Pennine Way - Day 14: Greenhead to Once Brewed

The 'Roman' Wall

Because of the visit and lack of available public transport we decided to walk this stretch of the Way in the opposite direction to our prevailing trend. So we set off from Once Brewed toward Greenhead. 

This may become a worryingly difficult to maintain tradition.

The way quickly took us up onto the Roman Wall, we were lightly laden as the YHA was kindly looking after our stuff. This section is quite complete and the wall is about two thousand years old. The stones that make the wall are much older, but this very rarely get a mention.

Scale

We walked beside,  and on (sorry) and occasionally through the wall to get different views. The general impression that I walked away with, sorry for the pun, is that the wall was actually quite new. Rebuilt, perhaps, to attract tourists to the area. But since we had walked all of this way to see it, we paid our homage to the Roman invader’s and the wall to keep out the Scot. Or, probably more likely, the wall to regulate trade so that it could be taxed.

The Roman’s were occupying land far to the north of the wall so my money is on taxation.

More wall

Maybe, as there was so little to do up here, they kept the soldiers busy by building and then defending the wall. It stands sort of chest height and the mile castles just one or two very neat layers marking the spot. All a little to convenient for me. I think that we were walking along a modern replica of a wall built on the site of an older wall; possibly but not necessarily using some of the same stones,  as the wall that was build by a geezer called Hadrian.

Call me a skeptic.

Old and New?

In one place a quarrying operation had quite happily basted through the wall, so on there is a bit of a lake instead of a bit of a wall. If it was so old who would have let them do it – unless the stone from the quarry was actually building the wall…

But either way, the wall once must have been an impressive feat. And our feet were suitably impressed.

The Wall is very up and down. But these ups and downs are not big enough to make it onto the maps. So a flattish walk turns into a surprise roller-coaster of possibly reconstructed history.

Towards the end, or maybe the beginning, of the walk we met a couple of gentlemen who were running the length of the wall, or at least the old route. We met them in a car park and they asked for directions to the wall heading East. 

1.6km Castle

‘Just up there and past the trees’ I replied, ‘It’s the big stone thing, can’t miss it’. 

Some people have no senses of humour.

A storm was brewing, pardon the pun. But it certainly brought some atmosphere to the place. The Spaniards, Germans and odd Roman in the legions must have been impressed with the weather up here. 

It is, as they say, shite.

We ended by a castle, built with one suspects the old stones from the old wall. But didn’t have time to explore. Our guests had arrived. Not before time. You can get sick of Roman, when everything is Roman.

The weather was turning English again.

The storm approaches

Then the weather really started to make it's presence know.

We ran. 

Day into night

But not quick enough.

		Cumulative
Distance Walked	10km	317km
Start Point	Greenhead
End Point	Once Brewed
Via	Hadrian’s Wall
General Comments This bit we did backwards The old wall built just in case of a Yes vote for Scottish Independence History worth less than stone

Our Other Walks

Walking Across Slovakia