The Sill to Housesteads Fort & back

Startrek day, May 4th 2022.  An unexpected change of plan put us in a position to undertake another section of  "The Wall".  (Danny Dyer has a lot to answer for, we say it like him too.)  We knew the bumpy bits in the middle were going to be harder so we thought two relatively short sections of about 5 miles each would tick part of it off nicely.

After coffee and toast at The Sill , we left the car and caught the AD122 bus to Housesteads and walked back.  

The Sill offers parking to the maximum of £5 per day and the bus stops in the car park.  Some bus passes from other areas work on the bus too so not only is it an easy and viable way to park, ride and walk between Haltwhistle / Walltown Quarry and Chesters Fort / Hexham it can be inexpensive too, plus there's on-board commentary of where you're passing, all highly recommended.

The walk up to the wall from the visitors centre at Housesteads included several breath-taking pauses but at the top we were greeted by the first stretch of wall we could walk along.  Bear in mind, so far we had walked Bowness on Solway to east of Carlisle and Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle so wall sightings had been very rare and limited but now, here it was, The Wall.

The images below describe our journey but they don't show the persistent rain that hit us head-on for much of the walk.  To say we were wet through is an understatement.  I can only sympathise with the Roman soldiers who were stationed here.  Regardless of interesting toilet arrangements and keeping warm by self-flagellation with nettles, it couldn't have be fun leaving a warm Mediterranean country to come here.

We, of course had to have a photograph under the sycamore tree made famous by Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.  How they manage to walk from the White Cliffs of Dover to milecastle 39 in minutes is obviously Hollywood magic.  Incidentally, this location was suggested by one of the Hairy Bikers who was working on the film at the time, before he became a cooking icon.  I'm not sure which Hairy Biker but I would guess it was Si King with his Geordie connections rather than Cumbrian, Dave Myers.  [All best wishes to Dave Myers who, at the time of writing, is having chemotherapy.]

Whilst having our photo taken and us taking one for some more walkers, we decided to finish our walk on the Roman Military Way, leaving Peel Craggs to the drier walkers with the energy to do it.  Unlike the Roman soldiers, we weren't doing this as a form of punishment:  would they have volunteered...?   

We had thought about walking the following day to cover the next 5 miles west but after climbing the steps to the cafe at The Sill, we decided we had had enough ups and downs for a little while and went home.    


east near Housesteads Fort


west near Housesteads Fort

milecastle 37 looking north

looking west, towards Crag Lough

sheltering at Sycamore Gap

two very wet walkers



 

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