Date: Monday, 27 July 2026
Day: 3
From: East Wallhouses To: Chollerford
Start Walking: 759am End Walking: 1142am Walking Time: 3h21m
Distance (Planned): 17.3km Distance (Garmin): 15.5km
Ascent: 202m Descent: 298m
Progress: 51.3/138km
Weather: Cool and breezy – perfect walking weather. A few of those sprinkling showers returned, but not enough to require a rain coat.
Stayed At: The George Hotel
General Comments:
• Today was a much improved walking day as I headed off on public footpaths and across paddocks.
• Unfortunately, all these trails were adjacent to the very busy B6318 road and traffic noise was my soundtrack for the morning. I understand that tomorrow I will be shot of it.
• As well as bits of wall, the big feature of the day was the presence of the North Ditch and Vallum. A large ditch was constructed on the northern side of the Wall as an extra defence mechanism against the barbarians. Just to be doubly sure, the Romans constructed another ditch on the southern side of the Wall – called a vallum – in case the friendly tribes turned unfriendly.
• Another couple of features were the 25 gates I went through and 29 stiles I climbed over! It was starting to feel a bit like a steeplechase!😄
• I met a lovely man on the trail who was a maintenance volunteer. He said he looks after about 2miles of the Wall Path, keeping the weeds at bay. Apparently there is a Wall Ranger who does all the major mowing etc, but they rely on volunteers for other maintenance.
• There was another Wall section at Planetrees and according to the signage, from this point on, they changed the thickness of the Wall from 2.96m wide to 1.8m wide. This was done to speed up the construction process and to make it cheaper to build.
• Chesters Roman Fort and Museum is located right on the edge of Chollerford. I spent a fascinating couple of hours there this afternoon and will save all those photos for a separate post a bit later.
Top Tips:
• Services: Coffee etc is a rare beast on this stretch of the trail and I passed one lone café.
• Signage: Way more signs than coffee stops.
• Shortcut: When you get close to Chollerford, the path diverts you away from the road and a potential shortcut. It’s a busy road with zero roadside verge to walk on, so be careful if you decide to mix it with the traffic.
This is more like it!
Life...one big adventure 