Plans for today included a couple of trips, one to the famous Vindolanda site, an amazing Roman archaeological site, and then on to Allen Banks for a small hike. However, given that we were at Vindolanda for over 4hrs we didn't have time for our second outing of the day so we'd save that for later in the week.
For obvious reasons, you need to book time slots to gain entry to Vindolanda, we were booked in at 11am. So with our tickets already purchased, we left the cottage around 10:20am for the drive up there, and in glorious sunshine.
For anyone who has any interest in history, specifically Roman history, this place is a must. It's a very big site where the Romans built a fortress and a small village outside of the fortress walls, and at one point there were around 1,000 people living at the site. In fact, they were there for over 300 years and there are a number of building levels, from the original wooden buildings to the more ornate stone ones nearer the top layers of the site. The deepest remains are around 9 metres below ground.
It's the second time we've been there, and I can honestly say that this visit was as enchanting as the first. Every year there are new sections that are being dug up, and this year was no exception; although, one lady with her trowel and brush who has been coming to dig for 20 years told us that this years dig had only just started due to lockdown. We were also told that only around 25% of the site has so far been discovered and it is estimated that it will take another 150 years to fully explore the site!
In addition to the excavated areas, there is also a small museum that houses all of the artefacts that have been dug up over the years, and to be honest seeing is believing as there are some real stars on show. Some of the jewellery, the tools that they used, even the shoes that they wore, all fairly well, and in many cases, very well preserved.
So as I say, in the end this was our only site visited today, we had to drop into Hexham for some bits on the way back and by around 4:30pm we were back at the cottage for a night in.
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