a bygone age and I love it!