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School Trips

The Hadrian’s Wall Walk

Notes kindly supplied by Andrew Killick.

The notes below may be of interest to those hoping to tackle the Hadrian’s Wall Walk. I did the complete walk in 6 days in spring 2003 with a small party of students and adults, and a 3 day exploration of the central section (Chesters to Birdoswald) in spring 2006 with 6 students and 9 adults. I now know some of the joys and pitfalls!

Length:

It is 84 miles long: 6 days at about 14 miles a day, eg Wallsend – Heddon on the Wall – Chollerford – Steel Rigg – Walton – Carlisle – Bowness on Solway.

Sites on the way:

I highly recommend Chesters*, Housesteads*, Vindolanda (where we had a brilliant talk about the latest archaeology), the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran near Greenhead (with the excellent “Eagle’s Eye” film of the Wall), Birdoswald, the Tullie House Museum in Carlisle and maybe the Castle* too. Those marked * are run by English Heritage, so pre-booked school parties can get in free.

Guidebook:

We had Anthony Burton’s “Hadrian’s Wall Path” (ISBN 1-85410-893-X) – very helpful with Ordnance Survey maps and descriptive text on each page.

Direction:

We went East-West, getting the comparatively boring industrial/urban bit through Newcastle over first (but the walk along the river is interesting) and ending up with delightful views over the Solway Firth towards Scotland on day 6. The book describes the walk this way round. But you are walking into the prevailing wind!

Worst moments:

Sleet or driving rain on at least two occasions when shelter was not available; painful blisters for one not so regular walker coming up the hill to Heddon on the Wall after the first 15 miles; and the general problem of 11 year olds and 15 year olds who walk at such different speeds. This needs to be thought about as one fills in the Risk Assessment form!

Accommodation:

Some people we met on the way used campsites, barns or hostels of various types each night; but beware – one party arrived exhausted at Heddon on the Wall on day 1 to find that their guest house was a mile and a half out of the village! We had a member of staff driving us by minibus to the Youth Hostel at Once Brewed (2003) or the Study Centre in Birdoswald Fort (2006) and then back to our starting point the next day. It was a great advantage not to have to keep packing and unpacking or carrying heavy loads. Both proved excellent places to stay, with helpful staff and good areas to use for evening relaxation, board games etc.

Addresses:

For Once Brewed Youth Hostel phone 0870 770 5980 or email oncebrewed@yha.org.uk . The food was fine; there were fridges to store our own food to make picnic lunches; and there was a most useful and very cheap insurance scheme in case of cancellation for last-minute illness (as happened to two of our 2003 party). I don’t have up to date prices, but it seemed very reasonable.
For Birdoswald phone 016977 47602 or email birdoswald.romanfort@english-heritage.org.uk . Here the food was really excellent, and they were quite flexible over the evening mealtime when we realised we would be arriving late on our first day. They can take parties of between 8 and 42, self-catering, B&B or Full Board (this last was £23.50 per night in 2006).

Email me if you have further questions, handrewkillickREMOVE THIS@btinternet.com .