Hadrian's Wall, UK

Because of my interest in history, this trip along the ancient roman defensive line in the north of England had been on my bucket list for a long time. Finally, in 2023 I had an opportunity to go to Amsterdam to join a cruise and I decided to go early and make this trip with a UK bicycle tour group out of Newcastle.  

September 28

I took a one hour flight from Amsterdam to Newcastle UK.  Conveniently the Metro light rail line from the airport took me to my destination - Whitley Bay on the Western North Sea coast.  Where I stayed the evening in a BnB next to the beach.  Whitely Bay is a lovely seaside village where I was surprised to find one of the best Turkish Restaurants for dinner. 

Whitely Bay

September 29

I slept until 9:30 - still recovering from my jet lag, checked out of my hotel, walked one block, and checked into the official hotel for the bike tour.   It was a lovely mostly sunny day.  The town of Whitbey Bay has a beautiful paved promenade running for miles along the beach.  I walked about two miles encountering people almost all of which were either walking dogs, pushing baby strollers, or riding bicycles.  At 6 pm I met our tour guide (who was outstanding) and 8 other cyclists from all over including Australia, Canada, the U.S. and UK. We enjoyed getting to know one another over dinner at the nearby historic Spanish City Building. Afterwards, we were delighted to see the full autumn moon reflected on the sea.

Spanish City Building and Hotel in background	Our tour guide Jago Hart

September 30

We started the day with breakfast at 7 am.  Then everyone loaded into the tour van and a taxi and we drove two hours to the west coast and the small village of Bowness-on-Solway where we unloaded the bikes and prepared for the coast to coast ride across northern England.  The first miles followed along the wide flat estuary heading east.  We stopped at the King Edward I monument and then had lunch (minestrone soup) in Carlisle.  We left there at 2 pm and soon it began to rain, but not too heavily.  We passed through some small villages and then climbed some hills before heading down into the town of Brampton.  There we settled into a lovely BnB called the Scotch Arms Mews.

	King Edward I

October 1

We awoke to a cloudy cool morning in Brampton, had breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely morning waiting for the predicted improvement in weather later in the day.  Everyone assembled at 10 am and we headed east toward our next evening stop - the town of Haltwhistle.  A few miles east of Brampton we stopped at Lanercost Priory.  Once a large religious center and host to both King Edward I and Scotland's Robert Bruce, today it is mostly in ruins except for the active chapel itself.  The interesting part was walking through the large and very old graveyard.  The inscriptions reminded me that several centuries ago few people lived to a very old age.  As we continued just a few more miles we climbed some hills and found ourselves on top of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall.  Then we had a very steep hill which climbs up to the Roman Army Museum.  I think everyone in the group walked their bikes on at least part of that hill.  The Roman Army Museum was a highlight.  It is very well done and included a 3D movie of what the daily life of Roman troops manning the wall must have been like.  Leaving the museum we had a mostly downhill few miles to our evening stop -"The Center of Britain Hotel" in Haltwhistle where we arrived about 3:30 pm. 

	Lanercast Priory
	Hotel in Haltwhistle

October 2

After a good English breakfast, we set off east along cycle route 72 again.  After some gently rolling hills through the sheep farms, we climbed a long steep grade to Sill - the National Landscape Discovery Center which is part of Northumbria National Park.  There, most of the group walked a short way to see where the famous scenic Sycamore Gap Tree had only 4 days before been vandalized and cut down.  Then less than a mile mostly downhill we arrived at what was definitely a highlight of the trip - the ancient Roman fortress town of Vinolanda.  Here archeologists have begun to uncover a large Roman fort and town constructed even before Hadrian's Wall which served as a garrison for a couple of thousand Roman troops, some with families, from all over the Empire.  They are discovering thousands of artifacts including manuscripts describing daily living.  They estimate that it will take another 150 years to complete the excavation so the discoveries have just begun.  Leaving Vinolanda the route climbed up to the ridge and then continued over more gradual terrain for about 15 more miles to our final destination for the day - the nice Beaumont hotel in Hexam - a ride for the day of 24 miles.

Monument commemorating the Roman forces stationed at Vinolanda

October 3

Today was perfect weather for cycling.  Heading east from Hexam cycle route 72 went through some rolling hills for about the first 7 miles and then dropped into the valley and mostly followed the Tyne River toward Tynemouth. There were no great archeological sites like we had visited for the previous two days but the countryside and trail along the river was beautiful.  We peddled through Newcastle along the popular river front trail filled with pedestrians and a few other cyclists, stopped for lunch, and then continued, reaching our final destination of Tynemouth after 35 miles.  The group said there farewells and thanked our guide Jaygo, who did an outstanding job of herding all us 9 cats, keeping things safe, and sometimes filling us in on interesting historical notes.  Most of us took the Metro back to Newcastle and there split up to our different travel destinations. 

Newcastle upon Tyne	Tynemouth

 In Short

This was a great cycle trip filled with outstanding historical sites. We could feel the presence of the Romans manning Hadrian's Wall along the edge of their Empire. Although it was quite hilly the pace allowed plenty of time to relax.