Meeting Friends at Hadrian’s Wall Campsite, Northumberland, England

Zagan the motorhome’s been rudely awakened from his storage spot (not by having water thrown over him mind you, that might constitute a wash, which he is not accustomed to!). His cupboards have been shoved full of stuff and he’s been thrust north up the A1M to the one-time edge of an empire that is Hadrian’s Wall. We’re staying at a small campsite about a mile south of the wall, unsurprisingly named Hadrian’s Wall Campsite, along with our friends Richard and Jenny in their motorhome (N54.985934, W2.422071). It’s £18.50 a night here out of season, including services and electricity and yes folks, I can confirm the showers are hot and endless.

We’ve awakened Zagan for a three week jaunt up north, ourselves shaken into action and levered out of the comfort of the Cooler by a piece of filming work we need to do in Dumferline in a week’s time. The plan, such as it is, is to take our time getting from here (northern England) to there (just north of Edinburgh) over the next week, then spend the subsequent two weeks heading to the far north of Scotland. The North Coast 500 looks very tempting, although I’m not sure how much of it we’ll manage with only about 10 days to go at it before we have to start heading south, and we’re not into shifting constantly these days.

As we often find when travelling in the UK, we’re taken aback by the wonderful landscapes knocking about our homeland, and the rugged farmland, cliffs and woods surrounding the ancient wall have given us something to stare at. Having traveled Scotland before in our campervan (us) and my CB600 motorbike (me), we know the views are going to be cracking up there too, assuming it stops raining for long enough to see ’em. Why don’t we spend longer travelling our own country? We’re not sure! The greater need to use campsites, especially in England, no doubt sways things when we’re balancing the books, but the price looks to be well worth it in spots like this one.

Our main reason for coming to this particular spot was to meet up with our mates and catch up with them over a cuppa and a huge fish pie (thank Jenny!). The wall is spectacular here. The campsite is by some of the best preserved sections of wall, which stretches off into the distance, about 35 miles in each direction before it reaches the coasts either side of England. Sadly it doesn’t de-mark the modern border between England and Scotland, and even more disappointingly it seems the purpose of the wall was more about boring old taxation of goods rather than being a true Game of Thrones-style defense. Those things aside, it’s hugely impressive.

If you’re fit and eager enough, the campsite is within walking distance of the big Roman attractions around here: Vindolanda, the Homesteads Roman Fort, the Roman Army Museum and The Sill. We’ve visited a few of these in the past, all well worth it for the insight into an almost 2000 year old monument, so have opted to enjoy a couple of days of sunshine running and walking alongside the wall. We’ve also been introduced to a sycamore tree growing alongside the stones which apparently starred in Robin Hood Price of Thieves. The tree deserves respect for simply being alive and fully formed up here, more than for its wooden acting skills (sorry, sorry), as unlike its brethren it’s avoided being bent and battered by the winds.

Being October, the temperature’s dipping now, as low as 0.6°C at night. The cold nights reveal glorious stars as we’re on the edge of the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park, where light pollution is limited. Our necks get craned each evening before bed, gawping at the heavens above. For Richard and Jenny this is a shake-down trip as they’re gearing up for two months skiing in the French Alps, with alpine-marked winter tyres fitted, new silver screens and some shiny new Crocs (they’re getting lots of good advice from winterised.com). We’re all comfortable and warm here of course, with electric and blown-air gas heaters keeping us toasty in our respective adventure wagons.

Our own plan for the winter has taken a step forwards with us booking a ferry across the Bay of Biscay in mid January, with an aim to head down to Andalusia to seek out the deep winter sun. This was a tough choice for Ju as she gets sea-sick and it’s nigh-on certain to be rough heading down there at that time of year. We’ve crossed France by motorhome, and headed across the Pyrenees and back several times now, and are keen to give the boat a try, at least in one direction. The one-way cost for our 6m van plus bikes on the back was less than £400 which, if we take into account wear and tear on the van, is roughly what it would cost us to drive across France, but it will remove a driving distance of at least 1300km.

Right, best be off and be sociable! We’ll pop up a few more blogs as we head into the north in the following few days so you can get an idea what it’s like touring Scotland in November.

Cheers, Jay