Two Hundred Miles and Counting

Day 16, Greenhead to Once Brewed, 8.5 miles

Hadrian's Wall just outside of Greenhead

This was the shortest day of our entire walk (still enough to trip the odometer to 200+), designed to allow us time to explore a bit of Hadrian's Wall -- the nearly 2,000 year-old wall that at one time spanned the northern neck of England.  While most of the wall now is gone (through dereliction, decay and outright pilfering to build other castle-like structures through the years), what remains fills the imagination with Roman soldiers standing watch in the high turrets that gave them views across the Cheviots of Scotland.  And of army units standing ready at the mile-castles to assemble and repel any enemy.  From this this vantage point, we also can look back and see the profile of Cross Fell (our trekking defeated foe) looming in the midst.

It was an up-and-down day as we followed the wall along the cliffs and crags on which it was so brilliantly constructed.  A formidable defensive vantage point, the wall was built some 12-feet thick and 14-feet high with turrets, towers and forts to house Roman soldiers all along the way.  Begun in 122AD and completed in just 16 years, it's hard not to think to of the harsh conditions and considerable manpower (and inevitable loss) that framed the impressive result.

The tiny dot is Cliff headed up yet another crag along Hadrian's Wall

The pictures aren't great from today -- again because weather drove our cameras back into our packs when we stopped to don waterproofs, which has become the norm.

Before I packed my camera, I was somewhat captivated by the view of these two lonely trees on a pasture hilltop.  We had a brief discussion today about the walk and how to characterize it.  We agree it is a ONCE in a lifetime trip.  Meaning mostly that it is something we would not repeat even if the very best of weather were a temptress.  After all, there are others trails in other lands . . ..  Still, it is hard for me not to wonder  what my two lovely trees may look like on a sunny day.

Tonight we are in the town of Twice Brewed.  And it's worth repeating the story of how the town got it's name.  Apparently workers in the 1800s found the ale at the Inn too weak, and demanded it be brewed a second time (hence, twice-brewed).  Somewhat humorously, a widow running the local youth hostel early in the 20th Century determined her establishment would not serve intoxicating beverages of any kind, earning the hostel the name Once Brewed, which like the town's monniker, has endured with good humor.

Tonight, we dine in the Twice-Brewed Inn!  Tomorrow, we return to the wall, then head north towards Scotland!