Hadrian's Wall, Part III: Hiking the Crags (Sewingshields to Birdoswald)
Have Toga, Will Travel: Exploring Greece and Rome, Ancient and ModernMay 15, 2026
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Hadrian's Wall, Part III: Hiking the Crags (Sewingshields to Birdoswald)

Fabulous vistas and amazing artifacts await eager hikers along the central section of Hadrian’s Wall Path. Listen as Emily and Cam chat about them all in this installment of their series on the Wall. Get ready for Roman Army re-enactors, the world’s oldest surviving document written by a woman, and the tree that stole the show from Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman—but watch out for the cheesecake!

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00:11 - Introduction

01:19 - Dialects: Cumbrian and Geordie

  1. 02:05 - What's a dialect, anyway?
  2. 02:26 - The Cumbrian Dialect
  3. 04:18 - The Geordie Dialect

05:30 - Sewingshields Crag

  1. 06:38 - Views of the North Ditch
  2. 07:40 - Preserved lengths of Wall along the Great Whin Sill
  3. 09:31 - The summit of Sewingshields, gale warnings, and Joe the Dog

13:02 - Housesteads Roman Fort

  1. 13:39 - History, layout, and garrison of Vercovicium
  2. 14:51 - Exploring Housesteads
  3. 16:52 - The Ermine Street Guard: a modern Roman Legion

19:51 - Hotbank and Highshields

  1. 20:27 - The Clayton Wall
  2. 21:22 - Milecastle 37 and its impressive North Gate

22:51 - Sycamore Gap

  1. 23:27 - The Sycamore that starred in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
  2. 25:07 - The senseless destruction of the tree (and some original Roman masonry)

26:33 - Twice Brewed and Vindolanda

  1. 26:44 - The Twice Brewed Inn: beds and beer!
  2. 27:33 - Vindolanda and its history: the forts of the Stanegate
  3. 29:08 - Exploring Vindolanda (and practicing your Latin!)
  4. 29:57 - Vindolanda's anoxic soil and archaeological treasures
  5. 31:17 - The Vindolanda Tablets: Sulpicia Lepidina receives a birthday party invitation, and Maculus wants beer!

35:31 - Peel Crags to Walltown Crags

  1. 36:51 - The Peel Crags and Castle Nick (or Milecastle 39)
  2. 38:10 - The literal high point of the trail: Windshields Crag
  3. 38:52 - Views of the Vallum
  4. 40:16 - An encounter with a real-life snooty professor
  5. 41:52 - The Carvoran Roman Army Museum, and some cool archaeology

45:26 - The Irthing River Valley

  1. 46:18 - Thirwall Castle and plundered wallstone
  2. 47:01 - The Roman bridge at Willowford
  3. 47:41 - Milecastle 49 and the junction of the turf and stone Walls
  4. 48:24 - The walk to Birdoswald: Centurion Stones and Apotropaic Stones

49:20 - Birdoswald Roman Fort

  1. 49:36 - The history of Banna and its residents
  2. 50:19 - Exploring Birdoswald and points nearby
  3. 51:26 - Cocidius: a “Romanized” Celtic war god
  4. 52:41 - Birdoswald's afterlife: warbands, reivers and Henry Norman
  5. 55:19 - A misadventure with English cheesecake

56:05 - Wrap-up