Hadrians Wall Hike

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Several friends and I have been bantering the idea around of hiking the length of Hadrians Wall in full Roman kit. I seem to remember that several RAT'ers have already completed this task, but my memory is lacking the details.

If you have done this, would you please contact me? I have some questions about logistics and planning.


Thanks!


Primvs

[Greg Brondos]

I have to echo the question as I am one of the friends going on this mission. Any feedback from folks who have done this trek in regards to getting the gear there from the States, where camping for the nights occurred, and other general tidbits would be helpful.

Cheers,

Greg

[Caballo]

Hi, if you look up Late Roman Wall Walk under events, or go to the Comitatus website, you'll find a host of stuff. Happy to answer any questions, but I ve only done two Wall walks- John Conyard has done multiple ones, and is a great source of info.

[Crispvs]

Seventeen of us (including Caballo of course) walked Hadrian's Wall in kit back in 2004. Photos are still on the RMRS website. What time of year are you planning? We did our march in the late summer and for most of us it was very hard going, with most people realising that they needed to have been much fitter in advance of starting the march. As it was we had a support van which met us at hourly intervals, carrying water and also taking any items of kit that people no longer felt they could carry. Most of us had started out in full marching kit, complete with shield covers and impedimenta, but by the end of each day most people had dispenced with impedimenta, shields and helmets. We did the wall over a six day period and due to the efforts of the first two days we did day three in tunic order and from then on the level of equipment was optional. I would suggest that if we had all been at a better level of fitness we might have coped much better. There was also the continual annoyance of gates which only one person can pass (slowly) through at a time at regular interviews which slowed us down and led to much frustration.
Also, in case you are not already aware, some parts of Newcastle upon Tyne are not as pleasant as one might like and Tyne and Wear Police advised us to go no further than Heddon on the Wall, as the Geordies past this point might get a little too excited by the sight of men carrying weapons (or looking slightly unusual for that matter).

Crispvs