Walltown again

Despite the forecasts and early cloud, Saturday turned out to be a nice day.

Headed off to Walltown as much for the fresh air and exercise as to take photographs.

I'm not that fond of daylight photo's, I'm a bit like a bat, most comfortable when I'm out at dawn and dusk, but over the winter months the sun rises and sets well away from Hadrian's Wall.
Of course if I'm out and about the camera is with me, if not the Nikon DSLR then the Canon compact in my pocket.
On Saturday I had the Nikon, the light was good and there were clouds, proper 'chocolate box' weather.
I parked in the main Walltown car park and walked up the hill.

Walltown Quarry and picnic area

I'm feeling a bit jaded at the moment, there's only so many photographs you can take of the same scene, especially if there's not a dramatic weather condition to add that extra something.

Old quarry face with basalt pillars

I took the obligitory shot of the gnarly hawthorn tree and then wandered along the Hadrian's Wall Path, met a nice young couple from Liverpool who had stopped on their way up to Edinburgh. They seemes to be enjoying the experience so hopefully they'll come back for a 'proper' visit sometime.

Walltown Crags with a view west over the lowland towards the Solway 

Not many people about yet all but one of the folk I saw, were at some point standing on the Wall. I did say this wasn't allowed but some didn't believe me because "there are no signs to say we can't" and they're right.

I would have thought that common sense should tell you that it's not a good idea to stand on an ancient monument but have we become so used to signs telling us what we can and can't do that we no longer think for ourselves?

Walked along the top of the Crags smiling to myself that there was I telling people of the need to preserve our heritage when someone had quarried away a big chunck of the rock face and Hadrian's Wall along with it.

Someone quarried right through Hadrian's Wall

Got to Mucklebank Crag, I've never been entirely happy with photographs I've taken of this crag in the past, but the one I share with you today is the best so far, you can see the hump that is all that remains of this bit of Hadrian's Wall as it heads directly up this steep crag.

Mucklebank Crag and King Arthur's Well

To the right are the trees on top of the mound known as King Arthur's Well.
Not only Romans here but knights of the round table as well :)

I've just been looking at a superb book of photographs by Don McCullin, not his usual war photographs but photograhs of Roman ruins and blow me if he didn't have some of Hadrian's Wall, taken standing on the Wall - good job I wasn't around to see him I would have given him a right telling off!
Catch you later.

© Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail