This little tit at the Vindolanda café proved rather flighty and a bit hard to get a photo of!

 Sniffly and Lambie at the Roman Soldier Museum

 On Hadrian's Wall

Saturday 21st June          The Longest Day!                     Cumbria / Northumberland

Robyn writes: We all slept sooo well last night, being able to stretch out and roll over in our beds! We had quite a nice sleep in and all went down to breakfast (included in the tariff at Nent Hall Hotel) which was a huge range of yummy choices of the full English Breakfast. We all had a variety of cooked foods and it was a delicious breakfast - there were also pastries, fruits, cereals etc just in case we were still hungry! Naomi, who was in charge of the breakfasts, seemed anxious that we be adequately nourished for the day ahead. We got back to the room to find an email from Cait and Mikeal announcing that they had arrived safely in Rome and were in line for the Colusseum, lucky them.

Our lovely hotel, built in the 1850s as a family home. Previous owners were the Wilson family, so Glen's wondering if he's a rellie!

After breakfast we got ourselves organised and Glenn booked out (he and Carol had been unable to book rooms here for tonight when we originally called, so Carol had found and booked alternatives. Of COURSE we then got here to find they'd had several cancellations, but it was too late by then!) We headed off for Vindolanda, our major aim for the day. This is one of the best preserved Roman fort and settlements near Hadrian's Wall, and it's an ongoing excavation. We got there just after 10 and bought the joint ticket for it and the Roman Soldier Museum up the road (10 pounds). We discovered that a guided tour was starting shortly so we just had time to take a quick look at the displays and the temple and spring area at the top of the vicus (township) before it began. Steve, our tour guide, was really knowledgeable and coped admirably with the fact that there were about 40 people in the group. Unfortunately about half of them were a school group of teenagers. Half of THEM were great kids, really interested and asking and answering questions, but the other half spent most of the time talking. The teacher in me was seething and at one stage I couldn't help myself and moved the three boys who were chatting in front of me to the back! They went like lambs and had the grace to look ashamed.

 The bath house remains in the fort

Reconstructed temple and house

Despite all this, we learned lots on the tour and found out exactly how the settlement and fort looked. The archaeology is very well preserved and helps you to picture just what it was like. We went through the vicus first and then into the fort area, then down to the museum, shop and cafe area. They also have some reconstructions of a temple, a house and a shop so you can see what the buildings looked like, and copies of valuable artefacts found there which have been relocated to other museums. One was a copy of the only remaining Roman milestone in the UK still full size and in its original position. It's on the road 300 yards away from the museum (though all of the writing has been worn away over the centuries). Carol arrived after her drive up from the south and we decided we were hungry.

We had lunch in the courtyard - very pleasant - and then went in to have a look through the museum. This had a great display of the incredible artefacts they've found at Vindolanda - because the soil there is so moist, bacteria doesn't grow, and things like wood and leather are wonderfully well preserved. They had a whole wall of leather shoes which all looked in perfect condition! We spent ages looking at the displays in there, then Lex, Glen and Carol walked up to see the original milestone but I figured the copy was good enough for me! I spent ages trying to get a decent photo of a gorgeous little blue and yellow bird that was flitting around, then headed back up to the fort where I met up with them again. We looked around a bit more and at the replicas of the wooden and stone guard posts which used to be on the wall, then headed off for the Roman Soldier Museum, 7 miles up the road.

By now it was after 3 so we had a good look around - watched an excellent 3D movie about Hadrian's Wall and had some afternoon tea. Then we headed off in search of some of the actual remaining parts of the wall. We pulled up at one and discovered to our horror that parking was a flat rate 4 pounds (around $8AUS) for each car and it was after 4pm by this stage, so no way was it worth that much! Lex, Glen and I raced up to the wall for a look while Carol stayed with the cars. It is a spectacular achievement, even with the low and robbed out bits that remain, you can see what a huge effort it would have been to construct the wall. It's amazing how it goes over such high hills. After we'd had our (free) look at the wall, we bade farewell for the day to Glen and Carol as they headed off to their B&B, and we headed back in the direction of Alston.

On the way, we saw a sign saying Lambley Viaduct, so we pulled over to check it out. It was about a half mile walk away, so we headed off along the walking trail and soon realised that we were, in fact, following an old railway line. We followed it right to the viaduct, built in 1852 and actually in use until 1976, which is huge and very, very impressive. We went down into the valley to cross the smaller bridge there and to be able to look up at the viaduct to appreciate the scale of it (difficult from the top). Unfortunately, on the way down I was a bit careless not looking where I was putting my feet and have twisted my left foot - am hoping that's not going to slow me down too much over the next few days...anyway, the viaduct was excellent and worth the walk and climb.

Lambley Viaduct

I haven't mentioned our "new" car we picked up yesterday and will have for almost a month - it's much bigger than our previous one - this is a big black Renault Scenic which seats 7 if needed and has a huge boot storage area. It also has a built in TomTom which is a real bonus! We had ordered the next size up of car as we knew that once Cait and Mikeal arrive in Scotland we'll need more boot room, and were supposed to get a Ford Mondeo or similar. We went past a Ford Mondeo yesterday and this one beats it hands down, I must say - we've done very well!

Then it was back to Nent Hall for an excellent meal and relax - as it's the longest day, it's not going to get dark for quite some time!