h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Preparing To Walk Hadrian's Wall - A87717522
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

In 2009 I led a group of friends, we band of brothers, we happy few, on a walk along Hadrian's Wall National Path from Tynemouth to Bowness-on-Solway.

This article is designed to supplement the existing excellent articles about Hadrian's Wall written by BobStafford. Those articles dealt with the Historical (what the wall was) and Physical (what is there now) sides of Hadrian's Wall, whereas this article addresses the Practical side - what you need to know and helpful hints for those wishing to Walk the Walk, not just talk the talk. If you haven't read BobStafford's articles, I recommend you do so. Now.

<BB<

Smashing entry - I did the Offa's Dyke path as a youth, and this one sounds great as well.

sprout

This looks great, Bluebottle. I'm puzzled by one thing:

"Visit Roman fort as part of your visit."

Is this "visit a Roman fort", or is there one particular Roman fort that we should all visit?

Yes, I missed an 'a'.

<BB<

I'm sure it's lovely but I'm reading on a netbook (not sure if that makes a difference) and the table makes it too wide for the text to fit on my screen - so I can't read it without faffing about
(sorry, I'm too impatient for that)

Hi

Good entry

I was wondering about the title - it didn't seem to be about 'preparing to walk', but more about 'walking' Hadrians wall.

Do you think a tweak would be in order?

Hello, I've now changed the title to 'Walking Hadrian's Wall' - the repetition of 'Wal' in 'Walking' and 'Wall' makes it a better title too.

And I've shrunk the font size in the table, so hopefully it fits better now.

<BB<

Hi, I don't know if it's a mistake, or me misreading. Just before the table a sentence includes:

>> the 6 miles between Tynemouth and Wallsend, where you meet the official start of the National Trail. This makes the journey 80 miles rather than 74<<

But the figures in the table make that "90 miles rather than 84".

Well spotted - I've corrected it to 84 and 90.

<BB<

thanks BB - i'll take a look at this later this week. It's something I've always wanted to do this walk.

Well done BB

Well written >BB>. Just a couple of tweaks:

Hadrian's Wall is *a* World Heritage Site

<>
This uses the word possible twice in quick succession. Perhaps change the second *possible* to *feasible*? I seem to be commenting in PR on repeated use of the same word or phrase quite a lot recently. Must be a phase.

<> do you mean by public transport?

Could I be cheeky and ask you to link to my Great North Run Entry A27975126, which finishes at South Shields. The Entry includes a brief section on Hadrian's Wall.

Good points there, changes made and a link added to the Great North Run.
(Oh, and Bowness-on-Solway is just generally difficult to get to, unless you own a hovercraft)

<BB<

Good Entry - I haven't done the walk, but I have seen quite a few of the landmarks in the list. It is an excellent idea to consider what can be seen now, to complement the history

In the "What is Hadrian's Wall" section, "Every mile along the wall there was a fortified gateway, known as a milecastle" - I presume that is Roman miles, so walkers will encounter the site of another milecastle after walking less than a mile as they might understand it (don't know whether that needs mentioning)

"On this road had been constructed a series of forts that the garrison for the Romans stationed in the Hadrian's Wall area lived in" - I think I understand this sentence, but I'm not quite sure... Garrisons live in forts. (Three uses of the word "constructed" in two sentences there as well)

Great sense of humour in the Entry too!

Good points made, and so I've added a bit about Roman miles and reworded and removed the constructed paragraph so hopefully it makes more sense.

<BB<

A minor point - I spotted a word missing...

"Additional forts were later constructed along *the* course of the wall itself"

but it does read better now.

Added a 'the'.

<BB<

what a comprehensive read.

I have a friend who did it a few years ago - we have charities in NI that do the walk annually with sponsored groups. The girl I know, although an experienced walker, ended up with great blisters and foot problems to this day so it's certainly not a task to be taken lightly.

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