Wainwright Day 3

Wainwright Day 3: Housesteads to Walltown via Haltwhistle

Day 3 of the Wainwright walks was another opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the great man. The route was not exactly that taken by AW but as close as we could make it with as little road walking as possible.

In 1938 AW enjoyed walking alongside Hadrian’s Wall so much that he was reluctant to leave it and head south again. He ventured to Haltwhistle where he collected his first batch of photographs. (These had been sent from Hexham for him.) He was bitterly disappointed with the results and this may have coloured his opinion of the town (although they had been developed and printed in Hexham!!!). He stayed at the Grey Bull and on the next day he returned to his beloved Wall, walking to Greenhead, before turning south towards Settle and home.

We left our cars at Walltown and took a bus to Housesteads. This was the only day of poor weather in the whole festival, and the photos show it! When we descended from the Wall to Haltwhistle one or two people were briefly tempted to stay in town and go home. They all continued on the walk - perhaps because their cars were at Walltown Quarry, who knows?!

There is something magnificent about the dramatic sections of Hadrian’s Wall in the rain, and we all enjoyed the day, despite the weather.

Click here to see photos of the walk