Hadrian's Wall

OVERVIEW

In the year 122 - and on the orders of Emperor Hadrian - the Romans began construction on a wall that would span across the north of England - running between what are now Carlisle and Newcastle. 

Personally, I would like to see this wall be rebuilt - to give England one of the wonders of the ancient world in all it's glory - and in the middle of the wall there are parts that have at least been partly rebuilt using ancient techniques.

This wall wasn't just a defensive installation - it was a demonstration of the power of Rome - and a clear marker of the border between the civilised world, and the barbarian wilderness beyond.

As a walking trail, it is a great path to walk - and you get to enjoy both the history of the wall and also the beauty of the countryside - as the path passes between Northumberland National Park to the north and the North Pennines to the south.

Hadrian's Wall is a walk I keep returning to, but I find that these days I'm only interested in the section between Carlisle and Heddon-on-the-Wall. It is probably worth doing the far ends once, but it is this middle bit that makes this such a great walk.

Hadrian's Wall Path is officially 84 miles long. I measured 81.4 miles while walking the trail, with this increasing to 94.9 miles once I included navigation to nearby towns and train stations. In total I measured over six thousand feet of ascent (increasing to just under eight thousand including off trail ascent).

PRACTICALITIES

It is generally recommended that you walk the route from west to east - and this will keep the wind behind you as you walk this trail. 

One of the downsides of walking west to east is that the end at Wallsend can feel a bit underwhelming (in fact the whole section running through Newcastle is pretty poor in all honesty) - but you can remedy this by continuing on to North Shields, and finishing up at Arbeia Roman Fort. This is free to visit and includes a reconstructed West Gate, with views out across the sea from South Shields - providing a very fitting end to this walk.

There is a train line that runs parallel to the wall, but other than at Carlisle and Newcastle the towns tend to sit set back from the wall rather than on the wall. This can cause challenges in terms of food and accommodation - and so it can be easiest to extend your walking to head down into a town of an evening - or indeed to do the wall in sections.

It is a walk that is fairly easy to do in one go though - and for those looking for an exciting trail that is relatively achievable (yet still challenging), this might be the one for you.

Bowness-on-Solway can be reached by bus from Carlisle (the bus is fairly infrequent, but the walk to Carlisle not too far. Then Carlisle is very easy to reach by train.

Otherwise the most useful train stations along the wall are at Haltwhistle, Bardon Mill, Hexham, Corbridge and Wylam - with Newcastle again being very easy to access by train. 

The Newcastle Metro does not provide much help on the western side of Newcastle, but is well placed at the furthest end of the Hadrian's Wall Path.

STAGES

Bowness-on-Solway to Carlisle (★★★☆☆) 

From Bowness-on-Solway (accessible from Carlisle by bus), the trail begins by following a very quiet road to Port Carlisle where there is a parallel path along the river. This then crosses the road and cuts down into Glasson, and round to Drumburgh (the former site of a Roman fort).

From here we head along the head straight line of the wall to Burgh by the Sands (site of Aballava Roman Fort, and where Edward I died). From here the route cuts up to Beaumont and the countryside starts to transition from marshland into agricultural countryside.

Next the path heads through Kirkandrews on Eden and Grinsdale, before following the River Eden round to Carlisle (meeting up with Carlisle Castle while head through a park into Carlisle).

This section totals 14.2 miles of walking, with half a thousand feet of ascent.

Carlisle to Haltwhistle (★★★★★) 

From Carlisle the route heads through Rickerby Park, over the M6 and the joins up with the path of the wall just past Low Crosby. From here you are in pretty countryside, following the route of the wall as it heads through Newtown, Walton and Banks across pretty countryside.

The next section sees a lot more signs of the wall itself, with plenty of milecastles to enjoy along the way, but the real highlight comes passing Birdoswald Fort. Here there is a lot more wall to be seen - although here the path drops down substantially to cross the River Irthing.

From here there is plenty more wall to be seen on the way into Gilsland - and then after leaving this village there are great views out towards Thirwall Castle and Crag Lough.

Soon you cross over a road and the railway line, before passing Thirwall Castle on the way up onto the ridge above. From here you head up to Walltown where there is a run of undulating cliffs and steep cliff faces. 

From here the path continues on to Great Chesters, where I chose to drop down off the wall and into Haltwhistle.

The total distance walked was 25.8 miles (23.5 miles on the wall itself), with a total ascent of over two thousand feet.

Haltwhistle to Hexham (★★★★★) 

The wall can be rejoined at Great Chesters - and from here the path heads through Caw Gap and up onto Cawfield Crags. The path then continues a general ascent (with dips along the way) to reach the high point of Hadrian's Wall at Winshield Crags.

From here we start to descent down, before climbing back up at Peel Crags and then passing above Crag Lough at Highshield Crags. From here it is up onto Hotbank Crags, after which the Pennine Way leaves us to head north.

We continue on past Housestead Crags to pass Vercovicivm Fort (Housesteads) - and then on past Kennel Crags and Sewingshields Crags as we start to lose gradually start losing sight of the wall (it gets ever smaller from here).

Soon we meet up with the road (but continue to walk through the fields), and then have a long straight section passing Brocolitia Fort, before a change of direction to head slightly southeast towards Warwick.

Here we pass Chesters Fort and continue on until dropping off the path of the wall at Codlaw Hill. From here we head down into Hexham.

This section totals 22.8 miles of walking (of which 16.5 is on the trail), with under three thousand feet of ascent (a bit over two thousand on the trail).

Hexham to Newcastle (★★★☆☆) 

From Hexham, we track back up to Hadrian's Wall (same route as the end of the previous section), and turn right to head across open grassland. 

After a while the path heads over the route of the A68 (which sits on the same route as Dere Street Roman Road), and we continue to follow the path of the wall round to reservoirs near Harlow Hill.

From here we head on and past Vindobala Fort, and after getting over the A69 arrive in Heddon-on-the-Wall, with fabulous views out over the countryside below.

From here you could finish and go to Wylam, but the path continues on along the River Tyne, before having a not so great section getting through the outskirts of Newcastle, before finishing up with a nice section back along the River Tyne.

This section includes 26.8 miles of walking (22.3 miles on the trail) with under two thousand feet of ascent (just over one thousand feet of ascent on the trail). 

If you are doing the walk in one trip I would suggest heading to Wylam train station after Heddon-on-the-Wall and then walk Wylam to Wallsend on the final day.

Newcastle to Wallsend (★★☆☆) 

This section of the trail isn't great, but it does at least start well, heading along the Tyne through the centre of Newcastle. From here you head past St Peter's Marina and through the slightly run down Walkers Riverside Park.

From here the trail continues on along a cycle path, with houses on the left and industry on the right until it eventually gets round to Segedunum Roman Fort to complete the trail.

This section includes 4.9 miles of walking from the Swing Bridge in Newcastle, and a couple hundred feet of ascent.

Arbeia Roman Fort

My recommendation is to extend the walk very slightly - and to either walk on to the North Shields Ferry, hop onto the Metro and use that to continue on to North Shields (from Wallsend/). From here you can catch the Shields Ferry to South Shields and head over to Arbeia Roman Fort.

This is one of the best Roman sites I have stumbled across on my travels - and it is also free to visit.

The highlight is the reconstructed West Gate - and this fort was twinned with Segedunum fort at Wallsend. And whilst Segedunum is mostly just an empty field, this spot right here feels to me like the perfect ending to a walk along Hadrian's Wall (ideally with a photo in front of the gates).