Bardon Mill to Hadrian’s Wall: 5.7 km with 261/84m ascent/descent via Thorngrafton Common. Out of Bardon Mill village along country lanes and up Thorngrafton's grassy common onto Barcombe Hill, with stunning views across an upland plateau to the undulating craggy landscape that is the core and most scenic part of Hadrian's Wall Path.
Hadrian’s Wall: 13.8 km with 132/302m ascent/descent from Housesteads to B6318 near Walwick.
Initial ascent onto the very scenic Sewingshields Crags, followed by long and gentle descent into the North Tyne Valley. Sights: high presence of old structures initially (although the long section of ‘Clayton Wall’ between Housesteads and Steel Rigg has been rebuilt in the 1830s), then becoming rarer as HWP runs close to Vallum and Military Road along a broad ridge, but with the late highlight of Carrowburgh/Brocolitia Fort, Mithraeum and Well. Later still: Black Carts Turret and long stretch of Wall.
B6318 near Walwick to Hexham: 9.1 km with 62/123m ascent/descent. Along a quiet country lane into the Tyne Valley to the Watersmeet, the confluence of South and North Tyne. From there to the outskirts of Hexham along the River Tyne.
Shorter Walk: Bus Line AD122 (Haltwhistle - Hexham), stops at all noteworthy sites en route.
Lunch/Tea: Picnic or Housesteads Fort Café (700m off route); Sewingshield Shed, a self-service shed with benches (cakes, hot and cold drinks, ice creams etc); The Boathouse Inn in Bridge End. Numerous options in Hexham. See the walk directions for details.
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here.
#2026-08-01T09:33 t=swc.413.d
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All of the 20 left in Carlisle turned up, plus 1 new arrival, i.e. n=21 walkers today.
The weather was changing between cloudy and sunny and all things in-between, but also had 10 minutes or so of a sharp downpour in-store.
Down from Thorngrafton Common, 3 turned left towards Vindolanda Roman Fort to explore it and do unknown things afterwards.
The rest stayed mostly compactly together, to Housesteads Fort (Elevenses) and along the Wall to Sewingshields Milecastle (picnic lunch) to Sewingshields Farm (late lunch outside a brand new self-service shed with pub benches).
On then to Brocolitia Fort with its Temple of Mithras (just like in the basement of the Bloomberg building in the City of London).
Some weary souls took a bus on to Hexham a bit further along, and others took the same bus from Chesters Fort.
10 walked on to Hexham, not without a refreshment stop at The Boathouse Inn in Bridge End though.
Dinner for 10 at The County Hotel in Hexham, and now on the 21.08 to Carlisle.
Grand day out.
W=cloudy-or-sunny-or-a-mixture-of
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