Walking the Hadrian Way / Hadrian Wall Trail - Tranche 1 / Day 3 - Corbridge - Cholleford / Chester Fort

The following morning I decided – after taking advice from the locals – that I could walk the 15-20 minutes to Port Gate. Also decided to make it more scenic by following part of a local walk (Milkway Lane) and then finishing by walking along the A68 – which unfortunately has a verge that is not for walking.  Local knowledge didn’t seem to be accurate as it took me 1.5hr to reach Port Gate, even accounting for the slow pace once I reached the A68, this was definitively more than a 15-20 minutes' walk and it was closer to 3 miles! Be warned! If I were to do it again, I would follow the local walk through small lanes and footpath back to the wall and then retrace my steps to Port Gate walking along the Wall’s path. Much safer and pleasant.

From Port Gate I picked up Hadrian Wall Path was again faced with climbs up and down the stone walls that divided the fields. These were more like ‘deer styles’ whereby you climb steps over the top of the wall and then you soon climb back down.

Three miles on (some of which in a pine wood) and I reached Oswald’s tea place. Along the route it was saying that it is closed on Mondays, fortunately being a BH Monday it was open!! Stopped for a restoring pot of tea and biscuits (they had lots of appetising things) and when I started walking again with a better spring in my step!

Three and a bit more miles and I was to reach Chollerford and Chester Fort (the end of my day's walking before returning to Newcastle (NC) for my train home).

3rd day

Towards Chollerford the signposted route went different from my guide book. I got directed first on a small narrow pretty lane, but then I was sent onto a main road and basically end up walking all the way to Chester Fort along the main road. If I’d known I would have taken the shorter and more direct route along the ‘military road’ and at least I would have saved myself time and miles. As you get to Chollerford Bridge you get the option to take a detour to see where the old roman Chester Bridge was. As I was tired I didn’t go to see it. Might do it when returning for the next tranche of 3 days walking. Certainly the actual bridge and the site are very pretty and worth seeing.

I had planned to eat at the café at Chester Fort. It turned out to be on the roundabout not connected with Chester Fort National Trust site, so decided to catch my AD122 bus to Hexham, get the train connection to NC and have a combined lunch/dinner in NC at a pizzeria I had seen when sightseeing in NC on the Saturday.

The place is called the Herb Garden and it was open at 4.30pm when I got there! Yeahhh! And what a good decision it was… see pictures and comments on Trip Advisor.  I think my 2^nd trance of walking will end up in exactly the same place before catching my train back home!!!

On Roman Baths in ancient Rome and how they were used…

The Romans were quite clever as they thought that if they provided good standards of living, people would be happy and ever more so, the people living in the countries they had conquered. Therefore building roads, aqueducts and baths were seen as some of the primary improvements the Roman implemented in newly conquered countries and territories. In days of no sanitation, water, roads or drains the Roman provided huge improvements to the standard of everyday life. Hard to believe nowadays from our civilised lives and cultures…

Roman Road and drains (Tunisia)

As homes did not have running water, very often not even the more luxurious houses belonging to the rich, being able to wash regularly, being able to clean off the dust and grime after having travelled or walked on dusty roads (there was no tarmac!) must have been a real luxury!
Therefore, at least in Imperial Rome, all rich and poor were allowed to enter the Roman Baths and get clean for free. In the case of the Caracalla Baths – the best preserved, visible and perhaps most accessible in Italy – when they first opened access was totally free, later - when given to a ‘management company’ to maintain and regulate their use - an entrance fee was introduced, however it was merely nominal and affordable by even the poorest person.

View of Caracalla Baths from the gardens (Rome)

Going back to who and when one could access the baths in ancient Rome - when the bath were first opened - access to the baths was at different times/days for men and women. The baths were opened from noon to sunset and the Caracalla Baths – had approx. 6000-8000 visitors a day and up to 1600 an hour! This gives us an idea of how popular the Baths were.

Antonine Baths in Carthage (Tunisia)

Within a short time, women started protesting that they were being discriminated against (sounds familiar?) and eventually they were allowed in the Baths at the same time as the men. Historical notes record of amorous trysts and so on…

What were the Roman Baths for? 

 

They were primarily a place to get clean. However, as the buildings reached the scale of the Caracalla’s or the Diocletian’s Baths, they also provided a place to meet, relax, play and watch games, read – there were libraries in the baths complex – and where plots and conspiracies and lover’s trysts developed. The Roman Baths were the place of major games and sports (i.e. wrestling) and they were the equivalent of say Wembley Stadium in London. People would congregate to watch their favourite athletes compete.

How to take the Baths 

Let’s go back to the primary function of the Roman Baths: washing and getting clean. Contrary to what happens nowadays, water was not used to get washed, well not at first. Romans entered the Baths, disrobed and with just a cloth around their waist went in the steam and hot rooms (Calidarium and Laconicum) to sweat it out. There they would get oiled with fragrant unguents by the slaves working in the Baths – or their own personal slaves, if they were wealthy – when ready, the slaves would scrape off the sweat and dirt with the ‘strigil’ which is a fairly scary implement - from my point of view - especially if in the hands of someone you don’t trust 100% (although it is similar to when men go to have a wet shave and allow a total stranger to have a sharp razor to their throat!).

Strigil

 
Anyway, I am digressing… once the bathers had been cleaned up, they would step out of the hot rooms and move to the Frigidarium, the word indicates this was a much cooler room where you would let your body cool down (it was also a place where you would meet fellow bathers) before stepping into the Natatio, or swimming pool of cold water to finish the cooling process. This kind of process reminds me of the Finnish practice of going from the sauna to the freezing waters in northern temperatures…it seems old habits get retained here and there, so there must be some benefits…

In the Caracalla Baths we know there were also rooms, probably on the upper floor, where visitors could have a massage or sunbathe…

Roman historical talks

If this got you intrigued and would like to know more (and are based in Hertfordshire or neighbouring counties) you can book a talk on this or similar subjects (Domus Aurea (Golden House of Nero), Roman Aqueducts…).
I regularly speak to Archaeological & History Societies, WI, etc...
Look forward to hearing from you.

Roman Baths/Hamman/Hammams - Part 1

In my ‘previous’ life I used to be part of the Educational Dept. of the Archaeological office, one of the official bodies associated with the ministry of Arts and Culture in Rome (Italy).
Having studied Fine Arts at Uni and Medieval Art for my MA, I enjoyed the role given which allowed me to see a lot of sites in Rome which were closed to the public and/or open very rarely only to special delegations which needed a guide.  As such I used to research and prepare my talks in various libraries, where - once again - entrance was only allowed to ‘selected’ ones.  Oh, how I enjoyed that!

It was, during those two years that I got to know the Caracalla Bath (Thermae) [Caracalla because this roman emperor took over from his father – emperor Septimius Severus – in the completion of this grandiose opera, he gave it his name]. 



Caracalla Baths, South view

I will dedicate a post to describe the function and sequence of bathing in roman times.  In the meantime I will tell you about my experience of Turkish baths, Hamman and so forth in the XXI century.

Since living in Britain I learned and developed a love for being pampered. 
And when I first visited Istanbul ca. 14 years ago, I studied my guide book to find things to do in the two ½ days off from my tour guide – [I had been told to visit this city only as part of a group as not safe for a woman alone, so I joined a tour organised by The Ramblers Holidays.  I found Istanbul a very safe and friendly city, easy to navigate and would not hesitate to go back on my own]. 

While perusing my guide book I came across a Hamman based in a very old roman building.  I believe the present Hamman occupies the area and perhaps shares part of the old roman baths.
After visiting this 'Turkish bath house' I was hooked. 
This was a magical place to fully indulge and relax.  You entered, paid and would change into no more than a bathing suit and a small piece of cotton cloth wrapped around your waist.

Sarongs

 
Then you entered the Hamman inner sanctum and you found yourself in a semi large room full of steam and light filtering through from the ceiling.  You’d go to the side of the room where taps and small bowls are at the ready for you to douche yourself and take your position on the marble platform at the centre of the room. 
The platform is heated from underneath.  Think of being at the beach, and replace the sand for a warm marble slab and the sun bright light filtering from the ceiling, and a warm steamy air around you.  When you reach the central platform you crawl your way over other ladies and reach the centre. Here you lie down, using your cloth as a towel and relax.  As you are doing so, you take stock of your surroundings and that is when I focused on the provenience of the light.  The domed ceiling is scattered with small round holes which are covered by thick glass, almost like bottle ends.  When is light outside and sunny (as often is) the light filters through the glass and illuminate the room/s.  Through the steamy air you see rays of light cutting the steam and touching a capitel or column, a body being washed, a tap...

(Light filtering in the Hamman - www.hammamguide.com/).

After a while, you are drying and slowly starting to sweat and slowly you move towards the border of the marble platform and eventually you’ll be the next in line to be washed, scrubbed and massaged. The women (in this case) have sort of ‘pillowcases’ full of a local nicely fragranced soap which produces foam that is deposited on your body (have a look at the pictures on this site [http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Istanbul_Ili/Istanbul-1837624/Off_the_Beaten_Path-Istanbul-hammam-BR-1.html]  to give you an idea).

The scrubbing is done with hands gloved with sort of loofah and it gets rid of all the dry skin cells on your body (so even if you have just showered, you feel very conscious of how much comes out while scrubbing!), then you get massaged, your muscles are kneaded and you come out a new person. Heaven! 
At the end of the process (you get done front and back) the women take you to the outside edge of the room, and rinse you and give you a shower.  All this is done very gently in a relaxed and sometimes laughing atmosphere and in the end you are clean, relaxed and your skin reminds you of a baby’s bottom for its softness.  As you leave the steamy room you are led to a cool down area, with beds/reclining chairs, where you spend the next ½ hr or so chilling out, half asleep and sipping the wonderful mint tea they are so famous about.

When I first took a Turkish bath I was still working in the City in London and holding an often stressful job, and my first thought was that if they were to transport the Hamman to London I would be a regular frequenter, certainly every Friday after 5pm and possibly on other days too to ease the tension in the muscles! 
Unfortunately the closest thing I found to the Turkish bath in London, was a long way away from the Istanbul ones and did not do the trick.
Ps. for obvious reasons I was not able to take pictures of the inside of the Hamman I visited, hence the links to pictures I could find on the net to give you an idea of what it looks like inside. (You might have to copy + paste the links to open them).