Starting Point - Former Wylam North Station. Finishing Point - Newcastle Central Station. Distance - 11.2 Miles.
Day 3.5 - Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle (this page)
Below - Map of the remnants of Hadrian's Wall around Newcastle from one of the English Heritage information boards.
On my short break walking Hadrian's Wall I took the train from Corbridge to Newcastle and the Metro to Wallsend to visit the former fort site at the end of the wall. This skipped a few remnants of the wall in the western suburbs of Newcastle. Like Rogue One to the Star Wars series I went back as a day trip to fill in this gap.
With this all being along roads in built up areas rather than a scenic walk in the countryside I took my bike to get around between sites, combining this day trip with a bike ride on the Wylam Waggonway. From the site of North Wylam station (just across the river bridge from the surviving station in Wylam) I cycled to Heddon on the Wall.
Below - Information board at Heddon on the Wall, click to enlarge.
Below - The stretch of surviving wall to the east of the village. The round feature in the foreground is from a lime kiln having been built in to the former wall.
Below - English Heritage information board at the stretch of wall, (click to enlarge)
Below - The stretch of wall seen from the east end.
Below - Another information board at the east end of the stretch of wall.
A couple of pieces of wall survive at Denton, either side of the roundabout where the A69 and A168 meet the A1.
Below - To the west of the roundabout, the short Denton West stretch of wall.
Below - The stretch of wall to the east of the roundabout which includes the Denton Hall Turret (7b). Beyond a row of houses have been built over where the wall once stood.
Below - After the row of houses built over the site of the wall is another short piece of wall known as the Denton Burn.
From Denton I continued along the A186 to Benwell. The A186 follows the course of the wall in to Newcastle. Benwell was the site of another fort similar to those seen at Birdoswald, Magna, Great Chesters, Housestead and Chesters. Of course being situated on the outskirts of Newcastle, the stone of the fort has been reused and the site built on. A couple of small remains of the complex can be seen amongst the modern housing.
Below - An information board at the side of the road where the fort at Benwell once stood.
Below - On Denhill Park is the Benwell Vallum Crossing where the road in to the fort from the south crossed the "Vallum" ditch that protected the south side of the wall.
Below - Information board showing how the Vallum Crossing stood in relation to the fort that once stood where the modern housing is now.
Below - A little to the east is Benwell Roman Temple on Broomridge Avenue. This would also have stood outside the walls of the lost fort and been similar to the reconstruction seen at Vindolanda.
Any other remnants of Hadrian's Wall through Newcastle have had their stone reused and been built over. The next site of interest heading east along the course of the wall is that of Wallsend, the eastern end of the wall which I visited by Metro from Newcastle. My bike tour of the sites of the wall on the western approach to Newcastle concluded by cycling along the A186 to Newcastle Central station.
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