Burning Beacons Birdoswald-Connecting Light Walltown on Hadrian's Wall

A walk to Gilsland ending with Birdoswald Roman Fort. More walks can be downloaded from the Hadrian's Wall Trust/National Trail website here.
Thought it might be interesting to contrast some photos taken at the Beacons for the Diamond Jubilee (where I helped out and have blogged about) earlier this year at Birdoswald with some photos of ConnectingLight art installation at Walltown (where I helped out) later on this year. (Will definitely blog about this at some point.)

Diamond Jubilee Beacons - Hadrian's Wall - Fire!

Running around yet again. Getting excited to be involved with the lighting of Jubilee beacons tomorrow night. I'll be at Birdoswald Fort. More details of what is happening in the region from South Shields to Ravenglass are here. Come along and join in! It would be great to see you!

Beacon Lighting up time on Hadrian's Wall: 10.12pm Monday 4th June 2012

Some of the beacon lighting photos are mine from the last beacon lighting event...March 2012. I blogged about that in this post and this post.

The marvellous Caw Gap photo (second from bottom) was taken by David Taylor and is reproduced here with his permission.

More to follow...........

valete! Bye for now! Hadriana :-)

PS: I've sneaked in a photo of our B&B, Four Wynds, as well. We are full up as are most places around here. Fantastic news! It should all be great fun tomorrow night!

PPS: Check out my Twitter feed for links and events. Will try to post them here too:
  Guardian writing about Hadrian's Wall
 UK beacon lighting up times and places tomorrow night
 This details where the beacons will be along Hadrian's Wall - tomorrow night!!!!

There will also be some beacons locally at Greenhead Village (just down the road from the B&B) and at Herding Hill Farm - top of Shield Hill, Haltwhistle. Some at Hexham and Carlisle too!
Full list:
Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site beacon locations, east to west, are:
Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields
Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend
Hexham (including Acomb, Anick & Sandhoe)
Housesteads Roman Fort
Herding Hill Farm, Haltwhistle
Greenhead
Birdoswald Roman Fort
Banks/Lanercost, Burtholme Parish Council
Bewcastle
Carlisle Castle (is a closed event but other things happening in Carlisle)
Maryport at Senhouse Museum and Milefortlet 31/ Senhouse Museum
Ravenglass/Eskdale

More details are as below............................................each event has its own details.......

You might need to bring a torch (especially up on Hadrian's Wall at the forts).  You are invited at the forts (Housesteads & Birdoswald) from 9pm-10.30pm.

The official lighting time for Hadrian’s Wall beacons is 10.12pm. The beacons will be kept burning until 10.35-40pm. The Queen lights her beacon at 10.30pm.

 (All the writing in green is where you can click on the links for more information.) 

I've copied the following from hadrians-wall.org website (which is my first link above marked 'here'):

"Celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in Hadrian’s Wall Country with this unique opportunity to see 60 Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons in the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage site as part of the official Beacon lighting celebrations.
There will be 60 official beacons hosted across the World Heritage Site, each beacon representing a year of the Queen’s reign.
All Hadrian’s Wall events will be lit simultaneously at 10.12pm. All events are free. More details for the public events can be found by following the links, but in brief the primary viewing areas east to west along the World Heritage Site for visitors will be:


Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields - entertainment and Roman re-enactors from 8pm. Click here for more detail.

Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum, Wallsend - various activities during the day, and then entertainment and fireworks from 8pm. Click here for more detail

Hexham, The Abbey Grounds – music, entertainment and beacons from 19.30
Hexham, Anick - Hog Roast and community celebration at the award winning Rat Inn

Housesteads Roman Fort & Museum, Nr Hexham – free open admission to the fort from 9pm with a dedicated viewing area of the beacons that will be placed around the perimeter. Visitors are welcome to bring evening picnics to enjoy along the Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail or around the forts. Visitors advised to bring a torch and good footwear as it will be dark on completion. Click here for more.

Herding Hill Farm, Haltwhistle - an afternoon tea party serving local produce at the tea rooms, with evening beacon lighting. Click here for more detail

Birdoswald Roman Fort & Museum, Nr Haltwhistle/Brampton – free open admission to the fort from 9pm with a dedicated viewing area of the beacons that will be placed around the perimeter. Visitors are welcome to bring evening picnics to enjoy along the Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail or around the forts. Visitors advised to bring a torch and good footwear as it will be dark on completion. Click here for more.

Bewcastle, Cumbria - throughout the village and in the old Roman fort/Church, beacons located at significant points/locations around the Border countryside.

Carlisle Castle - The Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Yak-Yak youth group are hosting a community dinner within the grounds of the castle. This event is a closed event in Carlisle castle, but many events are planned in the city centre for the jubilee weekend.

Maryport - at Senhouse Roman Museum and at Milefortlet 31

Ravenglass - in the village, a community concert picnic.
There are also many other events at various locations along the World Heritage Site - we are keen for visitors to celebrate the occasion with the communities.
All Hadrian's Wall events, and many others are plotted on an interactive map at the official Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons website."

Celebramus, ergo sumus! We party, therefore we exist!

This is a photo taken of the Queen and Prince Philip and the well known local footballer, Alan Shearer, amongst others at Alnwick Gardens, June 22nd 2011. My thanks goes to a friend, Lynn, for providing this marvellous photo. (Direct link to Alnwick Gardens here.) [Nearby Alnwick Castle was a setting in some of the Harry Potter films.]

We were all invited, my friends and I, as part of a party to celebrate the achievements of Northumberland's volunteers and carers. The Queen was there at the invitation of the Duchess of Northumberland, who is Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland.

It was a very enjoyable day and a good time was had by all. It was nice to dress up for a change and the weather held good at least whilst the Queen was around...


We, at Hadriana's Villa, have a few tenuous regal connections....my husband, Nigel's father (who is still hale and hearty), spent part of World War II guarding Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at Windsor Castle. Our daughter, who likes lots of stories relating to Kings, Queens, Princesses and Princes...loves to get him to recount his memories of those times.

Nigel, during his days at the Barbican in London as House Manager, looked after all manner of Royals when they attended receptions there. There is one particular story which he will not tell - at all, at all (such is his devotion to the Royal Family). Needless to say it was all swiftly resolved thanks to his superb organisation...

and talking of organisation....I imagine that there are going to be a few Diamond Jubilee parties over the next few days and as such we'd all like to wish everyone an exhilarating Jubilee weekend! Look forward to hearing your stories over the coming days and weeks! Party on!

celebramus, ergo sumus!

We party, therefore we exist!