Form 2 – Trip to Hadrian's Wall
This year’s trip to Hadrian’s Wall was nothing if not eventful. Having overcome the usual challenges of sun-cream, water bottles, toileting and food orders, the very last thing needing to happen ere we left Belhaven Hill was for the bus window to shatter when the door was closed. But so it was.
An hour later and we were on the road, however, emergency bus and driver in tow. We started our visit at one of the most famous parts of the wall, Vindolanda. This was a Roman fort housing 500 legionaries and is being excavated every year. There is enough digging left for a further 120 years! While we were there the archaeologists dug up a Roman stylus or writing pen, made from bone or antler. It is the only one to be found thus far not made from a metal. Exciting stuff!
We had a good look round and then moved on to Housesteads fort, ten minutes down the road. On the way we passed the site of our ‘usual’ Hadrian’s Wall walk, which was Sycamore Gap, now sadly merely a stump due to idiots earlier this year hewing the 300-year-old natural beauty down with chainsaws in the middle of a night.
Housesteads was a fort for auxiliary 1,000 troops. We had a good roam around and explored an incredibly intact Roman toilet house and marvelled at the incredible aspect across the Northumbrian hills. No wonder the Romans built their fort there.
At Hexham we rushed straight to the Abbey where we saw the tombstone of Julius Flavinus and Mr. Curry deciphered the Latin inscription. Some superb fish and chips and games in the park and we were done for the day.
We arrived back after 8 p.m. and slept well that night!
