Friday 29 July 2011

Birdoswald to Gilsland

Due to some family stuff we couldn't get out for a long walk this weekend, so instead at 6.30pm on Sunday evening we decided to do a little circular walk from Birdoswald, though Gilsland, then back to Birdoswald.

We ended up walking 3 miles - just 1.5 miles into our Wall journey, but every little counts  :)

So, we parked at the main car park at Birdoswald and walked up the hill towards the gate that began our walk, and into a field full of cows.  Walking swiftly on...... we trailed the Wall through a couple of fields until we came to a Milecastle.



Walking swiftly on...... we trailed the Wall through a couple of fields until we came to a Milecastle.




We we quite high up at this point and we could see for miles.  The walk then started to descend down a quite steep path.



At the bottom of the path was Willowford Bridge. 


This was a really interesting place, I never even knew this bridge was here and what history it held.  It was great learning all about it.




Would have been fantastic to see the Chinook bringing in the replacement bridge.



In this photo you can see the end of the old Roman bridge, according to the information board the river ran right beside this piece of bridge, now it is a long way back, beyond those trees.


Walking away from the bridge, there was loads of beautiful butterflies basking in the sun on the wall.  I took loads of photos before getting one in focus!



Now, as we had walked down a steep path, we obviously had to walk back up and we were faced with a rather large set of steps, us ladies had to stop half way to pretend to admire the view ;)


At the top of the hill was Willowford Farm, with an inscription in the side of the building.



On we went, climbing and descending, chatting to sheep and enjoying the weather, until we came to Willlowford East Turret.




Just past here we arrived in the village of Gilsland. We spotted the car park where we would leave the car next time as this was the point in our trip that we would now begin to walk back.



So, for today, this is where the journey should end.....


Total walked today- approx 3.5 miles.  Time spent - approx 2.00 hrs walking.

Grand Total - Miles 38 / Time 16.45 hours.



But, I might as well share the rest of the walk with you.

We walked round the edge of Gilsland and back out onto the road towards Birdoswald.



Then up quite a steep hill, but it was stretched out so we didn't feel it too bad.  

We passed loads of hedgerow with pretty flowers and wild fruits.




At the top of the hill we stopped to admire the gorgeous views.  Couldn't you just sit here all day?


From here we could see Willowford Farm as mentioned earlier on in this blog post.


Past a sheep  (I do like sheep - such comical creatures)...


....and through a field where we had to balance on a board to stop the land getting boggy.


At the other end of the field we had to climb very steeply down into a wooded area, it was like a rainforest, very dense with trees and vegetation - and mud!  You can just about stop Andrew down there.


Of course if you go down, you then have to walk back up.  So over the little bridge we went that crossed the same river as the Willowford Bridge, and started to climb.


At last we were out in the open.


And back to the car  :)


Oh... weight lost this week 4lb  :)


2 comments:

  1. Fantastic post all of it, loving your journey Sooz

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great blog and photos. Well done on the weight loss!

    ReplyDelete