Roman around with an appetite for history
FORTY-ODD years ago, I wore a scratchy green school uniform and learned the interminable endings of Latin verbs. These schooldays were not the best of my life. I still get anxious around gerunds.
So I’ve given the ancient Romans a wide berth for these last few decades. But a weekend away at the Twice Brewed Inn, within a toga-length of Hadrian’s Wall, has changed my mind.
Most of this Northumberland hotelbrewery-bar-restaurant’s customers are walkers and cyclists. We were some of the only customers without a dog and an Ordinance Survey map.
We arrived mid afternoon, checked in, dumped our bags and immediately marched up the hill to see Hadrian’s Wall.
It turned out that Steve had wanted to see this miraculous structure, that runs from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth ,
XXXXXX xxxxxx since he was a little boy. And there it
Xxxx was, set in pretty rolling hills, surrounded by sheep and Americans in hiking boots.
I did this despite wearing white leather trainers, wide-legged trousers and a leopardprint scarf. People in GoreTex gave me pitying looks. Well, a bit of mud didn’t put the Romans off.
The Twice Brewed Inn’s menu is geared to people who have marched up hills or cycled long distances – hearty, fare, much of it from the surrounding region.
I thought my catch of the day – halibut – would be a dainty piece of fish. The chunk that arrived would have kept a centurion going through a mighty battle.
Breakfast, which we ordered the night before, starts at 7.30am to cater for those who want to grab every active hour of daylight. We were happy to opt for the latest slot, 9am, and watch in awe as families in matching cycling onesies filed through the lobby to check out.
Fortified with excellent local bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and eggs, we drove down the road to Vindolanda, an excavated Roman fort.
Once I got over my Latin phobia, this was a fascinating place to visit. The fort and surrounding settlement has been lovingly dug out and preserved. It’s possible to see the Main Street, the butcher’s shop, the bath house and even the drains.
There’s a recreation of part of Hadrian’s wall from two different eras.
In the museum, there are hundreds of artefacts discovered in and around Vindolanda. Sandals, arrowheads, armour, jewellery and, most thrillingly, written tablets.
In a wonderful film shown in a loop Robin Birley, who runs the charitable trust behind the site, describes the moment when he realises what these are.
They are the earliest recorded history of life on the British Isles. Everything is there, from military detail to birthday greetings, domestic arrangements and the welcome news that a package of underpants is on its way from Rome.
Grammar-free history, just the way I like it.