Hadrians Walls - Haltwhistle to Hexham (★★★★★)

This stretch of Hadrian's Wall from Haltwhistle to Hexham, is the first section of the wall I ever walked - and it spends a lot of time covering the nicest middle section of the trail.

The very best of Hadrian's Wall runs from Carlisle to Heddon-on-the-Wall - and if you don't mind long days, a three day walk stopping at Haltwhistle and Hexham along this stretch would give you an amazing three days of walking.

Today I am heading out on the train to Haltwhistle - which sits back from both Hadrian's Wall and the original line of frontier forts.

From Haltwhistle I used to head up via the road east of Haltwhistle Burn, which heads past Haltwhistle Burn Fort (just south of the lake at Cawfields - I will point it out as we pass), but have since shifted to heading up the road west of Haltwhistle Burn, which heads almost directly to Aesica Roman Fort at Great Chesters).

This fort is situated to protect the Caw Gap, where the Haltwhistle Burn crosses the wall, and this fort was completed in 128 AD.

From here we turn right and head down into Caw Gap, where we pass above Haltwhistle Burn Fort, which was part of the earlier line of Stanegate frontier forts.

The former quarry

 From here we start to head up Cawfield Crags, along a section that has steep cliffs to the north.

Hadrian's Wall

At this point the wall is not at its original height - formerly it is believed to have stood at a height of 13 to 15 feet high (4 to 4.5 meters). As such it would have been an imposing wall (rather than the front garden style wall it is today), and in many ways it is a real shame that it hasn't been maintained in the same way that other ancient sites have been. 

But at least this evidence of the wall will remain for much of the day, and so you do at least get a small real feel for how the wall would have been in Roman times. But to help you imagine it in it's former glory, here is an illustration of how the wall would have looked originally:

A computer visualization of the original wall at a milecastle

My view is that we should rebuild the wall in full. Apparently this would cost around half a billion pounds to do (in full), but although that might seem like a bit of a waste of money (it is a lot of teachers and nurses after all), it is worth remembering that this is one of the great historic sites of one of the greatest empires of all time.

Apparently the UK government debt is on track to hit £3,500 billion in any case in the current parliament, so why not let it hit £3,500.5 billion and restore one of antiquities great monuments at the same time.

 

But today, we have to accept what we have, and come to terms with the remaining bits of wall that are set to keep us company on our journey.

As we walk on, this section of the path is fairly quiet - and after reaching a road, the path heads up, as the route gains height - and this general climb continues for some time along the next section, occasionally losing a bit of height for a section before regaining height again. This continues until we reach the trig point above Winshield Crags - the highest point on Hadrian's Wall.

From here you get far reaching views over the fairly barren landscape, and up ahead you can clearly see Crag Lough, and Highshield Crags above. And you would be mad to attack this section of the wall, as the natural landscape to make the wall particularly hard to attack - with a large drop the other side of the wall to the countryside below.

Heading on, the path now starts to dip downhill - and the walking gets much busier again, as we head over the road and arrive at a car park.

From here the path meanders round, and then heads up a steep series of steps up onto Peel Crags. Heading on we reach Milecastle 39, which is fairly well preserved and which probably would have just about had views out across Crag Lough below from the front of the fort.

Milecastle 39

As we pass this milecastle we can have a wander through and walk out into Scotland - or at least what would have effectively been Scotland if this was the border between the two countries.

And having climbed back up on the other side, it is time to dip down once again, as the path heads through Sycamore Gap (UPDATE - the tree has been cut down by vandals).

The path at Sycamore Gap

Climbing back up the other side, the path continues on to join up with Crag Lough, with views out over the lake below.

Looking out across Crag Lough

Having cleared Crag Lough, the path then heads left and up to Hotbank Crags - where the path continues to bump up and down the rolling landscape.

There are a lot more ups and downs than you would expect

At the next dip in the path, it is time for walkers following the Pennine Way to head off to the left - and head north - with the Hadrian's Wall Path, and the Pennine Way having shared the same route since Thirwall Castle.

Having got past this point, the next crags to tick off are Cuddy's Crags and then Housesteads Crags - and here - after clearing a small section of woodland - we meet up with Housesteads Fort.

I have been inside here before with family, and there isn't all that much you can see inside that you can't see from the outside, but if you do pay to go in you do get to watch a video about how the fort would have looked in Roman times (someone really should make a TV series about the Roman invasion).

This was a substantial fort in it's day - and there is evidence of land cultivation on the south side of the wall near the fort, creating a bit of a small town.

Housesteads Fort visualised looking north

They set this up to how the gatehouse could have looked (presumably it would not have been so multi-coloured though?)

Having headed down the hill, the path continues on - with the remains of the wall continuing throughout this section.

Here we are passing Kennel Crags - and once again there is a sharp drop on the far side of the wall - with Bromlee Lough lying in the dip in the land below.

As the path pulls up and joins up with Sewingshields Crag, the best views of the landscape open up near the trig point.

Looking out towards Broomlee Lough

From here the long run of having some sort of wall sitting alongside, starts to break down, and next up the path heads through a small wood, coming out into flatter and less dramatic land on the other side (the wall here is effectively gone). 

The path continues along this fairly flat section, and is joined by the road (although we are separated and still walking on the fields on either side).

Further along at Teppermoor, the path crosses over and then passes through the former site of Carrawburgh Fort - where there is not much left to be seen, except the remains of a temple to Mithras. 

Temple of Mithras as reimangined

The onward path continues to be fairly flat, with limited ability to see much in the way of the original wall, and it is only when the path turns a corner that you start to once again get a view of the old wall at Black Carts. 

After a short diversion, the path continues on through more agricultural land as the landscape shifts from the wild and barren region walked previously, to a more refined and cultivated landscape. Personally I prefer the former, but there is an interesting evolution of the landscape as you head across the wall, and this is strongest as you head up to any major towns or cities.

Here the path diverts off once again, before a short stint following a minor road heading into Walwick.

At Walwick we pass Cilvrnum (Chesters) Fort, which is one of the best preserved forts along Hadrian's Wall (you have to pay to go in).

Chesters was built as a cavalry fort, but was later given over to infantry - and was situated on the North Tyne (which heads up to Bellingham from here).

Remains at Chesters - source Carole Raddato (Wikipedia)

By this point we are getting close to Hexham and - with Hexham lying off route from the perspective of the official path - there are a few alternatives for a route down.

The first option is to head down at Warwick (and follow the River Tyne Trail down and into Hexham), alternatively the Pennine Journey path takes a route down through Acomb and a third option continues on past Hill Head and down through Codlaw Hill - before heading directly south down into Hexham.

My preference - following a bit of trial and error is to take that third option, as that gives a very quiet road that acts almost as a footpath. 

As that road heads directly south on it's way towards Hexham it veers to the west, and here we meet up with a crossroads, that we head over, before following the road down to a bridge over the A69.

From here it is a straight walk down into Hexham and on to the train home.

Total Distance: 22.8 miles (16.5 miles on Hadrian's Wall Path)

Total Ascent: 2,771 feet (2,280 feet on Hadrian's Wall Path)

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Click on the link to see a writeup of the next section of Hadrian's Wall from Hexham to Newcastle.

Click on the link to see a writeup of the prior walk from Bowness-on-Solway to Haltwhistle

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 86 and 87 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Hadrian's Wall guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.