Roman holiday: Forts, footpaths and fresh 空気／公表する on a walking break along Hadrian's 塀で囲む

By Wendy Driver for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 12:52 BST, 26 February 2012

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Gasping for breath, I 緊急発進するd up the 法外な石／投石する steps to the 最高の，を越す of the rocky crag. The 塀で囲む stretched as far as I could see in both directions, dipping and 飛び込み along the contours of the land like a gigantic rollercoaster.

What the Romans did for us: Hadrian's 塀で囲む is a true wonder of Britain

When Emperor Hadrian built his 塀で囲む nearly 2,000 years ago on the Roman Empire's most northerly frontier, it 延長するd 73 miles coast to coast from the Solway Firth to Wallsend on the Tyne.

Standing 16ft high and up to 12ft wide, it was an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の feat of 工学 and was 完全にするd in under ten years.

I had joined some friends to walk the most みごたえのある section, 45 miles between the Cumbrian village of Brampton and Corbridge in Northumberland.

Staying in small 迎賓館s, pubs and farmhouses, we'd 始める，決める off for a day's 引き上げ（る） with just a day-pack while our luggage was 輸送（する）d between stops. We were fully equipped with compass, whistle, 詳細（に述べる）d 公式文書，認めるs and Ordnance 調査する地図／計画するs, but they were hardly needed as all the paths were 井戸／弁護士席 defined and the waymarks 平易な to follow.

With few places to stay, we spent several nights at Saughy Rigg Farm 近づく Haltwhistle.

After breakfast in the 温室, we would hitch a 解除する with Cath, the owner, to the start of our 引き上げ（る） while, in the 早期に evening, we'd be welcomed 支援する to tea and home-made cakes. If we were too tired or footsore, we could hop on the Hadrian's 塀で囲む Bus.

The 見解（をとる）s on the walk were breathtaking. From the windswept 高さs I looked out across 広大な列s of moorland and dark forests as thunderclouds rolled in over purple mountains. Shards of sunlight pierced the 早期に-morning もや to 明らかにする／漏らす組織／臓器-麻薬を吸う cliffs at Wallston e Crags and the steely grey waters of Crag Lough.

Surprisingly, we met few other hikers along the 追跡する, even though it was 中央の-August. One woman was 'Walking for Jesus' from John O'Groats to Lands End, and another had chosen Hadrian's 塀で囲む over a two-week holiday in Barbados.

I had naively imagined the 塀で囲む was 損なわれていない, but in fact I didn't catch my first glimpse until miles into the 引き上げ（る）. 広大な／多数の／重要な chunks have disappeared over the centuries, pilfered to build churches, farms and 城s.

Lanercost Priory, a beautiful 中世 church 近づく Brampton, has been built with neatly 削減（する） Roman 封鎖するs, and on a chimney in its 廃虚d cloisters I spotted Latin engravings.

Ghosts of the past: Wendy 遭遇（する）d the centurion 'Gambax' on her long walk

一方／合間, at Aydon 城, a 防備を堅める／強化するd 13th Century manor house 近づく Corbridge, 石／投石するs from Hadrian's 塀で囲む have 設立する their way into another 塀で囲む. 石／投石するs aren't the only things that have been pilfered over the centuries: in St Oswald's Church, Heavenfield, a 完全にする Roman altar stands in the nave.

Not all the 塀で囲む was 石／投石する. At times we 引き上げ（る）d along sections where the 国境 was 示すd by an earth bank, and at others through the 'vallum', a 深い溝へはまらせる／不時着する that 供給するd extra defence. We （機の）カム across the 崩壊するing ru ins of mile-城s and watchtowers in flower-filled meadows.

Archaeological 場所／位置s dot the landscape. One day, tramping across boggy 湿地帯, we stopped to picnic in a 寺充てるd to the god Mithras. Nearby Brocolitia Fort remains unexcavated, the only hint of its 存在存在 a grassy 塚 with a carved 石／投石する厚板 in the centre.

The 塀で囲む's forts, each 住宅 1,000 men, were built to repel attacks from beyond the 国境. Housesteads, one of the best 保存するd, is perched on a high 山の尾根 where you can wander の中で the remains of 兵舎, granaries and latrines.

At the Roman Army Museum, a centurion, Gambax, 迎える／歓迎するd us in 十分な chainmail armour. 'The 兵士s carried 112lb of 道具 and marched at five miles an hour,' he told me. The museum 再開するd earlier this year with new 展示（する）s, interactive 陳列する，発揮するs and a 素晴らしい 3D film.

One of the most fascinating 場所／位置s was Vindolanda. In the Vindolanda Museum you can 熟考する／考慮する the oldest handwritten 文書s in Britain, wafer-thin 令状ing tablets used by 兵士s. You can read spidery handwriting dating from 100 AD, in letters asking for extra socks and birthday 招待s.

By the end of the holiday I was in awe of the Romans. My sense of 業績／成就 as I trudged wearily into Corbridge was short-lived. I realised that what had taken me nearly a week would have been a couple of days' march for them.