This is the final instalment of our unscripted and unplanned day trip. So far we have ventured to Kielder Forest and Kielder Water. So where next. After a series of left and right turns we are driving along a road when.

Dad stop. That most be Hadrians Wall. Ok it could be a farm wall. But it looks Roman to me.

It was the famous Roman Wall and ten minutes later we were trying to find a parking place at a Roman Fort.

Dad this is really busy. Too busy.

Luckily after buying tickets (while son hid in the car) I was able to find an alternate way onto the site avoiding the crowds. Hopefully the sheep in the neighbouring field didn’t mind us trespassing too much. It would have been such a shame for our son to miss this piece of ancient history.

Housesteads Roman Fort was built around 124AD to help defend Hadrians Wall. The wall was 73 miles long and stretched across Northern England from the Tyne to Solway Firth. It marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire.

When it was constructed the wall was up to 20ft tall.

Housesteads is the most complete Roman fort in Britain. It stands on a stunning Northumberland escarpment. Can’t think of a more stunning location for a history lesson.

I wonder what the Romans would have made of me. Aspergers wasn’t even a word back then.

Before I could say anything he smiled and said.

Maybe they would have just said he’s on whatever Nero is on.

Back to the Fort tour. Son had obviously banked a considerable amount of information about this Fort from somewhere. No need for a guidebook.

As son was lost in a dream I wandered around the Fort silently with him. Trying to imagine what the site would have been like almost 2000 years ago. Good job the Romans installed steam underfloor heating. Would need it in summer never mind winter. Then another thought. All those years later and we are still trying to build walls. Put up barriers to try and protect our way of life. Have we learned nothing in all those years. Actually our PM is increasingly Nero like. A few other countries have their very own modern day Nero’s.

George RR Martin has revealed that Hadrians Wall provided the inspiration for Game of Thrones. The imagery of the book and it’s Wall are strong and echo that of a Hadrians Wall all those years ago. Romans stood on a huge wall marking the very edge of their civilisation. That view to the unconquerable northern lands must have been truly frightening.

Dad it’s funny when you think about it. The Romans would probably now be standing in the opposite direction, looking South and thinking the same frightening thing. A strange, scary land.

Yes England seems to have gone completely barking mad. Looking into England is a very scary prospect.

And with that we head back home. The road trip has been a great success. Especially as I only thought we would be having a random visit to somewhere local in Yorkshire.

Dad I’ve decided we need to have more road trips to make sure I visit the 12 new places. One needs to be to Scotland. Sorry Dad that might mean we are setting off before we go to bed.

93 thoughts on “Hadrians Wall”

  2. You have an amazing and very intelligent son there. And you make me want to visit this place and experience it myself. I adore history. And I have to agree Nero’s prodigy seem to be ensconced everywhere these days… to our sorrow.

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  5. Love the brilliant mind of the Aspie kid 😀 My son when he was roughly the same age as your lad said about Hadrians Wall and Stonehenge “Well that was incredibly underwhelming” and I belly laughed cos it was so dry, “meh” and he kind of look around expecting someone else to go “Glad you said it” but they didn’t so we laughed even harder.

    Visited various spots years ago including the” Circus Maximus” many years ago and was struck by how well designed, incredibly tight and hard the track was even for one horse and rider never mind chariot racing.

    Sam’s thoughts “Well maybe you’re just not as talented a horsewoman as you thought. Looks like ample room to me.. Look at that room on the turn (walking it with outstretched arms) “Look – what are you high?”

    He asked me why, given how hardcore the Romans were in all things and loved to find ways of killing people in the worst, most horrific manner, why there is no formal record of them ever having much to do with killer whales.

    Now that is a bloody good point. Romans gave them the name “Orca Orcinus” so knew the power of them all too well yet as far as we know never dared get in the water and try them out.

    The Romans were notoriously insane especially Nero I’d have thought he would be dragging people out to sea and throwing them in with wild orca. Maybe he did and was thoroughly cheesed off they were just “Hi.. hey Romans how’s it’ going? You can’t swim here we’ll help”

    Maybe that’s what did it. Maybe Nero was so embarrassed and enraged by their friendly docile nature he and the other nutjob whose name fails me turned on them.

    Enjoy the rest of your summer holidays!! xx

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      1. That’s the fella!! All I think of is the Horrible Histories version of him standing by the sea “Is it bigger than meeeeeeeee??” ;D

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      3. Oh you’re gonna send me off on a Horrible Histories fest now I’ll be still here in another seven hours giggling myself stupid at every episode!

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      6. Oh God you’ve really done it I’m sat here killing myself laughing at “Look General it’s retreating! It’s attacking again! IT’S RETREATING AGAIN!!”

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      10. I’m on “You’ve been Artois’d” right now AND DYING.

        “Whoo-hoo!” then a super quiet whispered “Yoooo-hooo” from behind a hedge.

        Then they crank up the pranks “TOP OF THE POPS LESSGO!!!!”

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      12. Totally agree it started to go wayward when it took off and “slebs” got in on it. Remember David Baddiel and some bell end doing a special it was painful. The original cast had already started dropping off the live performances and into other work before it finally died a death but it happens to every good thing.

        The original cast and writers you cannot beat. And that will be the end of that…
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        OR SO THEY THOUGHT!!!
        https://www.teachertube.com/video/bob-hale-crusades-report-448092

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      15. Helen of Troy. When I watched “Troy” and the kids were learning about it in school I died laughing and could only see / hear the Katy Price fickle Helen. Shoving grapes up her nose cos it’s boring sitting about waiting for blokes to finish a war.

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      17. Bob Hale’s reports were absolute genius. “Here comes the Stone Age and LOOK AT ALL THE STONES!!!!”

        King John signing the Magna Carta never gets old. It’s the little attention to detail / blink and you’ll miss it stuff like his Mum sniffling into her hankie “John.. my Petit courgette”, the desktop background “I Can Has Roast Swan” and the emails back and forth including one from the Pope with “What are you doing? You’re running this country like a donkey!”

        HH ruined Adam and the Ants, Sex Pistols and even Kate Bush for me but did the world of good for history lessons.

        And a 1,2,3 4 “I became a highway man…”

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      28. I’m up for it… but it’s gonna be hard to find something worse!!?

        Oh! Oh!

        I got one!

        Nikki Minaj has a worse grip on fashion sense than Boris!! 😀

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      1. Romans wouldn’t have lasted one day in Yorkshire. We’d be the ones going down forever in the record books as the most brutal of all folk that ever lived.

        “So what it were reeet… in ancient Yorkshire the men chucked big bloody bales of hay reet off top of a baler and just crushed yon buggers to death. If they weren’t dead they made ’em get up and carry it another half mile – never even offered a brew!!!”

        The sight of a Yorkshireman firing up a baling machine in summer meant a death sentence. Legend has it they even trained dogs to do their jobs and herd sheep / keep local children in check. Some say these dogs have survived and many remain even to this day.

        Romans would shit bricks and go home crying.

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      3. It’d be reet if the world were full of Yorkshire folk. Nobody would have any need to don gay apparel, give a shiny shit for speaking like they have a gob-full of marbles and best of all – we’d live almost exclusively on pie butties with smiley faces and best of all – everyone would know the meaning of a “Jiggle-pin” from birth.

        ‘KIN REAL DO! 😀

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  7. Very cool trip! I would love to visit all the ruins of the ancient world. It must be nice to have your very own personal guide with all the facts.
    I’m glad the trip was such a success that he’s excited about continuing with his 12.

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  10. Aw.. This is a wonderful post. Love all your road trip posts and yep you said about the view to the south these days. Been to the wall a few times. Our …I hesitate to use the word Latin, being as I never much learned much and got slung out eventually–class went on a trip there way back. Stayed in this youth hostel run by a dame who would put the Tory cabinet to shame, Man, she was barking. Happy memories.

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  11. Enjoy future trips together you plan and any history lessons along with it. It sounds like your son has the bug for traveling and that is brilliant.

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  13. That is so cool you have such history near you! And I am so happy you and your son had such a great time that he is excited to continue your travels. Hope the next one is another big success!

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      1. Yeah, I gotcha 😉 I’m not sure? This past year was the first year in a while they had school field trips. They didn’t do those for my older kids when they were his age so it is all kind of new to me too. Does your son’s school go on any trips?

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      2. His last school had at least one a term. The school wasn’t the most organised so you sort of kept your fingers crossed that the same number of kids would come back on the bus. But they did a bit especially if it was free. They once went to a free pre production showing of a play. Not sure they checked on the play as it ended up being MacBeth – the trip has 6 to 11 years old on. His new school had zero in the first year. Some kids got a 5 day trip to France which cost a fortune but nothing for our son.

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  16. Pingback: Hadrians Wall — A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. | Ups and Downs of Family History V2.0

      3. Ha! Numpty needs to be used in the states more often. 🙂
        Well Bo is getting a break soon–next weekend he and a friend are going to a Steve Hackett concert in Milwaukee. I’ll get a break..um…sometime. It’ll happen. 🙂

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