Up this morning about 6 to another lovely day, and down for breakfast about 7:30 am. Really hated to leave this lovely Hilton, that’s for sure! Finally out and into the car about 9, and back on the road and heading toward Hadrian’s Wall. As soon as possible, we wanted to get off the main highway and onto the much smaller back roads. Managed that around Haddon-on-the-Hill, and worked our way to Corbridge.
Corbridge was our very first connection with Hadrian’s Wall the very first time we headed up in this direction, countless years ago. (And when I say countless, I’m thinking … 40 years ago??) We stayed at the Angel of Corbridge – which is still there, by the way – but then, it looks from the outside, that things have definitely improved quite a bit! I’m thinking, for instance, that they probably have en suite rooms now, for instance! At any rate, we both have quite a sentimental attachment to Corbridge. Arthur and Anne Vaughan joined us there once, when Arthur and Robert had to do some testing on a new lens that Grubb-Parsons in Newcastle was building for the 48” telescope at Palomar. I remember we all having dinner at a restaurant (not there now) called Panache, which was supposedly haunted! Won’t even tell you about the sole that skipped across the floor, apparently as a result of a ghostly intervention … I will tell you that the sole wasn’t mine. At any rate, I have lots of good memories of Corbridge, and wanted to look around and refresh them!
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| Heading out of Newcastle |
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| Bucolic England! |
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| Loved this building! |
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| Bridge leading out of Corbridge |
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| Angel Inn, Corbridge |
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| Corbridge Museum |
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| Corbridge church |
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| Lion of Corbridge from Roman days |
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| Corbridge Roman site excavation |
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| Housesteads Roman Fort site |
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| Part of Hadrian's Wall Path |
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| Housestead's Latrine! |
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| One lane road back to the highway! |
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| R's prawns and chorizo |
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| My garlic mushrooms |
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| R's chicken |
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| My chicken salad and chorizo |
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| R's raspberry creme brûlée |
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| My sticky toffee pudding and ice cream |
We parked across from the Angel Inn and had a lovely time walking through town. Stopped at Tea and Tipples for hot chocolate/coffee and carrot cake/scone break and several other shops. They have a really lovely church, as well as a beautiful bridge. It was really enjoyable to walk around, especially as it was such a lovely morning! From Corbridge, we next headed to the Corbridge Roman ruins, which are just a mile or so north of town. We had last been there with Mom, and remembered them well. We basically had both the ruins and the museum to ourselves, which was lovely. It’s an English Heritage site, and while Robert didn’t feel the need for any coat at all, I was still in my heavy coat – the wind was definitely a bit too sharp for me!
From Corbridge, we next headed back to the wall directly at Housesteads. In our extra bedroom at home, we have a really lovely watercolor of the wall at Housesteads, that I have always loved. It’s on a high point of a hill, and is beautifully colored, and it looked just like that today! At their big new visitor center, we talked to a guide who indicated that if we didn’t think we could make the l-o-n-g walk up the hill to the fort (close to a mile, I’d say) we could always drive up the access road and park in the small handicapped lot! Robert was all for it, although I was a bit dubious, but back down the road we went … found the entrance with the two wheeled trash cans and the closed gate. R got out and opened the gate, and through it I drove … and then up the very single track road – thankfully no one coming down the road at that time. Finally got to the top and was nicely directed to the small lot at the top! Whew! Happy to have been able to drive it rather than walk it, that’s for sure! From there, we were able to tour the small museum as well as the fort built along the wall. This particular fort, Housesteads, is renowned, apparently, as having the best preserved Roman latrines in the entire U.K. Truly! At any rate, even with the wind blowing a gale, it was quite an impressive site to see, with Hadrian’s Wall stretching in both directions as far as the eye could see! It was truly a beautiful afternoon!
As it was now after 2 pm, we decided it was time to head back toward Hexham and find our apartment for the next two nights, The Vault at Westacres, as we had dinner reservations at 5:30 and wanted to get settled in. I was a bit apprehensive, as I hadn’t had any specific check-in instructions, but figured we’d get things settled one way or another. So, on to Hexham! Hexham is the market town next to Corbridge, about 3-4 miles away. It is a much larger town than Corbridge, but the address was fairly easy to find, and we pulled into the driveway. There was a lockbox, but we did not have the combination … however, I had a phone number, and just as I was calling, a text came in with the lockbox code … so, suddenly, and very timely, we were able to get in! Yea!
And well, I think this must be the tiniest apartment we’ve ever had! But it’s very cute, comfortable and attractively furnished, and at least R has discovered how to turn the heat on, which helps immensely! So! We have a teeny, tiny kitchen/living room, a nice sized bedroom, and a bathroom. Everything sort of fits -- and we’ll manage for two nights! Got settled in, changed clothes, and then headed to Danielle’s, a 10-minute walk down the street, where we had reserved for dinner.
Fabulous meal! I started with garlic mushrooms served on a crostini. R had prawns with chorizo on a crostini. For mains, I had their chicken breast on greens with chorizo. Robert had their chicken parmigiana with veggies and roast potatoes. For dessert, I had sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream, and R had their raspberry crème brulee, which was delicious! All in all, a wonderful meal, and we were back to the apartment about 7:30 pm! Definitely in for the night now, and watching the Hugh Laurie version of the Agatha Christie mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? on ITV3!
More tomorrow!
m
xxx
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