Today, I'm up at Hadrian's Wall in Northumbria, hiking a very short segment from house stays roman forts all the way to steel rig.

Hadrian's Wall is a true bucket list destination for anyone who loves hiking history or both.

It's a place to enjoy some amazing views and explore some of the most complete roman forts and settlements in the country, many of which are cared for by english heritage.

Hadrian's wall is a 73 mile long defense which originally stretched coast to coast across England.

This is a great place to walk and experience the wall because in many places it mimics the original route that people living along the frontier would have followed.

The walk I'm doing today starts at english heritage is roman forts.

House ted's follows along some mild castle's turrets, Craig's the famous Sycamore Gap and then ends at steel rig.

In total.

The walk should take around 1.5 to 2 hours.

There are a few hills, but the past and steps are kept in great condition so this walk can be enjoyed by most people.

I recommend wearing some very sturdy walking boots and because we're up north, the weather can turn on a dime so pack lots of water, a rain jacket and some sun cream.

I really recommend taking some time here at house sets to immerse yourself in the history and learn a lot more about what life was like here on the roman frontier and the best bit is if you're an english heritage member entrance is free.

How States is one of the best preserved roman forts along Hadrian's wall.

It is absolutely stunning out here with all this amazing english countryside but it does sort of seem a little bit isolated when you're first visiting but it's good to remember that this would have actually been a thriving community with soldiers and civilians settled along the wall and a little bit further south from all over the roman empire.

Imagine all of the mixing of cultures that would have been going on here.

It's absolutely fantastic.

We would have people from spain all across europe northern africa and as far east as Syria coming here and settling and you can really imagine how all of these mixing cultures would have shaped the area.

Take your time exploring the fort and then when you're ready head west along the wall to continue the walk.

Thanks so much angie for joining me on the walk today, it's really great to have you.

So we know that Hadrian started building this wall in 1 22 A.

D.

But he was coming from a line of emperors who had been working so hard on expanding the empire.

So why did he decide to build this wall?

Well with conquests problems, particularly in the frontier provinces of the empire.

And so what what Hadrian is trying to do is to put the empire in order by consolidating it by building large, impressive permanent borders.

I was just over at house heads and we talked about the community and the soldiers and the civilians from all walks of the empire were settling here, but do you know exactly how that affected the landscape and who kind of left their mark the most when we think about the wall and he's the guy who makes that initial decision, but really he's only here for a very brief time and once this vast military installations in place, Actually, there's a whole community of thousands that are here to sort of live here for many generations almost 300 years.

So the bit that we're walking today does sort of mimic the paths that especially the soldiers would have taken.

But would regular people have also kind of traversed this way to go across the country essentially.

I would imagine so yeah, when people think about Hadrian's wall, they think of it as This big imposing defensive system.

But also it was actually a means of communication and means of connecting people who lived along this, this 73 mile frontier and just to the south of where we're standing there would have been a major road, the military way and along it.

Yes, there would have been soldiers, but also there would have been people living their lives and indeed the trade of the empire would have come here in order to facilitate life here on the front.

That's really cool.

And so it actually is a really great way to immerse yourself in that sort of local history.

I really like that and I think that that's really one of the great things about.

Yes, you can come here and you can experience a real depth of archaeology at places like House Dead or you can visit the many museums that are here.

But actually you can also experience the wall in its original context, in its landscape and you're really following in the footsteps of the people that lived here almost 1900 years ago, continue west and you'll make it to the iconic sycamore gap or Robin Hood's Tree otherwise known.

If you've seen the movie Robin Hood, Prince of thieves with kevin Costner, this might look familiar.

This tree isn't from the roman period.

So it's a really cool testament to life after the wall onward to steel rig.

We've made it to the end of the walk here at steel rig where you can see one of the most amazing views along the entire wall.

Once you get to the car park over there, you can head down either to the once brewed brewery and take the bus back to house studs or if you fancy more of a walk, head down along the military walk that runs eastward all the way back to the roman fort, just make sure if you're going to take the bus that you check the timetable and plan ahead.

It was absolutely amazing.

Starting off at house ted's roman four to get a better view of how people lived along the wall.

Not just the soldiers, but everyday people just like you and me.

And then walking along the route really just solidified it and gave you a better understanding of what life was like for the romans and the britons in the second century A.

D if visiting house, dead german force inspired you to see more roman sites, then definitely check out the other english heritage roman forts and settlements along Hadrian's Wall.

Thanks so much for joining me and be sure to check it out for yourself.