Ubi Sunt Vindolanda?

Question of the day is what does the title mean? The hint is that the secret location was Greenhead, which is the perfect starting point from which to see Hadrian's Wall. "Ecce!! Hadrian's Vallum!" Ok...so my year 7 Latin isn't what it used to be. First stop was the Roman Army Museum. They've done a really good job of it and there is a great little film about the wall commissioned by Emperor Hadrian in the 120s. He did visit the place once, but only during the construction. The rest of the time he was busy travelling his Empire with his toy boy. He had trimmed the empire back a bit and even here in Britannia he pulled the northern boundaries south a little. The crags in this area have proved the saviour of the wall in these parts today as it was too rough for the locals to come here and steel the stones to build churches etc, so it's quite well preserved. It was originally timber and stone with milecastles every mile (funnily enough!). Most of it was built and manned by auxiliary solders (you couldn't have your precious legionaries out here surrounded by barbarians!) However, contrary to being a lonely a desolate place, villages popped up around the forts, a major one being Vindolanda. This is a brilliant archaeological site today and just 7miles east of the museum. I highly recommend a visit. It's extensive, well laid out and they're still making finds. A lot of textiles and leather shoes etc have been found here. It's very unusual to find such things after 2000 years, but the anaerobic soil in these parts has been a blessing. The most famous find to date was been wooden writing tablets now housed in the British Museum.

You can't tell that I love all this Roman stuff, can you?!?!!? I'll stop now.

We left around 3pm to drive all the way back to Serena's in Wiltshire. We'd basically covered the whole of the Island. Breathe.

Random quote of the day: "From the time we are babies, food is presented to us as a mechanism for pleasure and emotional sedation. The first drug pushers that we meet are most often our parents." -Dr Brian Clement.

XXX