The borderlands

No trip up north is worth it if you don't visit at least a piece of Hadrian's wall (although you should avoid the bit we went to) Birdoswald Roman fort. Now where do I begin. We paid nearly 10 pounds each to enter. They had a little museum (very little, more space was given to the children's area where you could recreate a section of Hadrian's wall out of Lego, my picture will be coming up) and the actual fort was non existent. There were a few low walls left, and a few boards which actually told you nothing, and were more for the kids to interact with. We actually stopped and talked to an Australian couple, who were just as miffed as we were. Now I know full well, after two thousand years, there's not going to be much of the roman wall and fort left, but to pay 10 pounds for it was extortionate, especially when you consider that in Turkey was I paying half of that for an entire Roman city. Don't bother going, it's really not worth it. There's better preserved parts of the wall just a hundred or so metres away that you can visit for free!

Thankfully, the day got better. We found Lanercost Priory, hidden away from the masses. The priory, despite being a shell, oozed charm and beauty, and it took very little to imagine it in it's heyday! Theres something so romantic and fascinating about ruined places like that. I don't know why, but I could visit a ruin every single day of my life and I would never become bored!

It was interesting, because part of it was still in use as a church, and the site had never been fully abandoned, like most others. It was a great place to visit, and well worth an afternoon there. There's also a tea room/cafe a little bit along the road too. I'm sure you're looking forward to it!