Hadrian's Wall: Day 1 - Brampton to Greenhead

Starting Point - Brampton Station. Finishing Point - Greenhead Hostel. Distance 13.4 Miles.

Day 1 - Brampton to Greenhead (this page)

Day 2 - Greenhead to Newbrough

Day 3 - Newbrough to Corbridge

Day 3.5 - Heddon on the Wall to Newcastle

Day 4 - Wallsend and South Shields

Hadrian's Wall was begun in AD122 under Roman emperor Hadrian as he sought to consolidate Rome's existing territories rather than continuing to battle the tribes of Caledonia to the north to conquer the whole of Britain. The wall ran 73 miles from Bowness-On-Solway on the Irish Sea to Wallsend on the Tyne Estuary. Today the remains of the wall are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The best remains of the wall are in the central section between Brampton and Corbridge. The area is served by the railway line between Carlisle and Newcastle, though a few stations that would have been useful for visiting the wall are no longer in use leaving some large gaps between stops on the route and making it impractical to cover the sites by day trips. I had a four day trip to visit the wall, staying in hostels at Greenhead, Newbrough and Newcastle. Three days were on foot between Brampton and Corbridge and the fourth day used the Tyne and Wear Metro to visit sites at Wallsend and South Shields. I also went back as a day trip on bike to visit the small remnants of the wall on the western approaches to Newcastle.

Below - Map of the wall seen on Corbridge station (click to enlarge)

Google Maps

Brampton Junction

I started my Hadrian's Wall walk with an old railway walk. Brampton station is situated some distance to the south of the town which was originally served by a branch line. The origins of the line actually pre-date the main line as part of the Earl of Carlisle's Railway connecting collieries and other industries to the east of Brampton. In 1836 the line was rebuilt for locomotive use eliminating a rope worked incline. A passenger service was operated on and off between Brampton Junction and Brampton Town until the branch was closed in 1923. More about the Brampton Railway can be found on the Cumbrian Railways website

1900 Map (1) (2) (3)

Below - Brampton Junction, now just Brampton station, the platform face used by the passenger service to Brampton Town along the Earls of Carlisle's Railway can be seen.

Below - The former railway trackbed.

Brampton Town

Below - The only structure (aside from a tunnel under the Brampton Bypass built after the railway was removed) was the bridge over Station Road. The station site was on the right of the picture and is now a garage.

From the site of Brampton Town station I followed The Swartle to Lanercost Priory.

Below - The old Lanercost Bridge.

Lanercost Priory is run by English Heritage. The buildings incorporate stonework recycled from Hadrian's Wall. I didn't stop off there but got a view of the priory from the churchyard. Details about Lanercost Priory can be found on the site's website.

Below - Lanercost Priory.

From Lanercost Priory I continued along The Swartle to Banks, turning left on Barras Top and left on to the Hadrian's Wall Path to Hare Hill. This is the most western visible piece of surviving wall, likely the result of it having being incorporated in to a farm building after the wall was abandoned. It is also the tallest surviving piece of Hadrian's Wall. More information is available on the English Heritage website.

Below - Hare Hill section of Hadrian's Wall.

Below - Information board at Hare Hill (click to enlarge).

West of Hare Hill there is nothing to see of the wall but the earthworks either side of it can be seen and Hadrian's Wall path goes all the way to Bowness on Solway. I headed east from here on the Hadrian's Wall Path to visit the remains of the wall.

The next visable sight is 0.7 miles to the east at Banks East Turret. More information at the English Heritage website

Below - Banks East Turret.

Below - Information board at the site (click to enlarge).

Just east of Banks East Turret is the Pike Hill Signal Tower. This predates the wall and was effectively a beacon on the Stanegate Roman road along which the wall was built. The tower was incorporated in to the wall and it can be seen that unlike the turrets built with the wall the Pike Hill Signal Tower is diagonal to the wall.

Below - Pike Hill Signal Tower.

Below - Next is Lea Hill Turret 51b Information from English Heritage

Below - This is followed by Piper Sike Turret 51a.

Below - A stretch of wall that has disappeared leaving just the ditches either side of the wall that were dug to slow down attackers approaching from either side of the wall.

Below - A stretch of wall approaching Birdoswald Fort where the trees can be seen on the left.

Below  - Birdoswald West Turret 49b.

Below - The former north gate to the Birdoswald Fort.

Birdoswald Roman Fort is another English Heritage managed site and is open daily 10am to 5pm. The site includes a museum about the wall and the fort as well as facilities such as shop, cafe and toilets. Details on the site's website.

Below - Looking in to the fort site from the West gate.

Below - Former drill hall.

Below - Granaries that would have supplied troops along the wall.

Below - The granaries had a raised floor allowing air to circulate to keep the grain dry.

Below - The West gate.

Below - A turret in the walls around the fort. The wall can be seen in the background.

Below - The East Gate.

Below - A view from the south of the fort showing the typical curved walls at the corners.

Below - Continuing east of the Birdoswald fort the longest stretch of surviving wall.

Below - Harrow's Scar Milecastle 49. Milecastles were situated every Roman mile and were very small forts at gates in the wall, usually including just a building or two within their walls for the troops.

East of Harrow's Scar the wall crossed the River Irthing. The wall path descends from the Milecastle to cross the river on a modern footbridge.

Below - The River Irthing. Because of the bend in the river the bank on the left has been eroded and the river has moved west since Roman times. This has obliterated the western end of the bridge and traces of wall around the river.

Below - Remains of the eastern end of eastern end of the bridge survive, now in a field just east of the river. English Heritage website.

Below - The wall leading up to the river (in the trees).

Below - Willowford West Turret 48b

Below - The section of wall between the Willowford Turrets.

Below - Willowford East Turret 48a.

Through Gilsland the wall disappears as the stone has been re-used. The path deviates away from the course of the wall to cross the railway as it crosses the course of the wall.

Below - Milecastle 48 Poltross Burn, the railway line can be seen in the background.

Gilsland

Below - The former railway station at Gilsland. There were banners in the village about the proposal to reopen it. It would greatly improve the opportunities for visiting the wall by train.

Below - While the wall is missing through Gilsland the ditches are still very evident.

Below - North of Greenhead is Thirlwall Castle, this used stone recovered from the wall. It is free to walk around.

Also to the north of Greenhead and just south of the Hadrian's Wall Path is the Roman Army museum. This includes the Magna Roman Fort as well as displays about the wall and artefacts recovered in the excavations. More information can be found on their website.

Below - Excavations at the Magna fort site.

After visiting the Roman Army Museum I headed in to the village along the road. I had accommodation booked at the Greenhead Hostel, a former YHA hostel in a converted Methodist Chapel now run by the nearby Greenhead Hotel.  

Greenhead

Below - Another disused railway station on the Tyne Valley railway line. Greenhead was once a mining community Greenhead is now a stop of point for people visiting the wall.

Below - The station master's house and the goods shed on the right.

Below - The coal depot is still a coal depot, though not rail connected these days. The hand crane is a remarkable survivor of the old railway goods yards.

 

Long Shop, Leiston

Starting Point - Saxmundham Station. A 4.3 mile bike ride to Leiston Long Shop Museum

Part of the former works of Leiston traction engine maker Richard Garrett survives as the Long Shop Museum. 

Richard Garrett began as a general engineer in 1778 and by the 1840s specialised in agricultural machinery and portable steam engines. The increasing use of steam in agriculture led to the construction of the Long Shop in 1852. At the Great Exhibition the year before Richard Garrett III picked up ideas from America about production lines where workers specialised on a particular process as the item being worked on passed through the factory. The Long Shop is credited as being the UK's first factory to use the production line system. Boilers would enter the Long Shop on a bogie at one end and be fitted up as they passed along the building's series of bays. Parts would be made upstairs for fitting below. The production line system is often credited to Henry Ford but that would not be for fifty years to come.

The works was connected to the railway at Leiston by a short branch line. Originally wagons were moved by horses. From 1929 to 1962 an Aveling & Porter rail mounted traction engine was used, this was replaced by a battery locomotive made by Electromobile (Leeds) Ltd. More details can be found on leedsengine.info including a picture of the loco at Leiston. There is a scheme to rebuild part of the former rail link.

Following a fire at the works in 1914 the company expanded with a new works next to Leiston railway station. The two works became known as the Top Works (near the station) and Town Works (including the Long Shop).

Between the wars, in the face of a downturn in the industry as war surplus petrol engined machinery flooded the market, Richard Garrett became part of Agricultural and General Engineers. The group included many of the great and the good of traction engine manufacture including Burrell's of Thetford and Aveling & Porter of Rochester. The company diversified in to producing Trolleybuses, machine tools and even kitchen white goods. AGE was wound up in 1932 and the Richard Garrett works was taken over by Beyer Peacock. When Beyer Peacock was wound up in the 1970s there were a number of changes in ownership and the company finally disappeared in 1980.

The Top Works survives, divided in to various industrial units as the Master Lord Industrial Estate while part of the Town works survives as the museum and much of the site has been redeveloped.

More information about the Long Shop Museum can be found on their website.

1927 Map (1) (2) 

Google Maps

The railway to Leiston is now just used for freight to the nearby Sizewell nuclear power plant. I cycled from Saxmundham station to Leiston, a distance of 4.3 miles (though buses are available). This bike ride was just following the main roads to Leiston.

Below - The Long Shop

Below - A Garrett traction engine and threshing machine in the works that built them.

Below - A semi-portable engine.

A plough and various pieces made in the forges at the works.

Below - Some of the workshop tools.

Below - Princess Marina, the traction engine displayed in the works.

Below - The threshing machine. The upper floor where parts would be made up for fitting below can be seen.

Below - More of the workshop tools displayed in the former bays.

Below - A view along the production line from the upper level.

Below - One of the ultimate developments in steam tractors before internal combustion took over, the Suffolk Punch Steam Tractor (named after a breed of shire horse) seen in the showroom.

Below - A Merryweather fire engine on display in the showroom.

Below - A Garrett steam roller.

Below - The Aveling & Porter built Sirapite that originally worked on the works railway.

Below - One of the former works buildings now converted to housing. The town works was bound by Main Street, High Street, Cross Street and Park Hill, the museum occupies the north west corner of this site while new housing has been built to the south of the museum and a few other former works buildings have been repurposed.

Below - The former works offices. After the Top Works was built a new larger office complex called Colonial House was built next to the Top Works and this building also survives.

Below - A former board room table and chairs previously belonging to Beyer Peacock. The BP letters can be seen on the chair backs.

 

Charles Burrell's Works, Thetford

A walk around the former Charles Burrell's St Nicholas Works site in Thetford

Charles Burrell were a maker of traction engines in Thetford. The company's origins were in the 1770s as a forge for making and repairing agricultural tools in the town. They produced a portable steam engine in 1848 and a self propelled engine 8 years later from which many designs of traction engine were developed. They were perhaps best remembered for their showman's engines. After the first world war demand for steam powered machines dropped as huge numbers of military surplus internal combustion powered trucks and other machinery flooded the market. In the face of this decline a number of firms producing such machinery amalgamated to form the Agricultural & General Engineers Group. The Burrell works closed in 1928 with a few final orders for Burrell machinery being completed in the Richard Garrett & Sons works in Leiston.

In 1991 a museum was established on the former Paint Shop of the Burrell works, I visited this a few years back and also looked around some of the other surviving works buildings around it that are now in other uses, or currently between use.

Much more information can be found on the website for the Charles Burrell Museum

Below - Map of the works site from 1882 on display in the museum (click to enlarge).

1905 Map

Google Maps

Below - The former paint shop, now the Charles Burrell Museum.

Below - Burrell 3831 "Queen Mary".

Below - Examples of the machinery in the works, though not originally in this particular building it reproduces a scene from some of the lost works buildings.

Below - An example of a foundry and the tools it used.

Below - Burrell 2479. Note the amount of light allowed into the building, ideal for its purpose as a paint shop and also ideal for displaying items in its current museum use.

Below - Burrel 4061 steam roller from the gallery above.

Below - Burrel 4061 steam roller seen from the paint shop floor.

Below - A living van, variants of these would have accompanied many of the steam engines working on the roads for days on ends whether they were agricultural machines, road rollers or showmans engines hauling travelling fairs.

Below - Looking east along Minstergate with the former paint shop on the right. The buildings on the left are shown on the old map above as wood working shops. The paint shop isn't show on the map as it was built after 1882.

Below - Looking west along Minstergate with the former wood working shop now on the right and the general offices beyond.

Below - A view of the paint shop from the east, no longer possible as new houses have since been built in the empty space here.

Below - Former General Offices building, this building has since been refurbished. Above the door on the right the stone panel reads "St Nicholas Works", though this isn't clear on the picture.

Below - Another building that seems to date from after the 1882 map just west of the general offices buildings.

Below - A plaque on the above building.

Though these buildings along Minstergate survive most of the works has disappeared over the years since it closed. The erecting shop, boiler shop and turnery stood on the site now occupied by a supermarket and its car park.