Monday 3 August 2009

Walking the Wall


Walking the Wall is a great idea, walking ON the Wall as so many people tend to be doing lately, is not.

I went to Willowford and Birdoswald on Saturday, lovely weather and loads of people out enjoying the day. But just about every group I came across were walking on top of the Wall.

Some had really small children and in places the Wall is over 6 ft high with an uneven top. I'm wondering who they'd sue if their child fell and was seriously injured, you can bet they wouldn't accept any blame themselves for being silly enough to allow a child up onto the Wall in the first place.

I'm not a great fan of warning signs everywhere, but I do think English Heritage should do more. Hadrian's Wall is a historic monument, yet folk treat it like an adventure playground.


The river at Willowford is one of my favourite spots, just by the bridge is a lovely area to stop for a picnic. The River Irthing is fairly shallow at this point so dogs and children can play in the water. Lots of good boulders for building dams and forts or a sculpture if you have an artistic bent.

Look out for the dippers and wagtails, on Saturday I saw a kingfisher there, a beautiful flash of flourescent blue. Amongst the stones are loads of fossils, mostly shells but sometimes plant fossils too.

Come along and enjoy our lovely area but please respect it.

Catch you later.

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