Walking Hadrian's Wall - Day One - Bowness to Carlisle

After a stellar breakfast and an interesting chat with two American ladies who had just finished Hadrian's wall the day before, I set off back to the little hut on the waterfront where my journey would begin. It's hard to believe that a sleepy place like Bowness would have been a busy & bustling fort two thousand years ago, it feels almost very un Roman!

But stood looking out over the estuary, you can see why the Romans built the fort at the end of the wall here. While quiet, it's very flat, giving you miles of visibility, perfect for keeping an eye on what those pesky Picts were up to! It was also a great place to land ships and sail from, given you could beach yourself on the tide and have a nice flat area to unload goods.

Another view of the wonderful coastline here along the Solway. Once I'd walked out the village, I didn't see anyone until I reached Port Carlisle, it's truly a quiet spot here! 

And here is the remains of the sea wall & harbour at Port Carlisle. Initially designed to become the main area for trade for the industrial town of Carlisle I visited earlier (and was headed to) it never really seemed to be successful. Part of it may have been the fact it cost so much to build, and the expected trade just wasn't enough. This was further reduced by the opening of the bigger docks at Silloth docks further down the coast, which took what little trade there was.

The canal had also been a major investment, and you can see the remains of the end of the canal here. It was filled in when the railway came, so much so that the original path of the canal is now gone. 

Port Carlisle was a sleepy little place, and you can even see the former platform where the railway station was, although now that's just a car park. Funny isn't it, modes of transport replacing each other. Canal replaced by railway, which in turn was replaced by road vehicles!

There's some beautiful fields as you pass, full of colour and wildlife! 

This is Drumburgh Castle, one of the defensive Peel/Pele towers from the time of the Reivers. Pay close attention as you walk past, there's carved eagles on the roof and a Roman altar too!

This part of the path is very flat, and it's easy to walk on, and you find yourself setting a good pace without too much thought about it! I was very lucky, on this day the weather was dry but not too hot, and it meant that it was an enjoyable section walking wise!

While there's very little Roman things to see along this section, there is plenty of animals and industrial history instead. These sheep were watching me closely as I walk past, but I was more interested in the raised embankment behind them that the Carlisle - Port Carlisle Railway Branch line formerly operated on.

Here's a small railway bridge, so heavily overgrown I almost missed it!

Walking along the Easton Marsh, you come across many cows, all seemly grouped together for some sort of reason. Perhaps they were all gossiping about the walkers going past them? This section seemed to have more people, I noticed a few of them, the majority going in the same direction as I was. I stopped and chatted for a bit with a chap coming the other way, who seemed pleased with the nicer weather. I didn't blame him, who wants to walk in the rain!

This made me chuckle. Winners in 2003, but not again since! 

Burgh-by-Sands is another quiet little village on the path, but actually is historically very important in two ways. There was a large fort here called Aballava, and it's the first ever recorded instance of people from Africa living & working here in Britain. Something so very important, because it proves that people of colour, particularly those from Africa have been here for almost two thousand years, and have been a part of the fabric of life here for that time, something many people try to forget, or cover over in the claim that migration is only a recent thing. Don't believe them! Second thing of note here, is that the St Michaels Church is built from stone that would have constructed the wall and fort. Several obvious Roman bits are inside the church, and particularly the bell tower, that was constructed as a defensive Pele Tower against the Reivers.

There was a very helpful lady inside the church who showed me this beautiful bit of carving in the wall of the tower, which possibly came from the altar of a Roman Temple. She also advised me there was a tap that supplied drinking water at the back of the church, which I was very grateful for. All this walking was thirsty work!

The path then follows a tree lined bridleway, between fields, and this cow was very happy to lean over the fence to say hello and lick my arm ferociously. God knows why, I couldn't think of anything I had spilt on my sleeve that could be so tasty!

Coming through the field now, this time with sheep about. This part was very muddy, and there was several moments I thought I might slip, but managed not too!

I got all excited thinking this was my first piece of Roman Wall, but alas, it was just a stone, nothing in the guide suggested it was anything more exciting! The path then loops around through Beaumont, giving you a nice little view of St Mary's Church. I took a moment to sit on a bit of the church wall and have a breather. I'd not gotten lost yet, which was a good thing! 

The path was then diverted alongside a road due to a landslip, before re-joining further along with this steep little stepped path taking you up and over a small hill, although it didn't feel like a small hill when I was walking it! It was then a case of crossing "Sourmilk Bridge", I mean what a fantastic name for a bridge. 

 

There was more opportunity to make new friends along the route, with these sheep & lambs who wanted to know what I was doing in their field, before discovering my first disappointment. There had been some flooding prior to my arrival along the River Eden, and part of the trail had collapsed in a landslip and had been washed away. There was a rather boring diversion through the suburbs and then centre of Carlisle, and I was eventually back by the castle. I was feeling pretty knackered by this point, and decided to head to the hotel I had booked up for the night. However, as I passed the cathedral I bumped into the two American women who I had chatted to at breakfast this morning, and we swapped notes and shared photos about the last leg of the journey. They had been in Carlisle all day, enjoying the sights, and the B&B owner was taking them back to the B&B for the night, before they caught the train to Scotland. We wished each other luck for the rest of our journeys, before I headed to the hotel. I just sort of crashed onto the bed for a bit, and needed an hour to just rest up, before getting changed and heading down to the restaurant. It was cheap & cheerful, I had Katsu chicken curry with rice & chips with a well earned cider, before heading back upstairs to shower and put some cream where I had been chafing. But that was the first day done. I'd walked 16.4 miles according to my Garmin, and if I'm honest, I'd only started to feel it for the final two or three. I didn't think that was too bad going!