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In 2014, I walked the length of Hadrian's Wall with my sister-in-law, Karen. We walked the wall over 6 days and there was a lot to see. It was a truly memorable experience. After that, when I returned to live in Scotland 3 years later, it made sense to me that my next challenge should be to try to walk the length of Antonine's Wall. After all, it was closer to home and a much shorter walk - right!
I had visited Antonine's Wall before, mind you. As a teenage "Latin Lover" of the late 1970s we used to visit the site regularly each summer as a school outing, to engage in our annual battle of Picts v Romans - complete with bread sticks as swords (the team with the most 'crumbs' won) and home made SPQR banners - we even had an Asterix & Obelix mirror as a trophy. Ah, Mr A'Hara - you have a lot to answer for.
An exploratory visit to Roughcastle Roman Fort in early 2017
I started to investigate the walk and made an exploratory trip to Roughcastle fort near the Falkirk Wheel. I quickly learned that the Scottish Roman Wall would be quite a different experience than its "elder brother" - Hadrian's Wall, further south. Undaunted, nevertheless, I decided that it was a matter of national pride to unearth this long, wide ditch of a "wall" in my native country. And so, here I am, nearly 3 years later, finally setting out "on the road" - albeit virtually for now.
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