Day 20 Hadrain's Wall

Welcomed back to England! I didn't see this as we drove into Scotland so I walked around "The Rock" and here's what it looked like as we entered Scotland.! Pretty exciting, right?

We are on the way to Hadrian's Wall, of course, as all British history fanatics must see this part of British history. Who know how things might have turned out without the Romans? Driving south from Edinburgh, we turned right at Newcastle on the way to Housesteads Roman Fort. It is the best preserved segment of the wall so great for a one stop visit. Did you know that you can "walk Hadrian's Wall"? It's 84 miles--check out this website. I guess it must be like the Appalachian Trail in the US.

Here is what the museum thinks the fort originally looked like and below is a small part of what remains. This is the highest area of the Wall and has a great view over the countryside.

A little history of the Roman Legion--

And the locals enjoy this historic area as much as the tourists--

About 130 A.D., Emperor Hardian, ordered this huge wall built; but no one really knows his reasoning. Rome may have ruled the countryside but the people were another story. Was the wall to protect Roman Britain from the invading Scottish clans; just a border crossing and maybe a toll collection; or just something to keep the bored army busy! There were about 20,000 troops here and after building shelter there wasn't much else to do in this empty but eerie feeling land.

On to Durham for overnight