Hadrian's Wall Path #3: Chesters to Steel Rigg 21/05/14

Self at Chesters

Moving on swiftly as the Spring weather still has no idea of how to be consistent, and since I travelled for holidays it has been a pattern of three good days and one misty one, to be followed by one more good day and two completely awful ones, so naturally hay has to be made whilst the sun is shining. I'm pretty sure that today is going to be pretty rough, I'm still feeling sore after putting down over 30 miles over the preceding three days and I'm certain that some part of my right leg is going to suffer badly, but I need to use the bright and clear weather as today sees the transition out of rural Northumberland and into the high lands. When I made my first steps on the Hadrian's Wall Path in 2011, it was a cold and glum day in July, and all my intentions after that were to travel into the most dramatic landscape of the path and onto the ridges of the Whin Sill when the sun was shining, and as Wednesday is looking like the only day that that will happen, let us make to the trail ASAP.

Hadrian's Wall Path #3: Chesters to Steel Rigg  12.1 miles


Chesters Stud

I get dropped off at Chesters at 9.35am, before the site has opened to the public, requesting that my parents give me another six hour window for my walking day, and I depart back to the Military Road without having even seen the site of Cilurnum fort whilst on my travels this year. I have visited it before, of course, dropping in during a long ride homeward in 2009, and I can vouch for it as one of the best preserved forts on the wall, originally built in AD123 for stationing cavalry, and possessing the most substantially extent bathhouse along the wall. It also has an extensive collection of antiquities, thoroughly and extensively catalogued by the noted 19th century antiquarian John Clayton, to whom we should be thankful for the preservation and protection of much of the Roman Wall. Inheritor of the Chesters estate, and employment as Town Clerk of Newcastle allowed him the money and influence to purchase land along the the length of the Wall from Brunton to Cawfields and to lead archaeological investigations at many of the sites in between. My path gives no views into the estate, hidden by many trees, but the stud farm is still present alongside the Military Road, a desirable property of scale and antiquity that would make for the best sort of country retreat, and the road eventually regains the alignment of the wall, pulling uphill away from the North Tyne, and immediately putting my sore legs to the test. We do finally gain a view as we approach the hamlet of Walwick, offering a panorama of the river valley that was denied to me the previous day, and one that would be an asset to any of the properties up the hill, and we get a changing perspective as the path takes a circuit around Walwick Hall, finally ending our pavement walks along the Military Road. Regaining the alignment of the wall, the various trenches and embankments do not obviously identify themselves, and I burn off the other early starters of the day as we rise by the north ditch to the wood at Tower Tye, but the detour here is most welcome, as we get a panorama from the North-west to South-east revealing the distant moors of the Northumberland National Park (the bottom right corner of which we have just walked into) and the many fields and woods of this most empty of counties.

Black Carts Wall & Turret 29a

Rejoining the wall zone again, the antiquities start to reveal themselves with much greater regularity than they did yesterday, as we immediately meet the site of Milecastle 29, its long sides and rounded corners showing up beneath the turf covering it, and an uphill pull starts beyond as we keep the north ditch between ourselves and the local cows to meet the long stretch of consolidated wall that progresses up the hillside. Clearly visible from the road, it's the longest stretch of the narrow wall encountered so far, standing 11 courses high at the site of Black Carts Turret (29a), and in the next field another long, low stretch remains, gradually fading down to just a hint of rubble foundations among the gorse as the hill crests by the 250m trig point. The wall may have gone, but the north ditch remains, still deep and unlandscaped, probably because we are now passing out of the trimmed farm and and onto the rough pasture of the moorlands. Vistas north into the National Park improve, with distant hills showing up as far away as the Scottish border, I'm sure, and the north ditch carries on as our accompaniment, until coming to an abrupt halt at Limestone Corner (completely misnamed, and the most northerly point on the Wall, incidentally), where the Roman Engineers failed to cut their way through an outcrop of Dolerite, leaving quantities of roughly hewn rock at the wall edge. This must mean we are now on our way onto the proper highland of the wall, a first venture onto the High Moors this year, and sure enough, a short way along, the wrinkles of the Whin Sill rise off in the distance, like waves of ancient igneous rock breaking over the landscape, and focus your attention towards the distant ridge of Sewingshields Crag, because you just know that the path is going over there. That's still along way off though, and there are a a lot of footfalls to make before we get there, starting along the edge of the north ditch again, as it progresses alongside the Military road, past Carrawburgh farm.

The Mithraeum, Brocolitia

Cross the road eventually, as the views have opened up to give us additional views all the way across the North Pennines, and your mind can feel a lot closer to home once the familiar profile of Cross Fell and the Dun Fells appears on the distant horizon, and closer to your finish line as the hills above Geltsdale appear also, I'm sure Cumbria can't be as close as it now feels. The path sidles down to meet earthworks by the roadside, and this is the Carrawburgh Roman site, aka Brocolitia, and the car park seems to contain a lot more cars than the site does visitors, another fort added to the wall after the initial plans were laid out and still mostly hidden under turf, and the greater points of interest are to be found among the Vicus, the civilian settlement that grew outside the fort. The most significant of these is the Mithraeum, or Temple of Mithras, dedicated to a Persian sun god added to the Roman Pantheon and subject of a notable military cult up to the 4th century AD, and rediscovered in 1949, well preserved in boggy ground with its altars and roof support timbers still intact, a place where a small feeling for the practise of Roman Religion can be obtained. The well of Coventina is less apparent to the casual observer, hidden by reeds among the surrounding marshes, but providing the source of one of the largest Roman hoards ever discovered in this country, proof that interesting history could be residing beneath more of this unassuming moorland. After elevenses it's time to press on, setting myself a target for lunchtime and crossing over the Military Road for the very last time, rising alongside the north ditch and then striking out around Carraw farm, where a working digger needs to be avoided, before returning to the ditch at the roadside for the last time. Where the path moves to the southern edge of the ditch, and the rubble wall base reemerges, the Military Road peels away, having been our companion for over 20 miles, and moorland solitude can start to assert itself and it's not much further on that we meet the remains of Milecastle 33, it's walls emerging from the low remnants of Wall, with boards installed to prevent you clambering over the archaeology.

Coe Sike Turret 33b &
the ascent to Sewingshields Crag

As the terrain gets more remote, and more interesting, that seems to be the cue for the path to get busier, and the people who are out to see the most interesting parts of the wall start to emerge from the landscape, a natural choice to make I'll admit, with the rough grass to the north and green fields to the south feeling most inviting, despite the stiff breeze in the air, and the Shield on the Wall reservoir proving a spot of silvery illumination on the day. The ascent to the the Whin Sill starts at Coe Sike Turret (33b), a steady ascent that gets my right leg sore pretty sharply, with both calf and groin muscles screaming back at me, and I seem to be going against the stream of traffic that descends, passing the site of Milecastle 34, hidden beneath trees and a livestock enclosure, and then as the north ditch disappears, rising to the edge of the cliffs to enjoy the precipitous views down and looking back to see that the hills above the North Tyne are still in evidence, suggesting that we haven't really travelled that far today. Through the next field boundary to meet Turret 34b, and a little further up, the medieval motte earthworks known as Sewingshields castle, and behind that, a single storey farm house, Stell Green, dwelling in that space between rural idyll and back of beyond. Continue to climb as the path enters Sewingshields Wood, behind the farm, and it feels odd to be encountering building and habitation after a couple of hours of really nor much at all, I guess someone has to be in charge of these lands, and I acquire a dog as I go, running out from the farm to see what the walkers are doing, and I really could do without a border collie at my feet when walking in lowered light with a steep drop off to my right. Reemerge on the other side, and cuntinue uphill to find Milecastle 35, our first with all of its foundations exposed, and its one of the most atypical as it did not function as a gatehouse and access point, for reasons obvious when you peer into the void off to its north, I can't imagine it was one of the popular billets back in the 2nd century AD.

Sewingshields Crag,
Turret 34b & summit

Push the sore limb on as the last section up to the top of Sewingshields Crag comes on, pressing on along the broken sections of consolidated Wall, passing Turret 35a and eventually hitting the top and the trig pillar at 325m, and being afforded another excellent panorama, with the expanse of the Wark forest appearing in the north, with distant blue hills surely being the Cheviots. Below lies Broomlee Lough adding a large natural lake to our scenery and ahead stands the rolling edge of the Whin Sill, and surely the hardest stretch of the day, I'll pause to water feeling that I might be late for my lunchtime target and psyche myself up for hitting the ups and down that will follow, and I set off down more tentatively than usual towards Busy Gap. That seems like a name to illustrate the number of day walkers out on the trail, but actually dates back to pre-Roman times, as this depression was a popular track route to the north, later becoming a prime route into and out of Tynedale for Medieval Brigands and Border Reivers. I get my 1pm phone call from the folks as I go, having figured beyond that time we might be getting into areas of remoteness and dubious signal quality, and I'll bravely talk up my progress and talk down my soreness, figuring that lunch at Housesteads can only be one more hill away, and still feeling that i should be done within six hours. I set off up the steep edge of King's Hill, noting that our accompanying wall should not be mistaken for something ancient, it's a farm wall that presents a dynamic appearance but is quite unrelated to the Roman Wall, the way to tell being that this is built in horizontal courses, whereas the Romans built in parallel courses, and in any case the ancient foundations are clearly separate in many places. At the top I realise that there are two more hills and two more depressions to negotiate before lunchtime, which seems to make my leg more sore, and so the path continues to undulate as I pass over Clew Hill and Kennel Crags, eventually passing into the woods below Housesteads and emerging down by the Knag Burn gate.

Knag Burn Gate & Vircovicium Fort

Sitting just outside the fort's perimeter and not associated to a Milecastle, possessing only two small guard cells, it is assumed to be a much later addition when Roman border restrictions had been relaxed, and nowadays it's the home of of a horrible bog caused by the waters of the burn still running through the culvert cut into the wall for it. The official route of the Wall Path goes along the crag edge in front of the fort, but I'm going to take the route around its southern edge, mostly so I can get a decent view into the Vercovicium infantry fort, which I have never visited in all my varied travels, which is odd as it is clearly the tourist hotspot on the wall, heaving with people even in the week before half term. Of all the forts on the wall, aside from Segedunum, it is the most thoroughly excavated, with definitely the largest amount of exposed archaeology, being particularly noted for its latrines, and for being constructed on the wrong axis with it's long edge along the wall, and judging by the cultivation terraces cut into the fields below, it must have been a pretty busy site back in its day. I'll make my way over to the museum to grab passport stamp #4, putting me half way through that collection of seven, and rest for lunch at 1pm, listening to South Africans pondering progressing without a map, and Scots debating a plausible distance to go without risking a burn out, sage words to be heard from both parties as I'm already glad I've hacked a couple of miles from my plan and getting the guide out to check my progress has me ecstatic that I have only 3 miles to go when I thought I had more than 4. So after giving the tendons that tie my right foot to my right calf a thorough massage, it's back onto the trail, rising to meet the path as it heads through the woods atop Housesteads Crags, the only place along the entire wall where a right of way exists along an extent section of wall, even it the signs all request that you do not use it.

Milecastle 37

I'll be a good traveller and pay their heed, emerging to see the Wall continuing over the rolling edge, though this wall isn't original either, this being the Clayton Wall, reconstructed in the 19th century to the correct width and profile, but dry-stoned instead of bonded, and giving the largely original stonework a second life, but the site of Milecastle 37 is an authentic one, complete with room divisions and a gate to the north that must have been virtually inaccessible? So onward as the roller coaster continues, and the looks on the faces of the walkers coming the other way is largely one of discomfort, having either had enough after a long stretch on the trail or realising that this fun short stroll has turned into something a lot more challenging, one man even warns me of the lack of wisdom of attempting a there and back along here, though I'm sure I'd choose the Roman Military Way, if I were to do that, I know it's hiding in the landscape somewhere down there below the wall. Run over the top of Cuddy's Crags and descend to meet an almost impassible drop, which requires quite a detour to get around, and even with a close examine it's hard to see what the best route down was, but I know it's one I wouldn't want to do uphill, also on the not wanting to do is the Pennine way, departing the Hadrian's wall path at Rapishaw Gap, starting the long an unforgiving slog to The Cheviot and Kirk Yetholm. Still it's another section for me to encounter for the first time as I go on westwards, Rising to the long top above Hotbank Crags, we gain some excellent panoramas to south and north, especially of the military zone between wall and vallum, and to the darkening forests above Greenlee Lough, still with a long stretch of Clayton Wall to my side and the rubble foundations of the Roman Wall beneath my feet, where I'm sure it shouldn't be.

Hotbank Farm, & Crag Lough

Every view to west or east seems to be an improvement on the one the preceded it, as the end of this high stretch give possibly the best view of the whole day, looking over the wall to Crag Lough, with the ridges of Highshield Crags, Peel Crags and Windshields Crags rising beyond it, head down the slope, past all the walkers having a hard time on the ascent and the foreground gains Hotbanks farm, adding to the bucolic splendour. Also along the decent to Milking Gap are the concealed remains of Milecastle 38, buried among some softer ground, and the farm access road looks like it was cut through some particularly unyielding rock, providing even more to a landscape with 2,000 years of human history and 295 million of geological history. My sore calf would love to take the low route to the end, but the best mile of the day is due to go down, so I cannot miss it regardless of how much pain I might be feeling, meeting actual fell runners as  ascend into the woods on Highshield Crags, above the Lough which I had always thought was a flooded quarry but is actually naturally occurring, rising from the shade to a precipitous edge that feels like it hasn't changed much since the Roman era, certainly not one to encounter if you don't have ahead for heights. Meet the wall again as we meet the first of the last four depressions of the day, descending to Sycamore Gap, where a tree has to full height at the base of it, apparently naturally and against all weather and soil conditions, and the sections of consolidated wall at its side are particularly interesting, featuring the tallest extent section on the east side, and a well executed right angled turn on the ascending edge to the west. The small hill on is called Mons Fabricus and at it's top stand a couple of foundations of medieval shelters, probably built for shepherds, residing next to the wall, and down the other side brings us to Castle Nick, where Milecastle 39 lies, possibly the most visited and easily identifiable of all the milecastles, with it's substantial low walls giving a sense of scale lost when presented with smaller foundations, this is almost imaginable as a working gatehouse.

Milecastle 39, the Definitive View

The rise up to Peel Crags gives us the definitive view of The Wall, MC 39 in the foreground with Crag Lough and the ripples of the Whin Sill beyond, and this is why I walk, to capture views like this through my own eyes, not relying on those reproduced by others, to see the sights under the best possible weather conditions. Thoughts of soreness can now pass as the end of the day draws near, even though depression three, lacking a name has to be negotiated, with only rubble foundations for company, before meeting Clayton Wall again for the descent to Turret Gap, which almost requires scrambling to reach its bottom, where an unsequenced turret resides, as the regular pattern of one milecastle and two turrets per mile had conspired to leave this particular gap unobservable from all surrounding high points.  My phone rings as I start my ascent, and it's my parents wondering on my progress, and I tell them that I am less than five minutes distant from the car park atop Steel Rigg, so they can hurry out to greet me as I reach the Half Way point on the trail, and to fail to photograph me with a recalcitrant iPad, but I'm done at 3.30pm, within the 6 hour window that I requested, again. So that's the wrap on this holiday's wanderings, all focused into one scheme without any additional trips up hills and along rivers, and right now I could happily go on for another three days as Coast to Coast is feeling like nothing right now, but you know, work and real life is going to intervene again. My leg wouldn't be up to more anyway, but despite this being the worst pain that I have endured on my walking in along time, I'm sure that I haven't torn a tendon or muscle and that I'll be happy as a clam by Friday, and even with the pain, this has been one of the single best days of walking, and walking days for that matter, that I have had in my three year odyssey. I can't wait to get back to Hadrian's Wall Path, as I know that day #4 ought to be as good as this one, but that will have to wait until late Summer when I bring my folks out for a week in Cumbria, now it's back to the regular walking zone for three months of local wandering.

Next on the Slate: Finding a new route from Home to the City for Bank Holiday Monday


1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1122.3 miles
(2014 total: 209.1 miles)

(Up Country Total: 1042.9 miles)
(Solo Total: 923.9 miles)
(Declared Total: 914.1 miles)