Break for the border: Hadrian's Wall, hill walks and hot chocolate in Northumberland

By LIZ NEALE

Wide open space: The Cheviots offer challenging walks across rugged hills so you can get away from it all


It’s technically England, but rugged Northumberland leaves you with the definite impression of having one foot in Scotland.

Perhaps it’s the wild hills, sparse moorland and hardy sheep. Or maybe it’s that you hit Hadrian’s Wall – surely a signal you’ve reached border country – yet still find yourself in England for several miles as you travel north through the county’s national park. Either way, it feels a remote, beautiful part of the country and is the perfect way to get away without actually having to venture to the edge of the kingdom.

We took the train from London and chose to hire a car once we hit the true north – why waste energy battling traffic when you can relax until you hit the open roads? A detour off the A1 via the B6275 brought us to Piercebridge, now a pretty stone village but once a major Roman fort on historic Dere Street, the invaders’ trade route north. It might not have been as speedy as the motorway, but those Romans certainly knew how to build a good straight road.

We stocked up on local produce in the farm shop, continuing our Roman theme with some Birdoswald cheese, produced close to one of Hadrian’s forts on the western section of his great barricade.


Border skirmishes: Fortified farm buildings hint at the region's turbulent past, like this gate near Wooler


Hadrian’s Wall itself is not really on the Scottish Border – it runs West from Newcastle all the way beyond Carlisle, just north of the Lake District.

The Roman Emperor ordered its construction almost 2,000 years ago in AD122 – but it’s not hard to imagine the bleak life a foot soldier might have had defending the border from marauding Scots.

Housesteads Roman Fort is a great starting point. It’s a brisk ten minute walk to the fort, which is sited on the Whin Sill escarpment so the sheer cliffs add to its imposing defences.

The foundations of barrack buildings, a hospital, grain stores and the Commandant’s house have all been excavated so visitors can see what a 1,000-strong garrison would have been like. The museum has a model of the fort as it would have been, with child-sized swords so younger visitors can recreate their own border skirmishes.

We walked through the original gateways, tracing the grooves in the stones made by cartwheels so many centuries ago. Dramatic sections of the wall stretch away from the fort in either direction and we enjoyed a windswept walk in the afternoon sunshine.

Chesters Roman Fort lies a few miles east in a peaceful valley next to the lovely River North Tyne and couldn’t be more different. The Victorian museum has a vast collection of Roman carvings, but its well-preserved bathhouse was a real highlight.

The stone baths are still in place, the underfloor heating system is evident, and with its complex network of hot and cold plunge pools, steam rooms and fancy latrine system it would have been as smart as a modern day spa. If I’d been a Roman, I would have been grateful to be posted there, thank you very much.


Our holiday cottage for the week was a few miles north, outside the town of Wooler on the edge of the Northumberland National Park. It was in a converted coach house – once alongside a main thoroughfare north but now just a handful of houses criss-crossed by a network of footpaths whichever way you turned.

There was no traffic to bother us – three of the four roads into the village had deep fords only a tractor could have got through. Our noisiest neighbour was a hedgehog who visited each night and made good use of the sheltered walled garden.
We booked our holiday home through Cottages 4 You and the company had helpfully provided a list of ‘experiences’ we might want to have while we were in the north east.

They can provide information on everything from glass blowing to cookery classes and have a ‘Go Local’ guide map online, which shows locations of Go Local ‘gems’ around the country as voted for by locals and holidaymakers.

We chose some outdoorsy activities and had pointers on where to find some challenging fell walks and – if we were feeling brave – some wild swimming spots.

The quiet Ingram Valley and crystal clear River Breamish provided a misty morning of hill walking to the isolated Iron Age forts which dot the countryside.
We called at the excellent Northumberland National Park Centre in Ingram to see Iron and Bronze Age artifacts up close (some were 4,000 years old!), warm up with a hot chocolate and collect trail leaflets to read about the many forts en route.

The sun came out in time for lunch – but although the Breamish burbled past we wimped out and left the swimming costumes in the rucksacks. Perhaps a chilly September dip – no matter how inviting the water looked – was a bit ambitious.

We couldn’t spend a week here without scaling the 815m Cheviot Hill itself and enjoyed a day of fell walking in the Harthope Valley – every bit as challenging as the Lake District but blissfully empty of people. When the mists cleared the views were spectacular, all the way out to the magnificent coastline and the promise of those wide sandy beaches.


Seaside castle: Dunstanburgh Castle stands on a remote headland outside Craster and is well worth a visit


Six hours of boggy moorland made for an invigorating workout and we were more than happy to spend the next day pottering from Craster – rightly famous for its delicious kippers – to the evocative ruins of Dustanburgh Castle, battered over the centuries by the powerful North Sea.

We wound down the week with a gentle stroll through the incredible Alnwick Gardens. It’s easily a day trip in itself – never mind the enormous castle next door, famous to children everywhere as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

There’s a huge amount to see rain or shine - my favourite part was the Serpent Garden, a series of incredible water sculptures that seemed to defy gravity. Hide and seek in the Bamboo Labyrinth was spookily exciting, and the Grand Cascade formed an impressive centerpiece.

We ended our trip with a bite to eat in the Treehouse, one of the largest in the world and an amazing sight. It stands up to 60ft off the ground, has a series of rope bridges, suspended walkways, spiral staircases, and even a real log fire. A magical end to a wonderful trip.


Travel facts

Liz and Matt travelled to York on Grand Central Trains and return tickets from London Kings Cross to York cost from £69 per person, www.grandcentralrail.co.uk
They hired a car from Europcar in York, www.europcar.co.uk. Liz booked Coach House Cottage through Cottages 4 You where four night’s self-catering costs from £174.

English Heritage owns many of the castles in Northumberland as well as the historic Roman forts along Hadrian's Wall, www.english-heritage.org.uk.


source :dailymail