June 20, 2018

June 20, 2018

British cuisine gets a bad rap. So far the food has been outstanding, Besides Fish and Chips we have eaten three Indian and two Thai dinners. All have been delicious!

From Keswick, UK we drive an hour northeast to Hadrian’s Wall, another World Heritage Site. We started our visit at the Roman Army Museum. It gives us a good overview. The Roman Empire grew so successfully in part because of its professional standing Army. It was highly trained and organized. The Emperor Hadrian decided the Empire had grown enough and moved to consolidate the gains. In Britain, this meant building a wall 73 miles long cutting off the Scots. We learned about the life of the soldier. Most were transplants from the far reaches of the Empire.

Our next stop was Roman Vindolanda. This was a major fort and village of Roman Britannia. Built prior to and just south of the Wall, it was occupied for more than 300 years. It is still an active archeological site. We walked through the extensive ruins to the Artifact Museum. What has been found is astonishing. Besides rings, jewelry, keys, and coins, several hundred leather shoes have been recovered. They are in remarkable condition. Many have latticework uppers and iron cleats on the sole for wear resistance.

Our last stop is at Housesteads Roman Fort. It is one of 17 forts distributed along the wall. After walking around the ruins, we then followed the wall for about a half mile to the west. The wall in this area runs along the edge of an escarpment rising and falling with the terrain. It used to be 15 feet high but the stones were reused to make the pasture walls throughout the area.

Wondering how bad the Scots could have been that the Romans felt the need for a huge wall, we decide to head north and discover for ourselves. We spend the next two hours driving north through the moorland of Northumberland National Park into Scotland. We arrive in the capital, Edinburgh in time for dinner.