Hadrian’s Wall is the most important site in Roman Britain, with forts, civilian settlements and temples as well as fortifications, and the largest surviving monument to the Roman army. But the Antonine Wall is also a highly significant, if overlooked, feat of engineering.

In a series of visits and walks we examine the role and organisation of the largest professional army until the modern era, placing it in context as we visit the altars and tombstones of its soldiers and their families and explore the remains and reconstructions of fortifications, houses and barrack blocks. We also get the chance to examine some of the most awe-inspiring inscriptions and other remains from those living on the wall in the region’s superb museums.

Walks will follow marked paths, at times over challenging terrain, but nothing that a person of average fitness could not achieve. However to maintain momentum, those not up to the required fitness standard will be asked to travel by coach and meet the walking group at the far end. Notwithstanding, everybody will enjoy this hospitable tour set amongst the dramatic scenery of Northern England.

In 122 AD the Emperor Hadrian visited Britain and ordered a wall to be built for 80 miles between the Solway and the Tyne. Twenty years later Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned under the Emperor Antoninus Pius and a new wall further north was constructed between the Clyde and the Forth. Within a few decades the Antonine Wall was also abandoned and the frontier moved back to Hadrian’s previous structure. Whilst this is the story of the frontier of an empire and the threats it faced, it is also the story of both the flourish and decline of Rome's British province and the experience of the locals living on either side of the barrier. Occupied for two and half centuries, both walls were heavily garrisoned, yet much about them is a mystery. Mentioned a handful of times in ancient literature, the changing design and function of Hadrian's Wall has to be deduced from excavation and many puzzles remain for us to discuss and unravel as we travel along it.

Day 1 – Arrival and the Eastern End of Hadrian’s Wall

Assemble at our Newcastle hotel at midday for a sandwich lunch and introductory talk. Our tour begins where the wall started and ended, Segedunum Roman Fortress, once home to 600 Roman soldiers who guarded the eastern end. Here we enjoy the informative visitor centre and exhibition and from the observation tower view the remarkably reconstructed fortress outline. We return to Newcastle to briefly visit the Hadrian’s Wall Gallery at the Great North Museum whose artefacts provide a glimpse of life along the old Wall. Hotel in Newcastle – 1 night. (L, D).

Day 2 – Roman’s northern extremity: Chesters and Housesteads

Travelling west to trace the line of the wall we stop at the cavalry fort at Chesters to explore its impressive bathhouse, and the Carrawburgh Mithraeum dedicated to the Persian sun god much venerated by Roman soldiers. Our journey continues to Housesteads, in its classic playing-card shape the consummate Roman legionary fortress, where we explore the impressive layout and learn about both military and civilian life along the wall. From here we walk one of the most beautiful and best-preserved sections of the wall to Steel Rigg via Mile-castles 37, 38 and 39 (Sycamore Gap) where our coach will be waiting for us (4½ km). Hotel in Carlisle – 2 nights. (B, D).

Day 3 - Roman’s northern extremity: Vindolanda, Gilsland and Birdoswald

We begin our day at Vindolanda and its museum which houses a remarkable collection of writing tablets, hand-written wooden notes revealing everyday interactions within the Roman garrison, military and civilian alike. We then visit the Roman museum at Greenhead which through a series of exhibits, films, holographic galleries and dioramas illustrates the life of the Roman soldier on this wild frontier. At Gilsland we view the best internally preserved mile-castle on the wall before ending our day at Birdoswald Fort. Here we see clear evidence of the broad/narrow wall transition, a good section of the ditch preserved by a farm track, the Willowford Roman bridge abutment, sections of turf wall and visit the small museum and internal buildings. Return to our Carlisle hotel. (B, D).

Day 4 – Glasgow and the Hunterian Museum

We drive to Glasgow to start our exploration of the Antonine Wall at the Hunterian Museum where we admire the spectacular collection of Roman sculpture and unique distance slabs from this northern frontier. Our day concludes at the Bearsden Bathhouse, site of one of 16 forts along the Antonine Wall, where we learn about the daily lives of soldiers. Hotel in Glasgow – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 5 – The Antonine Wall

Today we spend a full day exploring the Antonine Wall, its purpose, strategic importance, methods of construction, clever use of landscape features, and relatively short history. We stop at Bar Hill, one of 16 known forts along the wall, where the strategic importance of the construction becomes clear. At Rough Castle we enjoy what is perhaps the best preserved of the wall’s forts where we view the remains of the Headquarters Building Granary and Bathhouse. A short walk brings us to the remarkably preserved lilia (lily) pits, defensive features filled with sharpened stakes to deter attackers. Our journey continues to two further forts: Watling Lodge – with the best-preserved section of ditch on the wall - and Kinneil, the wall’s most visible fortlet. Hotel in Edinburgh – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 6 – The National Museum of Scotland and departure

We spend the morning in National Museum of Scotland to inspect its unique Roman collection including a number of rich inscriptions from the Antonine Wall. These include a dedication slab to the Emperor Antoninus Pius by the 2nd Legion Augusta commemorating the building of a section of the wall and a tombstone to a Thracian soldier demonstrating the cosmopolitan nature of the wall’s garrisons. After lunch in Edinburgh we drive to Newcastle Railway Station where we arrive at around 15.30 (from here London is 3 hours 30 mins by train). Tour ends. (B).