Vindolanda and Hadrian’s Wall

Despite the terrible weather forecast we had a great day out. Our slot at Vindolanda was 11 and the kids were so happy to stay there we didn’t have a lot of time for the wall walk.

I took my daughters there 40 years ago so there’s a lot more been excavated since then. The museum wasn’t there then either so that was good to see. The children took a lot of interest even though they are still a bit young. Ella and Thomas were very interested in hearing about all the letters which had been written in ink on postcard size sheets of thin wood. We couldn’t see them - They are now in London. The children were excited to know they were more valuable than gold coins etc as they told so much about everyday life in the Roman town. “Send more socks!” A pile of discarded worn out shoes had been found so they knew families had lived there. All sorts of household goods from the far-flung edges of the empire had been found. I’d have liked more time but the lighting was too dim for me to read the write-ups.

We got away in the end and drive up to Steel Rigg. We walked as far as the Robin Hood tree and back. (In a Kevin Kosner film it featured in a scene). The children were giving #3 daughter and me palpitations by walking on the wall where there were steep drops. They survived.

We went to the Black Bull in Haltwhistle for our tea - the bill was half what it should have been thanks to the generosity of the taxpayer owing to the chancellor’s money -off-to-get-people-eating-out cunning plan.

We are all tired and it has started to rain heavily. We have been so lucky to get out before that set in.