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Ancient northern border of the Roman Empire seen in new light as beacons line its 70-mile length.
They came, they saw and they clambered on the ramparts – in numbers not seen on Hadrian's Wall since the Romans called it a day and pulled out their legions 1,600 years ago.
Drawn by the first-ever lighting of the 70-mile monument from end to end, thousands of visitors filled every local car park, lay-by and footpath, while helicopters and a Nasa satellite recorded the necklace of beacons from above.
The airborne had the best overall view, but crowds who shrugged off the chill after sunset and clustered round each flare were rewarded with an awesome sense of the past. Flickering into life on the Whin Sill crags, above the twilit forest and marsh to the north, the 500 lights recreated the ancient border between civilisation and the barbarians.
"It's magnificent," said Matthias Fabian, from Nijwiller in the Netherlands, striding about in the red cloak of a Roman cohort sergeant, plus plumed helmet which made drinking his tea difficult. "How better to get the sense of what life was really like in those far-away days?"
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/mar/14/hadrians-wall-lights-illumination
View video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ihw2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Sunday 14th March
They came, they saw and they clambered on the ramparts – in numbers not seen on Hadrian's Wall since the Romans called it a day and pulled out their legions 1,600 years ago.
Drawn by the first-ever lighting of the 70-mile monument from end to end, thousands of visitors filled every local car park, lay-by and footpath, while helicopters and a Nasa satellite recorded the necklace of beacons from above.
The airborne had the best overall view, but crowds who shrugged off the chill after sunset and clustered round each flare were rewarded with an awesome sense of the past. Flickering into life on the Whin Sill crags, above the twilit forest and marsh to the north, the 500 lights recreated the ancient border between civilisation and the barbarians.
"It's magnificent," said Matthias Fabian, from Nijwiller in the Netherlands, striding about in the red cloak of a Roman cohort sergeant, plus plumed helmet which made drinking his tea difficult. "How better to get the sense of what life was really like in those far-away days?"
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/mar/14/hadrians-wall-lights-illumination
View video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ihw2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Sunday 14th March
IMAGE: North News & Pictures
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