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The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 2) – Poltross Burns Milecastle, Walltown Quarry and Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, NatureNo Comments
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Simon & I had a coffee break at Birdoswald Roman Fort & Museum prior to getting back on the road.

This is part 2 of The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure, part 1 can be read here.

My good friend Simon and I stopped for a coffee and cake break at Birdoswald Roman Fort & Museum before getting back on the road.

4. Bridge over the River Irthing
We couldn’t find this. Unfortunately I didn’t have mobile phone signal to search for it on Google Maps. We could have asked a local, but decided to drive on instead. We had a number of places on a list we still wanted to see.

5. Milecastle 48
We followed the road along Hadrian’s Wall. We saw the good signage for Milecastle 48. We parked up in the free carpark. We followed the signs, the field was muddy and we’d recommend hiking boots. From the bottom of the hill we could see train tracks that blocked our access to Milecastle 48. There’s obviously another entrance to Milecastle 48, but we decided to move on to our next destination.

6. Poltross Burns Milecastle
Poltross Burns Milecastle is well sign posted, just drive slowly due to two sharp bends with immediate turns straight after. There’s a dirt track opposite at least one big house where you can park for free. It wasn’t on our list of places to visit, we more stumbled across it accidentally. It is the remains of a Milecastle set beautifully on top of a hill with good natural light. It is well worth the short walk. Below are Essential Info and photos:

Essential Info:

  • Remains of a Roman Milecastle.
  • Highly Recommended: beautiful and a good photo opportunity with the Milecastle wall.
  • Admission Fee: Free
  • Opening Times: Always open. It is recommend that you visit in daylight. There is no street lighting and there are stairs that would be hazardous after dark.
  • Car Parking: Free on a dirt track.
  • Not suitable for wheelchair users due to stairs and no ramp access.
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Stairs to Poltross Burns Milecastle.

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A beautiful view on a bridge on the short walk to Poltross Burns Milecastle.

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Poltross Burns Milecastle is a great place to take a photo with a high wall behind you.

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Poltross Burns Milecastle Foundations/Ruins (1).

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Poltross Burns Milecastle Foundations/Ruins (2).

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Simon sat in the sun on Remains of Poltross Burns Milecastle.

7. Walltown Quarry
Walltown Quarry is a place of natural beauty. It does take you into Northumberland, meaning that any parking tickets you bought in Cumbria aren’t valid. It has a large natural duck pond, plenty of space to walk in nature (whether you prefer a short or longer walk) and a newly planted peace labyrinth.

The large duck pond is lovely. There’s lots of natural beauty to be admired. The peace labyrinth has been newly planted, but once the plants embed the walls will be about waiste height, full of colourful flowers and be reflective and peaceful. Below are Essential Info and photos:

Essential Info:

  • Walltown Quarry is a former quarry and now a place of natural beauty. It has a large natural duck pond, plenty of space to walk in nature and a newly planted peace labyrinth.
  • Highly Recommended: a place of natural beauty.
  • Admission Fee: Free
  • Opening Times: Shop open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday. Unsure of Sunday opening hours.
  • Car Parking: £4 for all day.
  • Facilities: Toilets. Reasonably priced gift shop that sells reasonably priced coffee and provides tourist information.
  • Caution: Stick to well worn paths. There are reeds covering some of the surrounding wetlands, which could be hazardous or even life threatening.
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Walltown Quarry, a bird came to visit Simon and I on one of the many picnic benches.

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View of the large natural duck pond.

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The newly planted Peace Labyrinth.

8. Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum
Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum is just passed the Roman Army Museum. We had originally decided not to visit Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum due to the admission price of £6.75 per person. We were looking for Sycamore Gap and decided to go into the reception of Vindoland for directions to Sycamore Gap. The reception staff were helpful and informed us of where we could find Sycamore Gap, showing us a map and informing us that it is a 45 minute walk from Vindoland.

Simon suggested that as it was four thirty in the afternoon that we should pop into Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum instead of walking to Sycamore Gap. I was reluctant at first, especially after our disappointing experience at Birdoswald Roman Fort & Museum. We decided to go for it and it was anything but disappointing.

Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum is a ginormous fort ruins with a surrounding town. It is well worth every penny of the admission price. There is free parking. To see and absorb everything at Vindoland will take you at least half a day. They are still excavating at Vindoland, so if you visit in another few years there’ll be even more to see.

Due to time of our arrival, we didn’t have time to see everything. So set at least half a day a side for Vindoland alone. We intend to go back next year, spend the morning in Vindoland and then the afternoon on the road continuing to follow Hadrian’s Wall and stopping at places of interest. Below are Essential Info and photos:

Essential Info:

  • Remains of a Roman Fort, Town and has a museum, cafe and gift shop.
  • Highly Recommended: It will take you at least half a day to see everything.
  • Things to do there: Walk the streets that the Romans did. Marvel at Roman architecture and planning including: sewage and drainage network (without the sewage thankfully) and under-floor heating. See both a wooden and stone turret recreation, visit the museum, listen to archaeology talks, have coffee in the cafe and checkout the gift shop.
  • Admission Fees: View here.
  • Opening Times: View here.
  • Car Parking: Free parking with a large carpark.
  • Has toilets, cafe and gift shop.
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A Roman-style Fountain in the courtyard of the entrance to Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum.

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A statue of the Goddess Juno in the courtyard of the entrance to Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum.

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Model of Vindoland Roman Fort and Town in Introduction room of Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum.

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The path to the foundations and ruins.

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Romano-Celtic Temple Remains.

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Wells and Water Tanks.

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Wooden Turret.

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Stone Turret.

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The Mausolea foundations.

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The remains of a foundation that predates the Roman settlement.

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Bath House remains.

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Building Remains.

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We walked along the main street, probably part excavated and part restored.

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A photo of a heart shaped foot stone.

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Inside the Fort remains.

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The Fort Wall.

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Inside the Fort, looking out into the Town that built up around it.

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Remains of Temple to Jupiter Dolichenus.

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Back Entrance to Fort.

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HeadQuarter Building (Principia)

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Prefect’s House Well.

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Roman builders stone carving.

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Cook brick-work on Roman remains, probably for drainage.

We had a lovely day exploring Hadrian’s Wall. We will be going back, probably about this time next year to do Vindoland Roman Fort & Museum properly, to hopefully visit Sycamore Gap and explore more new places of interest in the Northumberland side of Hadrian’s Wall.

Blog soon,

Antony



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My India Adventure (Part 1) – The Journey, First Impressions of Delhi, The Guest House & The Family

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Transportation, TravelNo Comments
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At the train station with my suitcase that I borrowed off my mum.

The Journey
I travelled by train, on Megabus and on the London Underground with plenty of walking in-between to get to Heathrow Airport.

At Heathrow I was met by Robert and Michael (Robert’s father). After big hugs had been exchanged, we boarded a British Airways (BA) flight to Delhi, India. Robert and I sat together, with Michael close by.

The BA flight was superb. Excellent service staff, that served us with a smile and timed everything on the flight perfectly. We had free food, drinks and of course alcohol. The onboard entertainment service had the latest blockbuster films and even some games that Robert and I played together. The nine hour flight felt like it flew by.

Here are some photos from plane:

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Our British Airways Plane

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Robert and I on the plane.

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A little bubbly on the flight to celebrate.

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Me tipsy on the bubbly.

We arrived at Delhi Airport which I would soon discover was so cool because of the glorious air conditioning. Robert, Michael and I had a moment of panic after a family had accidentally picked up Michael’s hand luggage and walked off the plane with it. But after a quick paced jog, the family were found and the hand luggage was safely returned. No harm done.

Then we stopped a foggy smoking room (it had no windows) so that I could feed my nicotine-addicted brain receptors and then glided through immigration, security and baggage collection without incident.

While waiting at the baggage collection, Robert took the opportunity to transform himself from Weary Traveller to Handsome Groom-to-be. It was an impressive feat and one that I understood as he hadn’t seen his fiancée Neha in quite sometime.

Stepping outside at Arrivals at Delhi Airport was like stepping into an oven on its highest setting. There were a sea of people and with lots of noise, presumably waiting to greet other travellers. Then we saw Neha – she was everything I expected and more. Gorgeous, intelligent and simply wonderful. Neha and her family helped Robert, Michael and I with our suitcases and bags into the car and then we set off away from the airport and into the city beyond.

First Impressions
My first impressions of Delhi were made in the first day or two. Delhi is a progressive city that’s under constant development. Everywhere you look infrastructure is being improved and new buildings (homes, businesses and hotels) are being built.

Driving in Delhi at first appears to be a free for all, complete with frequent sudden breaking and incessant use of horns. But the more time you send on the road, the more you realise that there’s lots of unwritten rules. That said, every car in Delhi has a body that’s covered in scratches and dents.

During the day, cows were often seen grazing at the side of the road. They were apparently owned.

At night, many dogs were seen on the streets of Delhi. These street dogs aren’t owned by anyone and have to scavenge for survival. Throughout my time in Delhi I only saw one dog on a lead that was being kept as a pet.

Delhi appeared to be a Patriarchal society. However, I was reliably informed that this is changing. More women are working, getting protection so that if they get pregnant employers can’t sack them and some are even getting maternity pay. This was good to hear and gave me the impression that Delhi is a progressively liberal city; one that’s getting more liberal as time goes by. Delhi appeared to be working towards gender equality, with other types of equality are likely to follow on from this.

The Guest House
The guest house was clean an gave Robert, Michael and I ampul space. Each of our room’s were ensuite and had air conditioning. The Wifi left a lot to be desired – but this didn’t bother me, as it turned out there would be very little time to check Facebook anyway.

Indians that call the Bathroom the Washroom. Delhi has low water pressure, so to shower you fill a big bucket (see Washroom photos below) with water and then use a smaller jug to pour water over your body as required. In my bathroom there were plugs and wiring above the toilet. I felt slightly uncomfortable with this, I growing up I had been taught that electricity and water don’t mix. But apparently there’s no health and safety in India – so I just rolled with it.

I had cold showers for three days before I realised that there was a water heater outside, wired to a plug above the toilet and that there was a separate switch in the bathroom to turn the plug socket on. The Guest House staff only spoke Hindi so I had to discover these things for myself. Here are some photos from the Guest House:

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Guest House: Room (1)

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Guest House: Room (2)

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Guest House: Washroom (1).

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Guest House: Washroom (2).

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Guest House: Washroom (3).

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Guest House: View from the balcony.

The Family
The family included Neha’s parents, Neha’s two sisters, Neha’s two brother-in-law’s and their children. They were all such lovely people. They were kind and generous and looked after Robert, Michael and I really well. We were all treated like part of the family. It was especially kind of them to treat me in this way as I was an extra who was just Robert’s friend – owe there’s my inferiority complex kicking in there. Each of the family members have left a special place in my heart. Thank you doesn’t seem like a good enough phrase to express my gratitude.

I have deliberately excluded photos of the family here, as I don’t post photos of people without permission. It was such a busy week that I did get the opportunity to ask them for their permission.

I particularly loved the family meals at the home of Neha’s parents. They were easily the best indian food I’d ever tasted – but more on that in another blog post.

On the night before Robert and Neha’s wedding, to celebrate a birthday of one of the brother-in-law’s the men in the family went to this fantastic five star hotel bar for drinks. I had a Cosmopolitan, which was buy one get one free. Just look at how fantastic the bar in this five star hotel was:

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A 5* Hotel Bar (1)

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A 5* Hotel Bar (2)

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Cosmopolitan? Why not. Buy 1 get 1 free to :).

In the next blog post in the series titled My India Adventure (Part 2) – The Wedding, I will be writing all about Robert and Neha’s Wedding. It will be coming soon, so come back for that update.

Write soon,

Antony



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Back To Penrhos Cottage & Visiting Animalarium Borth Zoo

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, NatureNo Comments
Wales Black Berries

Blackberries

Last weekend a friend and I went to stay at the lovely Penrhos Cottage for some rest and relaxation. I’ve previously stayed at Penrhos Cottage, see my blog post: Mid-Wales, Part 1: The Lovely Penrhos Cottage. We spent the time catching up, enjoying nature, watching TV and reading books. It was great to have no schedule.

On the Saturday I took the opportunity to walk up into the hills and found a private garden with some miniature buildings. I hiked further up the hills and found some abandoned slate ruins. See some photos below:

Wales Garden Buildings

Private Garden Miniature Buildings 1

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Private Garden Miniature Buildings 2

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Slate Ruins 1

Wales Slate Ruins 2

Slate Ruins 2

On the Sunday we stopped off at Animalarium, Borth’s Zoo on our way home. Animalarium is a small Zoo that also takes in unwanted pets. You can really get close and interact with the animals at this Zoo. You can even buy pots of food and feed some of the animals. This animal interaction makes it an ideal place to take children. Throughout the day it had a number of free talks about some of the animals and some opportunities to see animals getting fed. My friend and I had an enjoyable time, here are some photos of the animals:

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Animalarium: Lemur

Animalarium Monkey 1

Animalarium: Monkey 1

Animalarium: Monkey

Animalarium: Monkey 2

Animalarium Meerkats 1

Animalarium: Meerkats 1

Animalarium Meerkats 2

Animalarium: Meerkats 2

Animalarium goat

Animalarium: Goat

Animalarium Cat

Animalarium: Cat

Animalarium Wallerby

Animalarium: Wallerby

Animalarium jaguar

Animalarium: Jaguar – Sunbathing.

Animalarium bird

Animalarium: Some sort of Bird

Animalarium calf cow

Animalarium: Calf

Animalarium Pythons

Animalarium: Pythons

Animalarium pythons sign

Animalarium: Pythons Sign

Animalarium is a small Zoo and as such felt like a place that needs more financial support. My friend and I talked about maybe adopting an animal or two there, it’s something I certainly intend to do when money is less tight.

Hope you enjoyed the update and photos.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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A Night of Laughter

By Friends & Family4 Comments

A few nights ago my good friend Sye came round to see the new apartment (and hopefully me?). We went for a walk for an hour or so to realse some endorphines. I really enjoyed the walk, I should do it more often. We chatted for about 3 or 4 hours, often having more than one conversation going at once. It was fun fliting from one topic to another.

Then we settled down with some chips and watched French and Saunders – Still Alive. We laughed our socks off. We have a mutal appreciation for French and Saunders (although I am quite clearly the bigger fan – as I simply couldn’t be upstagged by Sye).

What I love about Sye is that he understands how French and Saunders make there comedy. I’ve said that when he does his live tour, I expect front row tickets.

Take Care,

Antony

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