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May 19, 2016

Brampton, Cumbria – St Martin

St Martin’s church is just down the road from the centre of Brampton village. My spies told me it has wonderful glass. The church entrance is at the far end, farthest from the village centre. It has a row of difficult steps and a firmly closed door. Despite the welcoming banner it does not look welcoming. They have a reasonable website, but it does not say when the church is open. I said to Julie “it looks locked, but I’ll give it a go”. I am so glad I did – the glass is a real wow. They are...
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April 29, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Walk 5 – Birdoswald to Walltown

On Thursday 28 April I drove over to Birdoswald Fort (NY616664) and parked there about 0930. My aim was to walk to the Roman Army Museum. There are buses back from there at 1142 and 1522 – I doubted I would make the first. It had been sunny in Hexham and was dry at Birdoswald – but it was cold. Gloves and hat on today. On my last walk I commented how nice it was to see the proper Wall – today there is lots of it. If I had read Collingwood Bruce I might have looked harder for...
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April 28, 2016

Walton, Cumbria – St Mary the Virgin

While walking Hadrian’s Wall I visited St Mary’s church in Walton. I was very good and went for a look round before I went to the Reading Room for coffee. The church is in the middle of the village NY523645. A preaching cross was erected between 850 and 950, I assume this is what is in the churchyard. In 1060 Enoch is recorded as the first Parson. In 1092 Walton was transferred from Scotland to England (or, at least that is what the noticeboard says – I’m not sure whether the border was as fixed as that), and the...
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April 27, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Walk 4 – Newtown to Birdoswald

  Saturday 16 April was a bit of a greyer, colder day. I drove to Newtown, parked the car, headed east. They are a proud village, but I wonder what happened in 2015 … The sun shone as I left the “Tidy Village (Small)”. The path follows the line of the Wall, past several farms. One lucky child has a mega-treehouse. There is a lovely bridge over the Cambeck. When the Wall was demolished in this area in 1791 it was found to be 8 feet wide and faced with large stones. The space between was filled with alternate...
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April 8, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Walk 3 – Carlisle to Newtown

Friday 8 April 2016 was a day for a walk and, even better, a walk with my Godson, his brother and mum. Clare, Finlay and Jonti live near Penrith, so they drove north, I drove west, and we met at Newtown, where the A6071 crosses the Wall just north of Brampton. There is plenty of parking. There is also a bus into Carlisle – at 0953 on a Tuesday and a Friday. When that fails, the local taxi firm advertises itself. They have a very posh bus stop for two buses a week – and the buses are now driven...
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April 6, 2016

Irton, Cumbria – St Paul

Before we drove over Hardknott we stopped at St Paul’s church, Irton. NY092005 – website. The church is up a long track off the road, and it was raining. The OS map marks “Cross” in that lovely antiquarian script it uses – but we’ll do the inside first. In 1856 the old church building was demolished and work started on a new one. The foundation stone was laid on 21 May 1856 and the new church was dedicated on 16 June 1857 – they didn’t hang around in those days! Miles Thompson of Kendal was the architect, and Lord Muncaster paid...
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April 5, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Exploration 4 – Hardknott Roman Fort

We are on the west side of Cumbria, and I think that this is a Roman Fort that Dad didn’t get to. If you want to see a map of Hardknott Pass and some photos taken in the sun, see this website. The English Heritage website has a lovely aerial photo and the note “Be careful the road is very steep”. That is the understatement of the year. Alex was driving. The drive up is about 1 in 3 with the odd hair-pin thrown in for good measure. It was exciting. We should probably apologise to Sue, Alex’s mum, for the...
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April 4, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Exploration 3 – Ravenglass Roman Fort

  April Fool’s Day – and a train ride to west Cumbria. In the real world the best April Fool is that the franchise for Northern Rail has been handed to Arriva Rail North Ltd from Serco/Abellio. They have spent thousands to remove all the Northern branding before they replace it with Northern branding. Bring back British Rail. When the sun is shining it is a lovely ride down the coast on the line from Carlisle to Barrow in Furness. At Ravenglass you can change to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and have a narrow gauge ride up into...
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April 2, 2016

Hadrian’s Wall Exploration 2 – Senhouse Museum at Maryport

After a Wall Walk and a church crawl we drove on to Maryport to go to the Senhouse Museum – website. There is also a page about the settlement here.  The Hadrian’s Wall Trust produced a 2013 leaflet called Romans in Cumbria, well worth getting hold of – I found it in Carlisle Tourist Information Centre. The Trust was wound up in 2014 as it cost too much – website – again, (as in my last blog) I could have a rant. The Museum is in a Victorian watch house, high above the shore and next to the Roman Fort. The...
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April 2, 2016

Kirkbride, Cumbria – St Bride

Having had our walk we decided to drive south to the museum at Maryport. First we stopped at St Bride’s church at Kirkbride – NY230574 – for future reference there is a car park just in front of the church. Once again we are on the site of a Roman fort. It dates to around AD 80-120 – a coin of the Emperor Trajan (circa AD 100) was found during excavation. There is a good community website here. The Stanegate was the road which ran East/West a few miles south of the Wall. It was the main supply route, and...
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