We stayed in a Youth Hostel in the hills in the thick of the Roman stuff. We had a family room - so 3 sets of bunk beds - on the bottom corridor so was handy for the kids who found their way round easily. The Youth Hostel staff were lovely and the hostel itself was fine - although the main living areas were freezing as one of the boilers wasn't working. The Youth Hostel was very close to Vindolanda:
The Roman army appears to have occupied the site of Vindolanda around AD 85, after the Governor, Agricola, had brought the northern tribes to bay at the battle of Mons Graupius. The Romans called the place 'Vindolanda', as many documents and an inscription confirm, perhaps because they were turning into Latin an existing native name, thought to mean 'white lawns' or something similar. The fort guarded the central section of the vital east to west supply route, known now as the Stanegate, and when the Wall was built some 40 year later, Vindolanda took its place between Housesteads and Great Chesters as a Wall fort. The early forts were built in timber, and required replacement every seven to eight years, even if there was no change in garrison, and the fifth such fort was constructed early in Hadrian's reign.
Taken from the Vindolanda website.
We were also close to Hadrian's wall and lots of other Roman sites. It was fabulous. Morgan, especially, liked it all as he is learning about some ancient civilisations at school at the moment. On the Saturday we decided to 'do' the Romans and headed off nice and early to Vindolanda on foot.
I wasn't sure that Orla would cope with such a big walk and through snow and ice so had the foresight to pack the Ergo. The moment she saw it she declared she had to go up on Mummy's back. It was nice to carry her again - it's been a long time. She was very chatty and good company. She was on my back most of the way there and then on and off while we visited Vindolanda. As we arrived they had a potter at work showing how the Romans made pots. The kids loved it and got the opportunity to use the air drying clay to make their own shapes using moulds.
Walking through the reception we were faced with a frozen fountain and a couple of statues:
The site itself was covered in ice and snow so we couldn't see all the finds. Even so it was a glorious morning and the kids had fun exploring. The snow covered up deep drops next to excavated walls so bouncy Ruaridh often found himself thigh-deep in the snow. He had taken his light sabre with him which was extremely amusing. Martin got a great shot of him in the snow:
Morgan was a little more sensible and tended to stay to the bits where you could see what you were walking on:
We came away from Vindolanda feeling pretty tired with the walk back to the Hostel looming. Morgan was fine but the rest of us were a bit grumpy. I put Orla onto my front in the Ergo and she slept all the way back and Morgan and I walked quickly. Once we were at the YHA we picked up the car and set back to pick up Ruaridh and Martin who were walking at a much slower rate. Ruaridh seemed to like diving into the snow so it was taking a while to walk!! After that we went to the Roman Army Museum. The kids were a bit restless there so we didn't really get the chance to see much. I think I would have liked to spend more time learning about the soldiers' lives but just didn't get the opportunity.
We were all a bit weary by this point (and damp) but decided to do one last visit and headed off in search of the Wall itself. It seemed silly to be spending the holiday talking about the Wall and not going to look at it - so we tried a few places and they all had too far to walk (we were tired and wet by now). Finally we tried a small place just by the YHA itself. It was perfect. There was snow, wall and great views. What do you think?
Bigger version of the panorama available here.
After all that we went back to the hostel to get dry and to eat. All in all a fantastic day out exploring Roman Northumberland. Would really recommend Vindolanda especially to anyone in the area.
Wow, sounds like you had an amazing time!
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