Erosion on the trail

"Hadrian's Wall is a very sensitive place, a fragile piece of our heritage. Almost everywhere that you walk is archaeologically important, the many excavations have shown this to be the case, so we all have a responsibility to make sure that the surviving remains are preserved for future generations. Hadrian's wall Path seeks to achieve an appropriate balance between the needs of recreation, conservation, economic development and farming", (McGlade, D. 2007).


The walking season for Hadrian's Wall National Trail is from May to October. When the trail was created, the decision was made for it to be managed as a grass path. This was for three main reasons:

• Any buried archaeology is protected by a healthy grass surface.
• Wall is given the most sympathetic countryside background.
• A pleasant and comfortable path surface for walkers.

A grass path needs much more maintenance and management to be carried out over the year.

With as many as 10000 Walkers using the Trail every season, certain areas of the trail can deteriorate and have to be repaired. Walking the trail in the passport season, and not in the wet winter months helps to protect the trail and the buried archaeology.

As a Trail Volunteer, our role is to monitor the condition of the path and report any problem areas, so that they can be repaired. It is not only to keep the path in good condition, but to protect any sensitive archaeology, in that area.

The following photographs show some problem areas identified and how they looked after repair.

Path before the repairs.

This particular part of the trail was quite steep and you can see that two areas of the bank side had eroded, due to the passage of the walkers on the path.



Path after the repairs.

Fresh soil was laid over the eroded area and grass seed sown.


Path protected by plastic matting.

Repairing the path using plastic matting, allows erosion to be halted and gives the grass time to grow and recover.

"Every Footstep Counts" is a code of respect for the World Heritage Site. By following the code you will be helping to maintain the site and ensure future generations can also enjoy the monument.

The code can be found on the Trail Website: www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrianswall/text.asp?PageId=27

Whilst on the Trail, walkers can follow some basic points, doing so will help to maintain and reserve the monument and adjoining land.

•  Avoid worn lines or areas in the path.

Example of a worn line.





Area worn away by livestock.

• Keep on the trail and do not walk on anything that resembles a ridge.



Example of ridges beside the trail - Site of Milecastle 24.



•  Do not walk on any standing sections of Hadrians Wall.

References:

McGlade, D. 2007 (National Trail Manager)
The Essential Companion to Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail. Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd.

www.nationaltrail.co.uk/hadrianswall/publications.asp?PageId=264