Lördag 5 december

Sofie Brand var den enda att ta sig ut under lördagen. Hennes runda startade kl. 11:51 och det blev en annorlunda runda än den hon tagit de senaste gångerna. Sofie avverkade 4,88 km på en tid av 30 minuter och 42 sekunder.

Hennes prestation resulterade i att vi fick ännu ett vykort.

Vercovicium, as it was once known as, was a powerful power base of the Roman army. The name itself translates as ”the place of the effective fighters”.
Today the fort is known as Housesteads. Uninterrupted views along Hadrian’s Wall ensured excellent visibility for potential attacks.

One of the best preserved examples of Roman Forts in Britain, Housesteads was garrisoned by a mix of infantry and cavalry. Intended to hold a regiment of 800 men, the military cohort was largely recruited from The Tungrians, a German-speaking tribe from what is now modern Belgium.
Taking up 2.2 hectares the fort was well stocked with granaries, a Commander’s house, barracks blocks, hospital and even communal toilets making them self-sufficient and secure in their outpost, whilst a civilian settlement sprang up outside the curtain wall.

A short preamble from Housesteads is the Sycamore Gap Tree, the most photographed tree in the country and the winner of the 2016 England Tree of the Year Award. This spectacular sycamore tree is set in the dip of a rocky outcrop that was formed due to melting glacial waters.
A few hundred years old, it stands alone beside Hadrian’s Wall. It came to fame in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and as a result was nicknamed ”Robin Hood Tree”.