1-10 December 2006
Part1 | Part2 | Part3 | Part4 | Part5 | Part6
Preparations
It’s been quite a difficult task planning for this trip simply because I didn’t have the time to do it. Work at the office kept me so busy that it prevented any forward planning. Only three days ago I dropped the idea of going to Scotland for which a trip in summer would be safer and more enjoyable. If not Scotland, why not the Scottish-English border? So, here I am on my way to Northumberland. The grand plan is to walk through the Northumberland National Park, traversing much of it by the Pennine Way.
Two days ago, I visited the library at Luton. All this year it has been a difficult task to get the right maps. The OS maps in the library are badly stocked. Either they are not in the collection, borrowed out, in another branch far away or simply too outdated to be of any practical use. Maps in the reference section can be photocopied but only one A4 page due to copyright restrictions. This is often inadequate but sometimes I manage with a photocopied black-and-white version. This was the case in one of my recent trips to Leicestershire. But this time, my plan to visit Northumberland was confirmed in a few minutes when I managed to find all the maps I needed. The National Park is covered by as many as three or four maps. It was unusual to find all of them. I suppose the farther you go, the easier it would be to find the maps. Add to this the wintry conditions of the north, we must conclude that what is unpopular for that season will be more beautiful in its isolation.
Sunrise near Hadrian's Wall
Yesterday and earlier today I had been busy trying to sort out accommodation. The Internet lists a great many places but many of them happen to be closed for the winter. This was the case in the town of Alnwick. Hostels of the YHA are plenty in the National Park and along the Hadrian’s Wall but when I called these places I found that information on the Internet is outdated. The YHA at Once Brewed was closed for refurbishment. Then I called the YHA at the Old Repeater Station. Someone answered to say that his mom had died recently and he was not going to open the place for some time. The YHA at Greenhead had been sold. The YHA at Bellingham had been closed for good. The YHA at Kirk Yetholm and Kielder Water had both been closed for winter. Yet another place at Kirk Yetholm had been completely booked by Polish workers. I was told that the workers will be arriving this week for the salmon and trout fishing season. But without even asking, the woman on the phone gave me the contacts of various other options in Kirk Yetholm where I could stay. There is a sense of community in small places as this. If there is any income to be obtained from tourism, those in the business try to bring that income into the village, if not for themselves.
One of the most difficult parts of the Pennine Way is the section from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm. This is a distance of about 40 km crossing the length of the Cheviot Hills. The high hills are said to be exposed to wind and rain, much like the low terrain of Dartmoor. The difficulty also lies in the remoteness of this terrain. There are only a few farms and villages in between. Finding accommodation proved very difficult. A woman named Sarah from Hownam tried her best to find something for me in that village. She has given me the contact of a family who might be willing to have me for a night. I have an alternative in Uswayford Farm. I have a few more nights to get this sorted.
Apart from these necessary details which don’t mean much to me, the real trip will begin when I arrive in Carlisle by this National Express bus for which I am waiting at London Victoria. The plan is to walk from Greenhead to Bardon Mill, from Bardon Mill to Bellingham, from Bellingham to Byrness, from Byrness to Hethpool, and finally from Hethpool to Wooler before returning to Carlisle by bus or train via Alnwick and Newcastle.
On Walls
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian’s Wall was built in the second century during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. The Romans had consolidated much of Southern England into their dominion but the northern “barbarians” remained a problem. Instead of trying to conquer them, they decided to strengthen their defences. The result was the Hadrian’s Wall, a wall that ran for about 73 miles. Along the wall, at regular intervals, they had built Roman towers, forts or castles. The castles were spaced one Roman mile apart, and we now call them milecastles. One can say that this wall signified the decline of the Roman Empire, in Britain at least, when the taste for battle and certain victory had been replaced with fear and uncertainty.
There is nothing spectacular about Hadrian’s Wall as we see it today. One must not visit it with high expectations created as a response to overzealous tourist brochures. Only a little remains of the Wall. Much of it has been pilfered by local villagers and farmers for building their own houses. Houses in those days had to be strong and fortified as neighbours were often at war. Each had to defend his ground and property. Not one of the milecastles or towers is to be seen. Only bare foundations remain. Even these so called milecastles are not really big enough to earn such a title. A large room in a house built by county councils will probably be bigger in terms of floor space.
The stones are regularly shaped, neatly laid and glued together by layers of mortar with gravel. Today the surviving wall-segments are about 5 feet high at the most. They are 4 feet thick. Even the little that remains is to be doubted. The rocks on the exposed top of the Wall are rugged, weathered and fused together in jagged array. The sides of the Wall on the other hand are more regular and neat. One cannot help but surmise some element of modern restoration. In the surrounding farmhouses and walls, one can see how these stones have been reused. Perhaps, this is how the construction of dry-stone walls began in the first place in Cumbria and Northumberland. Perhaps, the indigenous people of England learnt the making of mortar from the Romans.
There is a fundamental difference between a Roman wall and a dry-stone wall. The former is for defensive purpose and as such is strong, thick, high and fortified with mortar. The latter proclaims ownership and division of land. Although dry-stone walls, if properly constructed, are stable, they can also been brought down easily if deliberately tampered. I have seen one collapsed section of a wall. For example, this can happen if people start climbing over these walls. For this reason alone stone slabs are laid as projections into these walls. These can be used to climb from one field to the next. Today I have also seen low walls with square openings above 4 feet wide. These I suppose allow sheep to move from one pasture to the next.
Although Hadrian’s Wall once stretched from coast to coast, most of what remains are situated with the National Park. This gives us some sense of the remoteness of this part of Northumberland and the low population that it maintains. The question that comes to my mind is this: “Would the course of history been different if the wall had survived?” Perhaps, Scotland would have remained independent longer. Perhaps, the battles fought on the Cheviot Hills would have been fought at the Wall. Then again, the Wall was intended to keep the Scots out, not the English in. Perhaps, it is a good thing that it is no more, just like the Berlin Wall. Conservationists may regret that nothing much of the Wall survives. Perhaps, a millennium later their future counterparts would feel the same about the Berlin Wall. Perspectives differ and change over time. Everything that is perceived right, is right only for an age and for a people.
But if the Wall does not in itself impress, its settings are far from ordinary. The Wall has been built on the ridge of a string of hills. From far and near, one can see distinct line of the Wall snaking its way on the gentle slopes of a much wider landscape. To the south one can mark the defensive ditches and mounds. To the north one can see the wide valley, the forests, farmlands and open views within the wilder parts of the National Park.
Housesteads
The Housesteads ruins in morning sun
This is the most impressive of the Roman ruins along the Hadrian’s Wall. This fort has been built as an integral part of the Wall and its defences. The ruins are extensive with many rooms, partitions and passages. The rooms and their roofs have long gone but the foundations remain. The gates affording access into the fort are seen clearly. The remains of the granary are interesting. So are the barracks for the soldiers to stay. The early advancements of the Romans are to be admired in the latrines and in an early form of central heating. Hot air from a furnace was trapped in a hypocaust (like those seen in the Roman Baths at Bath) and circulated into surrounding rooms through channels and conduits. Floors are covered with flat stones, arranged closely to minimise gaps. On the whole, Roman engineering accomplishments are seen here, so far away in space and time.
From Housesteads are far-reaching views. The colours of life are varied. The stones are weathered grey or black. The low grass is green. The tall grass is yellow. Heather is reddish. White clouds float in a sky that is blue. Forest covers are dark green in the far distance. The valleys and hills, the peaks and plateaux, commune. Add to these, man’s moulding of the land; a perfect scene.
The Rainbow
After only four days into my weeklong trip, I realize that rainbows are quite common in Northumberland. To start with, this is a land of open country with views reaching out to the far horizons. Add to this the constant drama between the various actors of nature, you have the perfect recipe for spotting rainbows.
A double rainbow
There is a relentless battle between the sun, the clouds, the wind and the rain. If the sun seeks an unlikely ally in the clouds to suddenly surprise, the wind and the rain form a formidable attacking force. The clouds undecided as to their allegiance, either move on with the fury of the wind or linger about the green canopied hilltops to release their burden. But once in a while, perhaps weary of such inconclusive battles, they call in a temporary truce. In that one moment of peace, the sun peeps from behind a slow-moving cloud; the wind traipses along to catch its own breath; the rain falls softly in a receding curtain of mist. Everyone waits for someone to make the next move. Then the rainbow is born, and all are moved.
What is this smile of Mother Nature? What are these colours, so pure and so different? What is this perfect semi-circle of an arch that links one end of the valley to another? Indeed, for the first time in my life I got the privilege of seeing a complete semi-circle on the first day, while walking along Hadrian’s Wall. Rarer still was the double rainbow whereby two rainbows were seen, one behind another. In this landscape, I imagined the Roman auxiliaries poised with their weapons, looking beyond the Wall to the advancing arrays of warring Scots and Picts. In that moment of offensive, if a rainbow had smiled, would they have noticed? Would they have realized the futility of human existence or seen the necessity of battle and war?
In open terrain as this, it is often cold and windy. Development and movement of clouds are rapid. Rain comes and goes. So does the sun. The rainbow disappears as quickly as it is formed. Beauty is ephemeral although nature as a whole isn’t. Nature does not care for beauty. It is what it is.
