Gilcrux wells

Hatching, Yarling and Chapel wells followed by Roman Milefortlet 21 and Elizabethan saltpan.

And yet more layers ...

Around 1ish the weather improved so I stopped sorting and decided it was time to get some sea air .. it wouldn't be a holiday without sea air.
Dropped stuff at Oxfam in Keswick which was heaving and made my escape heading seaward via Torpenhow church and on to the wells at Gilcrux. Yet another well mystery .... I can't find anything out about them. 3 seems a tad greedy for a small village - it reminded me of Newbiggin. And there's another one a bit further out the village. Well hunters reach parts others don't reach and I suspect not many reach into these parts of Cumbria, curtains were twitching and there were some of the most astonishingly gothically derelict buildings that would give Mrs Haversham a run for her money.

On to Milefortlet 21, the only wholly excavated part of the Roman coastal north-west frontier. The forts were at one Roman mile intervals along Hadian's Wall and down the Cumbrian coast. They were so precise this one was at the one mile mark but not on the actual hilltop which would have given a better lookout. Made me think of dad. Then made me think the whole Roman Empire was probably built on firm foundation of OCD ... all those straight roads. Bring on Monty Python ...

At the bottom of the low sea cliff below the fort is a well preserved Elizabethan saltpan - salt production was a significant along the Cumbrian coast for about 700 years.

By the time I headed home I felt like I'd put a lot of history between me and the morning.