Hadrian's Wall

We had a lovely two nights in Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool, with friends Pete and Dot. It was good to see them again;  they have settled in nicely after eleven years working at Woodstock. We had a fairly quiet day, drove out for a look at Liverpool across the river, did our laundry, and saw “Victoria and Abdul” in the afternoon, which all enjoyed. We also enjoyed Pete’s delicious cooking, including a lovely Moroccan lamb tagine last evening.

View of Liverpool from across the river

We headed out after breakfast, northward on our way to Scotland. We stopped at the visitor centre near Hadrian’s Wall. The site was the Housesteads Fort, a Roman garrison around the fourth century. There was a good short film giving an overview, and then we walked around the ruins of the fort. The visitor centre was about a half mile above the road through the fields of sheep grazing (and leaving nice deposits on the pathway).

There isn’t much left of the fort except the foundations, but it was interesting to walk around and imagine more than 800 people living in a fairly small space. My mother was a Latin teacher and I know she would have enjoyed seeing the wall. I don’t think she ever did.

View of the centre (on R) and a working farm

Statue of Victory

Fort remains and wall in distance

Dan on the Wall

View from top of fort down toward road

We are staying the nearby small town of Haydon Bridge in the Railway Hotel, another charming facility with a bar on the ground floor and a few rooms upstairs. Tomorrow we head fro Edinburgh.