Nearly two thousand years ago, for reasons still debated, the emperor Hadrian visited Britain and made a decision. In AD122, he ordered a wall be constructed between the banks of the River Tyne near the east coast to the Solway estuary in the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wall took six years to build, and its forts and milecastles stayed occupied until the Romans left Britain three hundred years later. People have been quietly pulling it to pieces ever since, using the stone to construct everything from churches and monasteries to the Military Road that runs alongside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite their best efforts, though, over ten miles of the ancient wall still remains in small and large chunks dotted across the country. 2003 saw the opening of the Hadrian\u2019s Wall Path, which largely follows the original route of the wall and its accompanying defenses from one coast to the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I once lived in London for a few years, but I was a much lazier person back then. Long-distance hiking would have been the last thing on my mind, and as a result, I\u2019d never done it in the UK. With a summer trip around Britain already planned, and a girlfriend keen to try a multi-day hike for the first time, it was time to change that glaring omission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so it was one summer day that I laced up my walking shoes, lifted my pack onto my back, and started walking west through the Newcastle suburbs. Six days later, I dropped that pack onto the floor of the King\u2019s Arms in Bowness-upon-Solway and raised a cold pint in celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve broken this post up into two main sections, Planning and Logistics, and The Walk Itself. If you\u2019re planning your own trip and want all the details about things like weather, food and accommodation, which direction to walk, packing lists and getting to and from the trail, check out the first part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re most interested in pretty pictures, a route summary, or day to day descriptions of walking the Hadrian\u2019s Wall Path, head to the second bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or, of course, just read it all!<\/p>\n\n\n