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Album: Hadrians-Wall-Path:Day5-Once Brewed

1 August 2007: day 5
Start Destination Daily Miles / Total
Once Brewed Birdoswald Roman Fort 9.7 (10.2) today / 53.5 (55.75) total

It seemed like I was back on the trail just a few minutes after starting up the hill. I was cautiously optimistic about the weather. Originally rain was expected but the morning forecast looked like it may only be sporadic. With a little more luck I wouldn't get wet. There was a stiff headwind though.

I had three main objectives for the day. First was the Roman Army Museum. Second was Thirlwall Castle. Third was Birdoswald Fort. I wasn't sure how much time I would need for those and the minor sites along the route. It might be a low mileage day even without rain. I moved fast across Windshields Crags even with all the pictures I took. Then I paused for a while at the site of Great Chesters Fort were there were some interesting remains (an altar and an arch from a strongroom). There were a lot of dayhikers out for some reason that I kept leapfrogging after stopping for photos or to read about a site. I'm not sure why they were even out there. They almost never stopped to look around or read a historical marker. They just kept walking with their eyes on the grass. Anyway after another impressive set of crags I was eating a sandwich at a visitor center. It was 13:00already because I had another late start this morning. Oh well. The weather was holding. As I prepared to leave for the Museum the dayhiker group arrived? Would they be following me to learn something about the Romans? Nope.

The Roman Army Museum is almost on the site of Carvoran Fort but has finds from all over the wall system. It was smaller than I expected but I read most of the little signs so it still took time to work my way through. I finished up with a nice computer animated movie about how the wall and forts would have looked. Unfortunately when I left I walked into blowing drizzle and it didn't look like it was going to stop ever.

Thirlwall Castle proved to be a very quick stop. It was less than a mile down the Path. Just the shell of the 14th century structure remained but a helpful sign explained how it used to look. It was still raining.

Having left the ups and downs of the crags the going was easy. There was some more good wall and roman bridgework left high and dry as the river changed course. After a few more miles of this I was in Gilsland for a late lunch talking with some New Zealanders. They told me about the hostel at Birdoswald. That sounded good to me. It is located right on the grounds of the fort so tomorrow morning when it opens I can be right there to visit. They thought there might still be space for me.

That is where I am now. The view out the window is of the ruins next to the building. Thinking I might be able to update my website from here I asked the sweet old lady checking me in if there was wireless. She said "yes" but then continued on saying that I'd need to sit in the office. "Oh no, I brought my laptop." I assured her. She stared at me and had a funny expression. "Oh a laptop computer! I thought you meant radio. We don't have internet here." Who the heck is still calling radio "wireless"? Yes. Wireless radio is what I was interested in. Maybe later her and I could listen to some phonographs.

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Album created by album generator a tool by Dave MadisonSun Apr 8 12:08:59 2018



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