Our last day in England was incredible. We packed up the car while our hosts with the most took the kids toy shopping in town.
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| Thank you Margaret and Chris for your hospitality! |
We had one final destination before our evening ferry home. And honestly, it was a stop we were doing purely for Pete. He had dreamed of visiting Hadrian's wall for as long as I've known him (which is a very long time!). The wall was just off our drive back to the ferry so it fit in nicely with our travel plans.
We had a different fort museum in mind, but at the last minute, pulled into the parking lot for Housesteads Roman Fort (a place I'd starred on the map after doing a little research into Hadrian's wall with kids). It was the best decision!
For those who were not Classics majors at college, Hadrian's Wall marked the north-west border of the Roman Empire. It was built in stone sometime around 124AD, crossing Northern England from Newcastle to the Irish sea. All along the wall were identical forts built for the soldiers and commanders. The small museum showed the history and models of the forts.
While all that remains today is dark stone, it was known that the Romans used a lot of color. In celebration of Hadrian's Wall's 1900th anniversary (!!), a local artist, Morag Myerscough, was commisioned to recreate an original gate house that sits within the wall. She took the idea of Roman color and ran with it. She worked with the local community to get ideas for phrases and words to paint onto plywood. The painting was then carried out by individuals with intellectual disabilities in the community. The whole thing spoke to me. It brought the fort more to life to imagine the true scale (and not just the rubble that remains). We were able to climb into the gate house and see views that have not been seen for 1600 years.
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| The art installation at the top of the hill in the distance. |
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| The Roman toliets and bath house. |
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| Pete was loving it all! |
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| Stone pillars on which the floor of the commander's house stood. The pillars allowed for hot air to blow beneath the floors, heating the homes. |
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| What one of the gate houses would have loooked like (in size and design anyway!) |
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| Views of the wall to the East |
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| The Roman Empire on the left, the unknown on the right. Pete turned this photo into the album cover for his new EP! Check it out on Spotfy! |
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| Walking Hadrian's wall with his son. A man living his dream! |
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| Nature has taken over parts of the wall. This is one section where you hike on the actual wall. |
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| The wall following the natual contours |
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| I loved all the sheep that call this place home |
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| Roman toliets |
After a mind blowing visit to the Wall, it was time to head to the ferry in Newcastle. We had nicer digs on the ferry home, with a cabin on the top floor with a window. Buffet dinner and then a movie in bed while the kids slept. An easy end to a great trip!
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| Goodbye England! |
