Haltwhistle - Day 2

Day two of our Easter break staying in Haltwhistle and we headed along Hadrians Wall a little to Housesteads and the National Trust owned fort. To the Romans this was known as Vercovicium but today it is simply called Housesteads. The fort was built into the wall with construction starting in AD124 just two years after the wall itself and in it's day it would have housed a regiment of 800 to 1000 men.

Whilst Mrs SC had the kids engrossed in an Easter Egg hunt organised by the NT I nipped off to collect two caches, one in each direction along the wall from the fort. The first of these was called 100 Years of Scouting which I'm sure could have been placed somewhere with more relevance to the title but it was a pleasant short walk over to it and an easy find.

After heading back to the fort and checking in with the rest of the Super Collectors I sneaked away again this time in the opposite direction in search of a cache with the more appropriate name of Housesteads. Again this was a simple find but was made a bit more difficult by the sheer number of walkers.

After a spot of lunch at the visitors centre we decided to head to the Steel Rigg car park further along the wall and spent the afternoon walking to the Sycamore Gap and back. There were four caches along this stretch and we found them all. First up was Win(d)shields Crags which unsurprisingly was located at the Winshields Crags. This should have been our second cache but when we got to the first cache there were people at it (other cachers we think) so we decided to leave it for the way back.

Our next target Crag Lough was at the far end of our walk and the famous Sycamore Gap. Here a solitary sycamore tree has found a sheltered position in a gap between the Crags. The cache was located some way off the wall but next to the Roman military road. It was here that Mrs SC decided to release her own TB. Good luck Fidget the Cat!

On the way back we also collected On the Other Side and Time Capsule the first of which was again away from the wall. The latter was at the foot of the Crags and for some reason had a Doctor Who theme.

Another good day out and some caches along the way. Back to home for a rest and day three.