A Walk Along the Wall

by Hunter Davies

Hadrian's Wall stretches 73 miles along the neck of England and about ten miles are now left. In this personal account, the author, who grew up at one end of the wall, gives readers a taste of what human life was and is like along this stretch of northern Britain.

Genres: Travel, History, Nonfiction, Walking, British Literature

302 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1974

About the author

Edward Hunter Davies OBE is an author, journalist and broadcaster, and a former editor for the Sunday Times of London. He is the author of numerous books, including The Glory Game and the only authorised biography of the Beatles. He was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four years his family lived in Dumfries until Davies was aged 11.

His family moved to Carlisle in northern England when Davies was 11 and he attended the Creighton School in the city. Davies lived in Carlisle until he moved to study at university. During this time his father, who was a former Royal Air Force pay clerk, developed multiple sclerosis and had to retire on medical grounds from a civil service career.

Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate, where one of his fellow student journalists was the future fashion writer Colin McDowell. After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service.

He lives in London.

Reviews

[Sadie Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother mentioned Hunter Davies' 1974 A Walk Along the Wall to me a few weeks ago as something that might be ideal reading for someone preparing to spend their summer holiday walking the Hadrian's Wall National Trail, so I sought out a secondhand copy and read it over the weekend. It's an interesting and enjoyable read, a mix of personal travel journal, history (though I suspect that many of the archaeological details Davies recounts may have been Jossed in the 42 years since the book was published) and reportage of life along the Wall in the early 1970s. It's piqued my interest in the sights of the Wall more than just reading the guidebook managed (though I read most of it with the guidebook and maps beside me) and made me feel much keener on the prospect of the walk than I had been, though in fact what I found most interesting was the glimpse of the world I was born into, which seems unimaginably distant now: a world where the Swan Hunter shipyard was still a thriving concern, with the workers out of strike for an increase in their wage of £34 per week, where many of the farmers, landowners and government officials Davies spoke to had held their posts since before the War, which was still very much a living memory, and where the Hadrian's Wall tourist industry was very much in its infancy, with very few decent hotels and even fewer restaurants to be found. Even on the Wall itself, some things have definitely changed; Davies walked along the top of the Wall remains, where there were any extant, which is very much not allowed now, and occasionally had to pay farmers for the privilege of following the trail across their fields whereas now the whole trail is open to the public, and several features which were barely visible in his day are now fully excavated tourist attractions, although I suspect that if anything the decline of industry and agriculture and their replacement by services and tourism will only have increased the sense of isolation and suspicion of visitors and government officials expressed by some of Davies' interviewees.

It's not a perfect book; Davies doesn't have the charm of a Patrick Leigh Fermor or a Robert Byron, and I was particularly put off him by a quip about having made his wife carry the rucksack when they went hiking in their student days, except through villages for the sake of appearances. I also thought for a while that he didn't know the difference between a monogram and a monograph, but later typos make me suspect dodgy OCR in the production of the 2000 edition I had coupled with inadequate proofreading. It's a book to read for the subject-matter and not for the writing, but it was definitely a good thing to read in preparation for my own walk.

[Joey Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Davies writes an interesting book not just in the history of the wall, but the history of the north itself. Published in 1974, the book not only gives a look at what remains of the wall during that period, but also of the people and places he interacts with as he travels across the wall. For modern readers, it's an interesting book, as it not only explores the wall as it was, but the communities and culture that exists alongside the wall. Much has changed since he wrote A Walk Along the Wall, with more archaeology taking place, expansion of excavation across places such a vindolanda open up new ideas about the lives and community along the wall, all of which he explains will be interesting to see in the future.

Following in the footsteps of Hutton, who walked the wall in 1801, he demonstrates the quickly changing landscape of modern England, and it's desperate fight between it's past and it's present.

[Stu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it very much. Easy to read, interesting topic.

[James Horgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 years ago the author walked the Wall. He recounted his journey in a mix of interesting archaeological detail and with observations about the people he met in an out of the way part of England that feels like it was during my very young childhood. It's full of bad hotels, plain food, grumpy farmers and landowners often completely disinterested in what lies under their feet.

He takes the time to meet archaeologists up on the Wall, gets introductions to local gentry along the way and gives you a feeling of a remote part of the English countryside. His erstwhile guide is William Hutton who walked the Wall aged 78 in 1801 and thought no one would ever be so foolish as to do so again.

Since the book was written the incredible historical importance of the Wall has only grown, especially because of the discovery of the Vindolanda tablets.

My father took us there on holiday in the 1980s and passed on a love for archaeology and fascination with all things Roman. It has been wonderful to visit again and walk part of it in recent years.

Davies was quite right about one thing as he ended his book. The future of the Wall was tourism. And so it is.

An easy read. If you would like to go to the Wall or have been this would be an enjoyable read.

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has always been held up as one of the iconic travel books when it comes to walking Hadrian's Wall. That might have been true 25 years ago, but a lot has changed between 1975 when Davies did his year-long walk and now. An entire Wallwalking Industrial Complex exists to aid hikers in their journey. And much better guides are out there.

This book has slipped from currency into history and that is what makes it really fun. Davies links the Victorians who saved the wall, the early 20th century archaeologists who explained it, and the late 20th century realization that tourism was an industry all its own and could be leveraged to benefit local communities and historic landmarks.

I tried to read this several times before I walked the Wall and I couldn't get very far. It wasn't relevant and I couldn't envision what he was talking about. After I walked the Wall, I couldn't put it down. I know where he was and what he was looking at. The people he talked to are gone, the houses and castles have changed, but the wall has not. Those points of reference gave me a pivot point to understand a place and a time.

[Dev S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book. A very enjoyable read, although obviously dated in some parts - it speaks about a country that I love during a time that I held little knowledge of. If you want to get a feel of 70s northern England, this is an excellent book. I think much of the thinking around the wall has changed subsequently but still informative in this regard. Hunter Davis' writing style is accessible and compelling.

[Tony Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first edition, having picked up the book from a NT secondhand stall. In addition to what has been said elsewhere reading this gives a fascinating insight into what has changed on our understanding of Hadrian's Wall and its archaeology in less than 50 years; generally a positive change - it was interesting to read how difficult he found it to stay along the route and gaining access to it.

[Eva Strange]

If you find this somewhere for free, or as good as, buy it and keep it for the trivia, which seems largely sound, but don’t put too much stock in the author’s interpretations, and don’t snuggle up with it expecting a nice, introspective meditation: you don’t want to take that outdated, snobbish old voice to bed with you…

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting reading a book set in the early seventies.
When, on your walk, you fancy a beer at one minute past three and the landlord won't serve you due to licensing laws. . .or was there another reason Hunter? 😉

[litost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, but out of date.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discursive, entertaining, and well-written memoir of the author's perambulations along Hadrian's Wall.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hunter Davies has a lovely writing style making this book a joy to read.

[David Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Made me want to go. Pity we are in lockdown. I’ll have to make do with the Hadrians Wall course Future Learn by Newcastle University.

[Ian Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mix of personal account and historical research. I found that King John had searched around the Wall for treasure in the early 1200s, near a location where a hoard was found centuries later, an interesting aside. Where had the Medieval king's informants got their information? The contemporary descriptions have now themselves become historical depictions of later twentieth century North of England society.

[R.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy style makes this a pleasure to read - although the author uses the Victorian misspelling Boadicea in several places, this is a very minor detraction.