Tuesday, September 24. Cloudy, 14 C.
Newcastle, so named because this was the place that William The Conquerer built a new castle, soon after he invaded Britain in 1066, one of hundreds he built. He did so to let the locals know exactly who was boss now!
We were on tour this morning to visit and learn about the famous Wall that the Emperor of Rome, Hadrian, had built to control traffic moving north and south. In 122 AD, Hadrian made a visit to northern Britain and instructed the wall to be built.
There were three Legions of about 5000 soldiers each that constructed the Wall. It was a massive task to construct the structure, taking some six to eight years. It was much, much more than just a wall 73 miles long. There were 17 large Forts spaced along the length as well as 80 'Mile Castles' and 160 turrets.
The wall was built by the Roman Army itself, using the skills of the soldiers. The millions of pieces of sandstones that had to be quarried and trimmed to shape would soon train anybody to get pretty darned good at the job. It is what Armies the world over did, and still do: They have their own Engineers and Builders!
The wall itself was eight feet wide and 15 to 21 feet high! Each of the 17 Forts interspaced along the wall were sprawling Castles in their own right, the second floor built from timber because it was faster. Walking Hadrian's Wall is a bit of a challenge to walkers from Britain and around the world, we saw many walkers today, brave souls. The weather is not the greatest up here for sure.
Our boots and runners were delivered to us this morning, still warm from the heated air blowing on them for hours over yesterday and last night. Finally dry from the flooding at Stonehenge, two days ago. We are getting used to the ship now and it is beginning to feel like 'Home' to us.
A Good Day.
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