Kinnesswood to York - via Haltwhistle & Hadrians Wall

Saturday 24th July

We started our sightseeing in a town called Haltwhistle. We had been advised to go there to see some of the best of Hadrians Wall.

What we didn't know until we got there was that Haltwhistle is in the geographical centre of Britain! It was also a very charming little town.

The advice we had been given was very good as lots of Hadrians Wall was in very close proximity to Haltwhistle. Hadrians Wall was built by the Romans to keep Scots at bay. It was the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. It took only 6 to 8 years to build this wall from one side of England to the other - shame the Romans are not building the Pacific Highway!!

Anyway - here's Ray fulfilling one of his "must do's" at Hadrians Wall!

Much of the wall (as above) is mortared and solidly filled but guess what??!!...

.....some is - you guessed it - drystone!!!

It was, of course, higher in it's day and was dotted with forts along it's length.

We also went to a museum, but actually skipped the site of the current archaeological digging (Vindolanda), so we could get to York and settle in.

Once we arrived in York we went off for a walk.

York is a walled city, with much of the wall intact.

There is a war memorial near the York Minster that depicts an Australian soldier (a bit hard to tell, but it's the one on the right in this picture - squint to see the slouch hat).

This is the museum gardens entrance. Charming - and the gardens were really lovely too!

After we completed our mission of finding a "hole in the wall" (no pun intended), we decided to take a leisurely river cruise on the River Ouse.

Pictured below is one of the 4 bridges that cross the River Ouse in York. They are all different and all charming in their own way. More of that tomorrow perhaps.