Scottish Borderlands & Hadrian's Wall

Pictures are Here

We traveled on a tour bus that had stops at Roslyn Chapel, the borders, and at an old Roman outpost along Hadrian's wall called Vercovicium, or Housesteads.

Rosyln Chapel was an amazing structure. It is currently covered by a steel superstructure to keep the rain off and allow moisture to dry out of the sandstone structure prior to sealing. The moisture has been destroying the chapel. Unfortunately, there is no secret Templar library in the basement, just a small room, but there is an intriguing hole in the top of the staircase revealing an empty space beneath the chapel. A few years ago they good sonar readings from the ground beneath the church and found that that their are catacombs beneath it and that the space below is as big and deep as the space above. Pictures where not permited inside and trees and the steel structure made any attempt to frame a decent shot outside futile. It will have to stick in our memory. The steel frame should be dismantled by August 2010.

Hadrian's wall was well worth the long drive southward. The old fort is nearly all rubble, but you can get a real feel for the this one time dividing line between civilization and the frontier by standing on the wall and staring off into the northern frontier. The wind was very harsh and sheep where many making walking very hazardous. forget about laying on that grass.

Very beautiful country.