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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Monday, 13 July 2026

Tuesday Walk - Haltwhistle to Bardon Mill (Hadrian's Wall from Cawfield Quarry to Housesteads) [Carlisle Trip]

Length: 19.5 km (12.1 mi) 
Ascent/Descent: 391/417m 
Net Walking Time: ca. 4 ¾ hours 
Toughness: 5 out of 10

Take the 09.33 Newcastle train from Carlisle, arrives Haltwhistle 10.04. 
Return trains from Bardon Mill: 14.44, 15.41, 16.40, 17.40, 18.45 etc (40 mins journey time). Buy a Bardon Mill Return.
The last (reasonably fast) trains to London from Carlisle: 18.08, 18.46, 18.54, 19.49.

Haltwhistle to Hadrian’s Wall: 4.0 km with 83/21m ascent/descent. Up out of the South Tyne Valley through the heart of the historic market town and up the Burn Gorge, full of remnants of a thick industrial past based on mining, brickworks and the power of the fast-flowing water. Then across the open upland through the Roman Military Zone, with impressive traces of Stanegate Roman Road, Haltwhistle Burn Roman Fortlet, Roman Marching Camps and Cemeteries.

Hadrian’s Wall: 8.6 km/5.4 mi, 243/154m from Cawfield Quarry to Housesteads. Steady ascent to the highest point on the HWP, at Winshield Crags, followed by undulating route along a steady line of crags, with dramatic views north across commons and moors, as well as to the south across pastures. Sights: the famous ‘Sycamore Gap’ with the stump of the ‘Robin Hood Tree’, Crag Lough, Housesteads/Borcovicium Fort (interior ticketed but can be walked around); high presence of Roman structures due to the remoteness of the area and its inaccessibility for the ‘recycling’ of rocks in farms, roads, ecclesiastical and private buildings.

Housesteads to Bardon Mill: 6.9 km with 65/242m ascent/descent via Vindolanda Roman Fort. From the undulating craggy landscape of Hadrian’s Wall core landscape down the Chainley Burn gorge and past Vindolanda Roman Fort (which preceded Hadrian's Wall).

Walk Options: Visits of Housesteads and Vindolanda Forts. Combi tickets should be available.

Lunch: Milecastle Inn (10 mins off route), Twice Brewed Inn (7 minutes off route); Once Brewed Coffee and Bakehouse at The Sill (7 minutes off route); Housesteads Fort Café (900m off route). 
 
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here.

 #2026-08-04T09:33 t=swc.413.c

 

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