July 25, 2025
A Day for Vindolanda
It’s all things Roman history in this area. And, no, I don't mean the Roman Soldier protecting my boiled egg at breakfast:
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We had scheduled another day in the area so I could get my history fix. We planned to visit another famous site Vindolanda, 4 km away. When we modified our plans in June, I couldn’t find any accommodations for two nights. If you have a car, Haltwhistle, 8 km away, is a suitable town, but on a bike its too far. I found a little b and B, Vallum Lodge, for tonight, but it meant we had to move from the Bowes Hotel. We enjoyed our breakfast, packed up and were out by 10 am (just like with a 4 pm checkin, a 10 am checkout is too early for us; we are always pressed).
Our mission today was two-fold: (1) visit a famous Roman archeological site, Vindolanda, and (2) walk along Hadrian’s Wall.
Vindolanda is the most famous Roman site in Britain and after seeing it we can see why. It was the site of nine different Roman forts from the years 85 to 370; the first five were timber forts (lasting 5 to 10 years each) and the last four were stone. Each new iteration was built literally on top of the ruins of the previous fort. This has created a rich vein of archaeological evidence. Vindolanda was built to guard the Stanegate, the Roman road between the river Tyne and the Solway Forth.
Vindolanda and other Roman forts in Britain were manned by auxiliary troops in the Roman Army. These men were recruited from lands conquered by Rome, but they were not Roman citizens. These troops were Tungrian (from Belgium), Batavian (from the Netherlands) and Valduli (Basque-speaking soldiers from Northern Spain). All of these auxiliary armies staffed Vindolanda at various times through its long history. They were not permitted to marry, so a small village of “camp followers,” including common law wives and children, sprung up outside Vindolanda and all other Roman forts. The Roman government had a template for its forts, so they all had the same basic site plan.
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Besides the usual archeological cache of coins, weapons, and pottery typically found in these sites, Vindolanda is famous because of the discovery of 850 written tablets in the 1970s. The writings on these tablets were made with pen and ink on thin wood shingles. This find was only possible due to the unusual anoxic conditions that prevented degradation of the tablets. The writing was largely decipherable and provided a window into the intimacies of Roman life (we learned about Roman underpants, birthday parties, and illnesses in the camp). The Vindolanda tablets were voted “Britain’s Top Treasure” by the British Museum.
The Birley family, who owned the site during the 1930s, were instrumental in the recent excavations and discovery of the tablets, and they still manage the site today through the Vindolanda Charitable Trust. (Unlike yesterday’s Housesteads, managed by English Heritage, Vindolanda does its own thing).
The Chesterholme Museum, attached to the site (located in the original Birley family home) was modern, excellently presented, and the Trust makes a real effort to show off its amazing finds and to educate visitors. After visiting a fair number of historical museums all over Europe in the last four years we have developed a few opinions about what works and what doesn’t. (A bit like our opinions about hotel rooms). The presentation here was workable, pleasant, chronological (near and dear to Jill’s brain) and effectively portrayed the excitement of the finding of the tablets.
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Vindolanda endeared itself to us in a weird way due to a random development. Back story: Last night the staff at the Bowes Hotel asked us to charge our bike batteries in the lobby, rather than in our room. There is more caution on the battery charging issue here in Britain. Dave duly set up our batteries and chargers in the lobby by the pool table. When we loaded up the following day my bike battery had not charged and we had no idea why. It wasn’t a drama since we only had a 6 km ride ahead of us and had the day to recharge.
So, at 10:30 am we pulled up to Vindolanda and did the usual ditzing around trying to figure out if it was safe to keep our panniers on our bikes and where to park. While we were considering our options a gentleman dashed out of the Vindolanda office and let us know that there was a charging station for e-bikes across the parking lot. In our particular circumstances, this was the ticket. We crossed the lot and Dave fussed around and plugged my bike into a charging station. I always say when you are on a bike and you really need help, people always help you. And so it goes.
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While in the Vindolanda cafe we met our second Dave and Mary of the trip. This couple was English and Dave had spent his career building gas plants in various places around the world, and Mary had been a teacher. They had traveled extensively (particularly mentioning Hong Kong before the turnover) and laughed when we told them we were going on a cruise later in the trip - to avoid logistics overload.
After a fun visit with them we spent an hour in the excellent museum (discussed above) and then made our way back to our bikes (a long walk) to see that charging was successfully accomplished on my bike. Whenever we have a “charging fail” Dave is always worried that its the charger that is malfunctioning, rather than user error, and we will need to find a new charging unit. My brain instantly goes to how to accomplish that task (Yes, I do over stress over how to fix stuff that may never happen. Dave: No she doesn't. It's just in her nature to think ahead, and bless her heart for that!). It’s really a drag that our bikes use different chargers - we were pretty ignorant when we purchased the bikes and that is a question we will ask next time
We made our way a few km by bike over to the Sill Discovery Center, a new fancy visitor’s center created as a nucleus for people walking Hadrian’s Wall. We thought to eat a light lunch in the cafe but it was disorganized and they were out of many items so we bagged it and ate a Kind bar at our bike.
We then hiked Hadrian’s Wall which I will tell you about tomorrow. One history discussion a day is enough for most readers!
At a little after 4 pm we rode half a km to Vallum Lodge, our digs for the night. I had found Vallum Lodge in some desperation as I really wanted to stay a second night in the area and places to stay were sparse. I was happy to find this b and b.
There then occurred a hilarious shit show of a stay. It started when the owner/manager sent us an email a few days before advising that she had decided not to offer dinner at the inn, despite having already signed up for it (and it was included in the cost of the stay). Instead she had booked us a reservation at the Twice Brewed Pub, down the road back by the Sill. This would mean we would have to ride back that evening on the Military Road -which is busy with no shoulder. It’s not a fun ride, but it was a short ride.
When we arrived at the Lodge the owner, Samantha, was not there and instead the door was eventually opened by one of the guests who had arrived earlier. He reported the owner wasn't there, allegedly would arrive shortly, and we should just come in and hang out for awhile. We did, and there were five of us lurking in the lounge all pretty desperate to checkin in and clean up. Fortunately the place had an excellent honor bar that included beer and crisps, and Dave made a beeline to it to make up for our lack of lunch. Samantha arrived around five o’clock with Branston, her charming spaniel who had come from the dog groomer — thus the delay. (I gathered that the dog grooming session was likely the cause of her cancelling dinner as well).
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We sat for awhile while she looked after the first guest, a Dutchmen named Arjen, who had hiked 25 km that day and was exhausted. Afterwards we got our room - all the way down the hall, as usual, but it was nice and had a great tub. After Dave went out and got the bikes organized, he hopped in the tub which was great until the hot water slowed to a trickle. He still had a good tub but not so Jill. I used his tepid water but the trickle turned to nothing and then Dave tried the cold water tap and we learned we now had no water pressure.
He went out to talk to Samantha and they proceeded to work the problem - which turned out to be that a cow had knocked open the drain valve to her 1,000 liter water tank so all the water in her tank had drained out into the field. It was Friday night but the water tank guy had agreed to come out and refill the tank, but it would be 7 pm before he could arrive.
At this point she was more stressed about the fact she had a party of 5 people still yet to arrive and she feared they would show up to no ability to clean up. So, she was madly figuring out where they could stay instead. We left to ride to dinner feeling pretty sympathetic about this challenge.
Dinner was the most indifferent dinner we have had in Britain (except maybe the gammon steak in Kirkcaldy at the Hotel Victoria). We had gyoza to start and split a "trio of pork" but it was dry and boring. However, our fellow inn guest, the Dutchman Arjen, showed up and had the table next to us so we combined tables and had a very fun conversation with him. He is a 55 year old English school teacher in the Netherlands, but his passion is equestrian riding. He has a horse and does dressage himself, and he also coaches a team of women who were to be riding in a big national championship in August upon his return. It was a significant coup that they had made these Championships and he was very excited and proud of them. He was walking Hadrian’s Wall on his own (he had hired a touring company to book his inns and carry his stuff) and he found it very demanding with various aches and pains appearing. We made Arjen write down the name of the competition and dates so hopefully we can check online and see how his team did.
Today's ride: 6 km (4 miles)
Total: 2,993 km (1,859 miles)
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