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 
Super interesting Mel. I’m learning lots!
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Stick with me, kid and I’ll take you places!😅
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It was over two years after our C2C that we did Hadrian’s Wall, so impressed you did it immediately. That’s a great idea.
I also took the shortcut you mention and put it in my blog which I shared with the FB group. Several chastised me as it was not the official path and had been assessed as too dangerous when they defined the path… However, we did another longer verge walk later, after staying at an B&B off path, that attracted even more criticism! I’m so glad that you are having a fine time!! 😎.
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You are a rebel, Peter!! The purists would have been most distressed!😄 I figure I have the time, so I’ll wander along the official path again today.
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I don’t know what I would be more nervous about – the threatening clouds or the gates and stiles 😁.
Me: Sir, what do you do for a living? Sir: I’m the Wall Ranger. I wonder how many confused reactions he’s gotten in his life!
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I’d say the locals are pretty aware of his role, but he would baffle others!😅
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I do miss those styles! Well, the younger me does. Not so sure how nimble I’d be now. Simply not a concept here. The forts are wonderful, Mel. I still subscribe to Vindolanda’s newsletter. Fabulous place xx
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I have worked out a good system with the stiles and find I can step over/through the stile easy enough. I am still super careful though as I don’t want a face plant from a great height!🙃🤣
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We do like a good stile! Nice to be out of the towns and into the countryside 😀
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It so is. I has reinforced the fact that I am definitely not a city person!
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Despite all the climbing up and over the wall, this looks like a fun walk!
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The history is fascinating. I simply,y can’t believe things can be so old and still standing!
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I love that there’s an “Adopt a Wall” program! The pictures are so lovely, especially the farmhouse and distant rolling hills.
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Without a word of a lie, you could turn in any direction and see a stunning view. It’s picture postcard stuff.
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“Wall Ranger” sounds like someone out of Game of Thrones 🙂 Looks like a lovely section of the walk.
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Ooo – I didn’t think about that. I would have loved to see their uniform. I wonder if they travel by dragon, not little white van??🙃🐲🐲
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Really cool, I would love to do something like this one day. Too bad part of the walk was by a busy road, traffic sounds are not that peaceful.
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If they could move the Wall away from the road it would be perfect! 🙂 However, Emperor Hadrian didn’t realise what the future would bring! 🙂
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He was there first lol!
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Definitely! 🙂
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