Hadrian's Wall

[poliphilo]

And so to the Wall.

More specifically to Housesteads fort. They've got a little museum there, with a wall full of altars and Germanic gods. I love the plaque of the three genii cucullati- cute little chaps in pointy hoods- who are called "gods" on the label but look more like lucky pixies to me. 

The Wall is all alone up there on the hills. You drive or walk to it on a road that is merely a metalled farm track. The fields are full of sheep. The engineers chose a natural fold in the land to string it out along, with the slope gentle on the Roman side, precipitous on the Pictish. It no longer represents any kind of national barrier. Cross it and you're still in England. Scotland doesn't happen for many more miles.

I don't understand how it can be at once so neat and so skinny. I understand that in its heyday two legionnaires could walk along the top abreast. I guess what we're looking at is a rebuild. Damn those antiquarians!

Housesteads fort is huge. It's all there- the ground-plan anyway- marked out in low walls and rubble. I liked the latrines (2nd picture) the best.

Comments

[frumiousb.livejournal.com]

great. this is a hike that I would really like to do one day.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Coast to coast. That would be something. Much of it runs through pretty bleak country.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

What a lovely and interesting place! You seem to choose lots of places of seeming calm to visit.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Most of the ones we visited on this trip are National Trust properties. I don't know if there's an American equivalent. The National Trust is a charity, sustained by private donations. We joined a week or two back (and are making sure we get our money's worth :))

[mummm.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an excellent plan.

We have a National Historical Registry for buildings, national parks ... not sure what else. My great, great grandfather's medical office/drugstore building in Lock Haven, Pa. is registered. There are rules about it not being changed in certain ways. It's permanently protected. I like that.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We also have English Heritage- which is a government agency. English Heritage specialises in buildings. The National Trust has buildings too but also owns many gardens and landscapes and stretches of coastline.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I think that perhaps those sorts of things are lumped under the National Parks system? I know that the Dunes area here is that, and lots of other places around this state.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing. These are really cool!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As always, if you're interested, there are more images in my Scrapbook- filed under Housesteads.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll do that when I get some time!

[internet-sampo.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! Thanks for the pics, I always enjoy them.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome.

[kinderheldin.livejournal.com]

I love these pictures and your thoughts on Hadrian's Wall. I've taught the history of the English language -- and it's one thing to know about the significance of Hadrian's Wall -- but to see it here (when I may never see it in my lifetime) just blows my mind.

Thanks --

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm glad.

This was my first trip to the Wall. We touched it at a single point. There are something like 80 miles of it, Mithraic temples and all sorts. I need to go back.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

A wonderful part of the world and great photos. We were there about six months ago, started walking at Housteads and went along the wall, then dropping down to Vindolanda. So atmospheric, watching the wall snaking along the whin Sill as it has for thousands of years.

And the poetry! You are on top form!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

This trip sparked something. I want to go back to the wall and see the Mithraic temple and, oh, all sorts of things we didn't have time to see.

[mara-aseachange.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I would love to visit Hadrian's Wall. All the time I lived in Lancs and Cumbria I never got round to it. And now I'm in Bucks it's a little far. But one day!

Hello, btw, I love reading your blog, not sure how I found it, a few mouse clicks and you never know where you end up!

Have a good day today :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Hi, nice to meet you :)

This was my first trip to The Wall. I've never been in the North East before (apart from driving through to Scotland and a day trip to Durham about twenty years ago) and I think I've fallen in love with it. It's a fabulous part of the country.

[mara-aseachange.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I've oft thought that the north east is one of our undiscovered delights in this country. The more I hear about Northumberland, for instance, the more I wonder why more people aren't flocking there to experience its beauty.

It's a little like the Forest of Bowland in that respect; what a wonderful part of Lancashire it is, and barely known outside local knowledge.

All to the good in a lot of ways. :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

People don't like going north- they think it's all whippets and slag-heaps.

I agree about the Forest of Bowland- it's perhaps the best kept secret of them all.