Bellingham to Bardon Mills

July 25, 2025

Today we start our tour of Roman ruins in England associated with Hadrian’s wall.

We had a pleasant breakfast at the Fountain Cafe but again, I am pretty tired of the full Scottish, now full English, so it is going to be a long summer. This little B and B was a very good value, however. They kindly packed a sandwich for us (8 pounds for one packed lunch) which we appreciated since I couldn’t see any options for lunch on the road.

The weather was cool when we started but it quickly warmed up so we pulled off a layer about 10 km in: it was a rare day where we could ride in shorts in this neck of the woods. The route today was on cycle route 68, the Pennine Way, and it was great. There was no cycling infrastructure (except signs) but the roads were tiny with virtually no traffic (and lots of sheep).

At km point 15 we came to 8 km of gravel. The first part was ideal, and although there was some elevation changes the trail was pretty dry and in good condition.

One of the locals refusing to yield the right of way.

About halfway through that dirt section we came to a much more difficult section of the Northumberland Gravel Park and the trail became more difficult with larger boulders, muddy puddles and more extreme hills. We managed okay though but it took a lot of concentration. We were out in the middle of nowhere - no cyclists, cars, or walkers - so if anything happened we would be on our own.

Not only was the gravel loose and squirrelly but the track seemed to go straight up.

We popped out and dropped down to Military Road, the main artery for cars through this area populated with sites associated with Hadrian’s Wall. Our destination today for sightseeing was Housteads, a partially excavated Roman Fort. Unbeknownst to us, we came in the back way up a farm road (and through two gates, one of which was marked "authorized vehicles only") so we arrived much nearer to the actual Fort. Usually they make you park at the foot of a big hill and then climb up to the Fort. Fortunately, they still sold tickets at a satellite ticket office nearby. The lady at the ticket office tried to upsale us on a membership to the National Trust rather than a single entry, and we had a hilarious conversation about where we planned to go in the next month where we could use the membership to our advantage. I was pretty sure that this wasn’t going to be worth it but she pressed on, even pulling out a map to try to identify our future route! In the meantime the line behind us just got longer and longer until I just turned to Dave and said no way. We slunk out of there after paying our 25 pounds (for two single entries) and then found a perch to consume our packed sandwich before walking out to the remains of the Fort.

Taking the road less traveled, this was definitely not the main entrance.

Housesteads was a Roman Fort constructed between 122 and 125, the purpose being to provide a place to patrol and control Briton tribes hostile to Rome. It is the most complete Roman Fort remaining anywhere in the world. In general, the tribes in the South were more amenable to Roman control but not so the tribes in the Northern part of Britain. Construction began in 122 and then Emperor Hadrian decided to build a wall across the center of Britain, and so some changes occurred in the final construction of Housteads. The Fort housed about 800 soldiers and was in use until the early fourth century.

As the Roman Empire deteriorated, the Fort fell into disuse and later archeological finds suggest that at the end of it's use the Fort was under constant attack.

One of the coolest things is the location of the Fort - up on dramatic Whin Sill Escarpment which allowed the soldiers to see the entire valley all the way around. Today there is little forest remaing but I wondered if the area had been more forested during Roman times.

Great views of the valley below, perfect for spotting marauding tribesmen.

After the abandonment of the Fort the area was gradually taken over by local farming. In the 16th Century this area was rife with border raids between the Scots (called Border Reivers) and the English with crime and violence pretty common. Accordingly, we also saw some defensive towers (called Bastles) constructed in the 16th Century in the abandoned Fort, used to protect local farmers from these raids.

Simple bastle (bastel or bastile) Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Many of the stones used to build the Fort were dismantled to use for building by the Britons after the abandonment.

After our tour of the site we made our way to Bardon
Mills, and the Bowes Hotel. Bardon Mills is a small village, and the Bowes Hotel is pretty much the only place in town to stay. When we arrived our room was not ready so we split a pint and waited. It was hot today and that translated to our room - which was hot too. Dave did his usual thing which was opening the windows, setting the fan up, and propping the door open (if necessary) to get air flow. It helped a lot.

We had dinner in the pub - which was the only option in town. They served Thai food Friday and Saturday so we were excited for Thai, given we were a little tired of typical British food. Unfortunately, we realized only after we tried to order, that it was Thursday, so no Thai food. They still had a green chile curry on the menu and I opted for that. Dave had to run through a number of things on the menu, several entrees were out, notwithstanding they were still listed on the blackboard menu. He wound up with a chicken and leek pot pie which turned out to be very good. We talked to three Czech women next to us who were hiking through the region. It was their last day and they were tired.

After dinner we strolled through Bardon Mills. As we left the hotel, we visited briefly with 4 gents having a pint on the outside deck. One of them gave us a suggested walking itinerary which we duly followed and enjoyed our 15 minute walk through Bardon Mills.

As we came back the same gents were there so we had a long conversation about the usual things: their little town (they were locals), our little city (Bend), politics, the state of the world, etc. After a pretty long conversation Dave did his usual pitch: We have a journal and we like to take pics of people and include them in the journal, can we take your picture? Three immediately agreed but the fourth, who was Irish, immediately got up and left the table with his pint unfinished.

We were surprised but not nearly as surprised as his friends. They said he had lived in the area for two years and they didn’t know a thing about him,other than he's never left an unfinished beer behind. Our theory is that he was involved somehow in the Troubles in Ireland (he was the right age) and doesn't want any one to know where he is living. We are just speculating, but it was very weird.

Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 2,987 km (1,855 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0