And so to the last full day of our holiday. We had planned a trip up to Kielder Reservoir today but as our ticket from Vindolanda yesterday also provided us with admission to the Roman Army Museum we decided to take that option instead.
The museum was only around a 20 minute drive west, and it gave a great insight into the lives of the Roman soldiers - I never realised that the legions included men from all over the Roman Empire, not just Italy. There was also a great 20 minute 3D film showing a flyover of Hadrian's Wall and stories about those who manned the wall. Overall a decent visit - not sure I would pay for it in isolation but still enjoyable.
Whilst there we also had a walk around the nearby crags where the wall ran along the top of a high, almost shear escarpment which would have been extremely difficult for their enemies to attack. There was also an old quarry now filled in with water and forming part of a country park. It was now around noon so we headed back to the cottage for lunch.
After dining we jumped in the car again and this time headed west. Another 20 minutes drive and we were at Chester's Fort, another amazing Roman site. As with Housesteads Fort only part of the site has been excavated, which is quite different to Vindolanda where much of the site has been (and still is being) excavated. What was different at Chester's is that many of the walls are more intact than the other places we had visited, and you could clearly see just how deep down the excavations had been to reveal the buildings.
Our route home included a detour to Hexham for fuel for the car, and fuel for myself and Donna; that is, 'goodies' for our last night in the cottage. Tomorrow the 3hr drive back home...
The museum was only around a 20 minute drive west, and it gave a great insight into the lives of the Roman soldiers - I never realised that the legions included men from all over the Roman Empire, not just Italy. There was also a great 20 minute 3D film showing a flyover of Hadrian's Wall and stories about those who manned the wall. Overall a decent visit - not sure I would pay for it in isolation but still enjoyable.
Whilst there we also had a walk around the nearby crags where the wall ran along the top of a high, almost shear escarpment which would have been extremely difficult for their enemies to attack. There was also an old quarry now filled in with water and forming part of a country park. It was now around noon so we headed back to the cottage for lunch.After dining we jumped in the car again and this time headed west. Another 20 minutes drive and we were at Chester's Fort, another amazing Roman site. As with Housesteads Fort only part of the site has been excavated, which is quite different to Vindolanda where much of the site has been (and still is being) excavated. What was different at Chester's is that many of the walls are more intact than the other places we had visited, and you could clearly see just how deep down the excavations had been to reveal the buildings.
Our route home included a detour to Hexham for fuel for the car, and fuel for myself and Donna; that is, 'goodies' for our last night in the cottage. Tomorrow the 3hr drive back home...
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