I'm planning a daytrip to Newcastle by ferry (arrive in the morning around 9 and leave around 5) and in stead of visiting the city I would like to tick off one or two sites. I saw that Durham castle is easily reached by train.
Unfortunately Bus AD122 to Hadrian's Wall only goes at 9AM. Is it possible to visit any/some of the sites belonging to Frontiers of the Roman Empire easily from Durham? Or do I need a full day for the castle by itself?

Durham is very nice, but I think a half day is enough to see everything you would want to see. It does reward longer stays of course, but a few hours for the cathedral and the castle is easily enough time. The opening times of the castle interior are quite limited though so it may be worth planning that bit ahead; I was content with just seeing the exterior though.

In regards to the FotRE one option is Segedunum Fort, Baths and Museaum at Wallsend. It is right next to a stop on the Metro system about half way between the ferry port and the city centre.
the site itself doesn't look to be the most exciting part of Hadrian's wall but it ticks the box of being a World Heritage site.

In terms of a pre-emptive strike, the tentative site at Monkwearmoth and Jarrow is also in this area.
Jarrow is essentially the opposite bank of the River Tyne from Wallsend, and Wearmouth is down next to Sunderland.
It is being put forward this year, I really don't know much about the quality of the site, perhaps Solivagant could provide a little more info on that.

Personally, I really like Newcastle and you could easily spend time in the city as well.

Hi Joyce - The ferry you are going on is often advertised in UK as being the "Newcastle-Amsterdam Ferry" but of course it neither goes to Newcastle nor to Amsterdam - and North Shields is hardly closer to Newcastle than IJmuiden is to Amsterdam!!!!

9 til 5 is tight for what you want to do. The Newcastle metro is an excellent facility EXCEPT that the DFDS terminal is a 1.1 mile walk from the nearest station at Percy Main.
So you have a choice – use the dedicated DFDS busses directly between the terminal and Central Newcastle (at £3.50 each way) or use the Metro with its walk to the nearest station
Making sure you get back on time is obviously important. I see that the last bus direct to the ferry terminal leaves Central Newcastle at 15.45. I would have thought that was the "best bet" to make sure you get BACK to the ferry in time – albeit perhaps a bit early. You always have an (expensive!) taxi as a Plan B if you miss the bus or a mixture of metro/taxi!
I think you need coins to buy a metro ticket via machines at the unmanned stations -see http://www.nexus.org.uk/metro/tickets

Wallsend is close by North Shields and does have some remains of Hadrians Wall. What you would see is a mere shadow of what you would see along the main part of the wall further west of course – but if you just want to "tick off" the site then you could, immediately on arrival, walk to Percy Main station (this would save you waiting for the dedicated bus to leave which could well be half an hour after the boat arrives anyway –which would just be "wasted time") and take the metro towards Newcastle for 3 stops getting off at Wallsend. Only 200 yards away south is the Roman fort of Segedunum. It costs £4.35 to visit the Fort, Baths and Museum (which seems pricy to me for what there is but then I hate paying for entrances)! It has a web site and an entry on Wiki. Say you arrive by opening time at 10 am. You could hardly give it much less than 1 hr? And then you have to get back to the metro and on into the city. With luck you could be there by 11.15?? Which leaves you 4.5 hours to get to/from Durham and see that city.

Trains to/from Durham from Newcastle Central run every 15 minutes or so and take around 15 minutes each way - so, at worst, that could take around 45 minutes return. Get an OFF PEAK DAY RETURN ticket for £5.80. On arrival check the last train you want to take back from Durham to get you in to Newcastle in time for your bus and pace your visit from there (with the experience of walking to Percy Main station you could even consider taking the metro back to it). The almost 1 mile walk from Durham station to the cathedral will take around 20 minutes (another 40 minutes return) leaving c 3 hours for Durham itself after travel/walking time! I am not sure I would even bother to go into the castle. Spend all your prime time at the Cathedral and see how it goes from there. Some of the views of the Cathedral from the river/the bridges are very fine and, unless the weather is terrible I wouldn't miss those – they are "classic". So, 2-3 hours for the Cathedral and the walks – it all depends on how small you grind when you visit. The small city itself is nothing special. My wife was at University at Durham and agrees with my assessment of the castle by the way. I would spend spare time in Newcastle itself rather than the castle! I think that Grey St has more listed buildings than any other street in England. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grainger_Town
Then there are the Quays at the bottom of Grey St, walking under the "original design" for the Sydney Harbour bridge, the modern bridges/the Sage arts centre etc etc.

If you are REALLY only wanting a "tick" for Hadrian's Wall for any old bit of Roman stone then you could miss out on Wallsend/Segedunum and make for Benwell which much closer to the city centre and free to visit ( http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/benwell-roman-temple-hadrians-w all/ ). It has a small temple which is right in the middle of a housing estate 1.8 miles west of the Central Station along West road – a couple of bus stops.

Thanks for the quick info!
I was indeed referring to the Amsterdam-Newcastle ferry. I received a free ticket including bus transfer to downtown Newcastle, but since I already did the trip twice and checked out the city both times, I thought it was time to spend visiting WHS. Thanks for the help :-)

If you are going to Durham Cathedral it is worth reading up a bit beforehand. Perhaps you always do, but in this case if you don't know a bit about who St Cuthbert was, what Lindisfarne was/is (Holy Island - well worth visiting if you make it to NE England again - but check the tides!) and what is/was special about the "Palatinate of Durham" you would miss some of the significance of the place!

By the way I came across this on Wiki
"After the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650, Durham Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a makeshift prison to hold Scottish prisoners-of-war. It is estimated that as many as 3,000 were imprisoned of whom 1,700 died in the cathedral itself, where they were kept in inhumane conditions, largely without food, water or heat. The prisoners destroyed much of the cathedral woodwork for firewood but Prior Castell's clock, which featured the Scottish thistle, was spared. It is reputed that the prisoners' bodies were buried in unmarked graves. The survivors were shipped as slave labour to North America."
Should be added to the "Prison" connection Els?

Just out of interest Solivagant, have you visited Monkwearmouth and Jarrow?

I know you don't normally review British sites, but I was just wondering if they are worth a visit or not. From the pictures I must admit they don't seem extremely exciting places to visit, just like two small industrial sites.

Do you think they have a chance of making it on the list?

Thanks for the review of the sites. I may be heading up that way to during the extra long easter/ wedding break so it is good to know.

Alright, I am probably skipping the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Can anybody advise me what the best way is to get from Durham Castle to St. Paul's church in Jarrow (train to Newcastle Central station and then metro to Jarrow station and then walk half an hour seems a bit time consuming) and back to the ferry? When I'm walking, where can I cross the river from Jarrow to the ferry?

Also, has anybody been to Bede's world? Is it a nice addition to the visit to St. Paul's or is it just a place to go to with kids?

These are the directions to Bede's World which is next door to St Paul's.


This website has details of all the public transport connections: Travelline

As a warning though it is a pretty underwhelming spectacle, but hey sometimes that is half the fun of visiting WHS.

You beat me to it with the reference to Bede's World. I only know that alot of my Newcastle based colleagues went there on school trips when they were younger so I always assumed it was aimed more at children. I skipped it when I was there, but had other priorities for the day, so maybe it can make the trip a little more worthwhile as St Paul's wont take up more than 10 minutes probably.

You have presumably gathered that there is a Pedestrian/Cyclists Tyne Tunnel (which is near but different from the road tunnel),
There is also a regular passenger ferry between South and North Shields - unfortunately the North Shields terminal isn't particularly close to the IJmuiden ferry terminal.

This map will show you the entrances/Terminals of both in relation to the IJmuiden Ferry terminal and the Jarrow T List site.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/126963
My feeling would be that using the pedestrian tunnel is most likely to be the quickest cross Tyne route from/to a Jarrow monastery visit. But I am not an expert in the transport connections at either end or the walking distances/times and couldn't advise on time required.

I have not been to Bede's World and have no wish to do so even though I live just 40 miles away - but then I might be missing something (although I doubt it!). Better to take in Segedunum?

I thought about Segedunum but unfortunately Segedunum is closed by now

Segedunum is still open on weekdays between 10 and 3 until the 19th December though I am not sure if that fits your plans.

Did you make it to the Woudagemaal on the open day?

Yes, I saw that but I'm going tomorrow (Saturday).
And yes, I did make it to the Woudagemaal and I was very glad I did. Not only did I see the site, but you could feel the floor trembeling, you could see the fire in the kettels and you could hear and smell the machines. Just like in the old days :-) There were a lot of volunteers willing to tell you everything and show you around and I met some nice people too