A weekend 'oop north'

Friday, July 15, 2016
Warwick-on-Eden, England, United Kingdom
We made good time up the A1/M1, and then west along the A66 from Scotch Corner. What to do to fill in 2 hours before 3pm and check in? Brougham Castle near Penrith (yes, free with our English Heritage passes) looked worthy of a visit. 

Brougham Castle was founded in the early 1200s . What I loved was the four story keep, and the spiral staircase to the top. Amazing that it has survived so well. The castle was a formidable barrier against Scots invaders, but fell into decay after James 1's visit in 1617. But was restored by Lady Anne Clifford later on in that century. I could walk almost all the way around the top floor.
I loved the castle, but the information panels weren’t very good.

It had started raining, so we just drove past King Arthur's Round Table (a neolithic earthwork henge) and Mayburgh Henge and headed for Warwick-on-Eden. We checked into The Queens at 3pm on the dot - and didn't go out again. Too wet!

The Queens is the only pub in the village and closed down a while back; then reopened about 3 years ago concentrating on the restaurant. Friday night is steak night which is very popular. We had to sit at one of the tables in the bar - a good thing as we met lots of people due to a 19 month old called Max!

Saturday was cloudy but no rain . Off to explore Hadrian's Wall which runs 73 miles from coast to coast. We got onto the B6318 which follows the wall and our first stop was Banks East Turret which looked impressive at the time, but was just a taster for what came later.

Birdoswald Roman Fort was just along the road. Apart from the fort, turret and milecastle we saw the longest continuous stretch of wall visible today. It could be seen to the east and the west of the fort, but we only walked along the eastern part - to Harrows Scar Milecastle. We had to pay to park here, but got the money refunded because of our English Heritage membership.

Next stop was the Poltross Burn Milecastle. We walked through a field of sheep and then across a railway line and then along an overgrown path to get here. We could have parked near the old railway station in Gilsland village - it was just across the creek and along a bit. 

On to Walltown Crags . "One of the best places of all to see the Wall, dramatically snaking and diving along the crags of the Whin Sill." We had to drive along a narrow road to get to the car park. There was only one other car, but we saw a lot of walkers. I loved walking along the top, but getting up there was a bit of a challenge - stopped to admire the view a few times! We spent quite a while walking here, but nothing like the proper walkers who walk all day and then get a bus back (or vice versa of course).

Drove past a couple of spots and then called in to Housesteads Roman Fort. This was a large fort (5 acres) and a popular site with tourists. I'd done a lot of walking and it was almost 3 pm. I fancied coffee and cake and then come back tomorrow. However, after paying £4 to park we found out the cost was non-refundable this time. And I couldnt see a tea room, just a machine - so more walking! It was a "750 metre walk up a steep gradient". This fort was begun in AD 124 and was known as Vercovium (for the history buffs) . We spent over an hour here and then took the quickest road back to The Queens. Passed through Haltwistle, the centre of Britain, on the way.

We ate in the restaurant tonight - I had baked breaded Brie for a starter. Yummee. An early night.

We drove across to the B6318 at Greenhead and followed this road again. So many of the roads in England have hedges and/or trees - so no view. But the B6318 had great views. We got a photo of the village name "Twice Brewed" because according to the maps it is called "Once Brewed". The road is very straight and in some places built on top of the Wall. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Road_(Northumberland)

The only place on the Wall we particularly wanted to stop was Chesters Roman Fort & Museum. We got there soon after it opened at 10 am. It was a refreshing walk around as it was only 14C. This fort was escavated by John Clayton in the 1800s when he inherited the house and land . He became so intrigued that he purchased other properties just so he could excavate more of the wall. The museum was really interesting and the ruins themseleves had really good information boards. The garrison's bath-house down near the river was well preserved with its cold, warm and hot rooms. Or the river for a bracing dip!

We'd booked a room at Lowick in north-east Northumberland for the night so we left the Wall and headed north. Our plan was to go to the Holy Island and see Lindisfarne Priory either Sunday afternoon or the following morning. When we arrived the causeway was covered by water, so we spent the afternoon 'at the beach'. Most places we've been in England, you can't just pull over to the side of the road like we can in Australia. But we could up here - there were quite a lot of places to pull off. Then there was a kissing gate or a stile to get to the dunes. After the walk along the sand at Seahouses we carried on to Beadnell. A free carpark! This bay was full of activity . Diving, sailing, skiing, paddle-boarding, kayaking, jet skiing - and a lot of wet suits!

 The White Swan opened at 5pm and we got there soon after. Had a drink in the bar before moving into the restaurant for dinner. The young man who checked us in seemed to be the only worker there - reception, bar (with quite a few locals in it) and waiter. Busy lad! We struck up a conversation with the other 2 couples who were dining and had a pleasant evening - apart from the food. The dining room was only open to guests and the menu was very limited. Bryan's sausages were burnt. But they were extremely generous with the peas! We suspected the chef was on holiday. Breakfast the following morning cemented our suspicions. A shemozzle.

The causeway to the island was open from 6am til 1pm. We went over about 9.15. The Priory didn't open til 10, but we walked around the churchyard and the point beforehand. Lindisfarne Priory was founded by St Aidan in AD 635. It sufered a devastating raid by Viking pirates in 793.

 


 
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Comments

Tess
2016-07-20

Good one, Anne. Haven't stopped there yet, but one day we will.

alvin strowger
2016-07-20

Making feel homesick, keep on having a great time you two Purple

2025-02-17

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