We often go to Walltown, which is just up the road, to walk our dog.
At Walltown, in days of yore, the quarrying blasted away a fair bit of Hadrian's Wall. (That was back in the days when they could do that!)
The rock (the whinstone and so on) was used for the building of many roads including the M6 and A69. When they were finished they made it into a nature park and it became part of the Northumberland National Park. It is a very attractive spot now with nature walks, a lake and ducks. There is also a cafe there which sells souvenirs of the Wall and area. It is also a very welcome spot for walkers, cyclists, day, weekend trippers, families and dog walkers of the Wall to get a cuppa and a biccie.
I went to a day long conference on Friday held by Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd. which organised my training at Vindolanda and The Roman Army Museum. You may have heard that there is a plan to light up the whole wall (as perhaps the Roman Army would have done) - all 84 miles of it. Its website can be found here. The whole event will be held on March 13th - Saturday - this year. Mercifully NOT on the Ides of March (the 15th)! Weather permitting..the sight should be stunning. They are planning to fly a plane along the entire length of it to capture it on film. There are also two big events to be held in Carlisle and at Wallsend (Segedunum).
I have volunteered to help up at Walltown Crags so you never know...I could be up there on the night!
