5/18 Vindolanda and Haltwhistle

Still hanging around Hadrian's Wall.  This wall was certainly fortified with forts every mile or two and watchtowers in between.  This morning, it was strongly recommended to me that I visit another museun, Vindolanda, because it had the best Roman museum, and I have to agree that they were right.

 The only problem from my point of view is that after you go through the entrance, where I took the photos, above, you had a very long walk to the rest of the museum.  (Warning: Beware of people who tell you something is a short, ten minute walk.)

Anyway, this is the remains of the fort on the way to the museum.

This old stone house was enlarged to turn it into a museum.  Very pleasant location or their cafe and picnic facilities. 

Leather usually does not last very long, but these are Roman shoes that were dug up.  Most were for soldiers, but there were also shoes for women and children, as some families followed officers. 

Amazing, considering this paor of shoes was 1,800 years old. 

More military stuff, tools, and household good found at the site. 

These rings and the bracelets in the next photo were made of iron, silver, gold, or bronze. 

And chunks of leather waiting to be made into something. 

Farming and construction tools.  Note the wooden shovel!

There is a box in this photo, and a stool on the right. 

These are locks and keys.

This is the museum entrance/exit road.  Note the pullover on the left in case someone is coming from the opposite direction and you have to pull over. 

After leaving Vindolanda, I had about a 130 mile drive to the village of Arrochar in Scotland. Not too happy with this place because my room was small and needed to have the carpeting cleaned.  Yuck!  Luckily bedding was clean and bed comfortable.  However, tomorrow is the ferry to Islay.