Hadrian's wall runs coast to coast where England is at it's skinniest. It was built in AD 122 by the Roman Emperor, Hadrian as a fortification to keep the Scottish rabble out of England. The wall is still visible in some places and a remarkable feat of engineering but in others it is completely missing, destroyed over the years to build castles elsewhere.
We were heading for Housesteads which conjured up visions of B&Bs, pubs, eating establishments, houses and "steads". It was instead a load of Roman rubble. Once a Roman Fort of course and there was a delightful museum but this was of no interest to us. We needed food and somewhere to stay.
This caused us to walk a further 6 miles and take a detour slightly off the map to a little village called Stonehaugh.
The moment we left the touristy Wall we were once again in isolation and on boggy moorlands
We walked the last few miles on forest trails. I became paranoid about map reading and did not fancy getting lost in this maze of spookiness. Tall pines lined the path and their tight interior was extremely dark, devoid of any vegetation but mulched pine needles piled in heaps around the tree bases.
More spookiness was to come as we entered Stonehaugh. This village was unlike any other that I had encountered. Was I now in Canada? What happened to the quaint English village? A forlorn stark sign signified that we had arrived in Stonehaugh. Big logging trucks and shanty buildings greeted us. All was quiet except for the calling of a strange bird. Spooky, spooky and Mick felt it too. Could this village be full of weirdo's and would we end up in a big pot for dinner? A confused mix of Blair Witch Project and Fargo were coming to mind.
But the village green made us feel a little more at home. This is the village in it's entirety. Strange but quite cute terraced houses of differing colours lined either side.
We fretted over what to expect of the campsite. We were surprised to find the field packed with campers and instead of just a basic farmers field, it was civilised with toilets, showers and even a social club. What were all these holiday makers doing in this strange, off the beaten path place?
We headed for the community hall and social club where we had heard they may make us a cheese toasty. The only reason this grand building fit into the village was because it didn't fit and was distinctly odd, like everything else here. No toasties and no food at all that contained any nutritional value. Our dinner was thus:
......Ales, whiskies, twiglets, scampi fries and fun gums.
But we entertained ourselves with pool and ping pong.
And did find out that this village was purpose built in the 1940s to house the forestry workers. So that fits.
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