Into the books: Day 7, Vindolanda Roman Fort and Hadrian's Wall

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Vindolanda Roman Fort is the setting for my 2005 book CELTIC FIRE!

I was so excited when I got up this day! I'd been really looking forward to visiting the Roman Fort Vindolanda, the setting for my 2005 Dorchester book, CELTIC FIRE. I'd looked at so many pictures and poured over so many maps and aerial photos during my research that I felt like I had been there before. The hillside where the ruins of the fort lie is a very beautiful spot. You can see the foundations of the stone fort, which dates from around AD 130. This isn't, strictly speaking, the fort in which Celtic Fire would have taken place, since my story is set in AD 117, at the time of an earlier wooden fort on the same site. But hey, it's close enough for me! There's a wonderful museum display and mock ups of homes, shops, a tower of the wooden fort, and a temple on site. I almost thought I saw Lucius and Rhiannon stealing a kiss in a corner! Here's a pic of the stone fort ruins:

After touring Vindolanda, we went on to the Roman Army Museum a few miles away. A portion of Hadrian's Wall was a short hike from the museum. The Wall was ordered built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the AD 120s, due to increasing unrest among the Celtic tribes in the area. Earlier emperors had expanded the Roman occupation into Caledonia (Scotland) in previous decades, but when Hadrian came to power, he decided the wild tribes in Scotland were too much trouble. So he built a wall across the whole island, about 75 miles, to keep the troublesome tribes out of the civilized area. The wall was built on a natural ridge, making it a lot higher on the Northern side. Here's a pic looking to the northwest from the wall. In CELTIC FIRE, Rhiannon's clan would have lived in the hills in the background:

Next Up: Long Meg and her Daughters, and Liverpool and The Beatles Experience

Later...

Joy Nash
www.joynash.com