Original subtitles

Stretching over 80 miles,

running through hills, dales, rivers and mountains,

Hadrian's Wall is a wonder of the ancient world.

You get an idea of the sheer size and scale

of this gargantuan achievement.

It signalled the edge of one of the greatest empires

the world has ever known.

Here we've got the second in command of a Roman century of 80 men.

Armed with my trusty walking boots,

I'm going to travel along the entire length of this iconic monument...

Now, this section here is known as the heart of Hadrian's Wall.

...through rain...

Absolutely chucking it down!

...and shine...

If someone painted that view and showed you it, you wouldn't believe them.

...I'll learn the secrets of the Roman Empire...

If you needed a number two, this is where you came.

...to the best-kept secrets of the Great British countryside...

Wow! Whoo- hoo- hoo- hoo- hoo- hoo!

...meeting many folk along the way.

Keep up, Robson. Sorry, mate.

That's amazing!

Hello!

It'll be an epic journey to take your breath away.

Oh, wow! I'm not a religious person

but there is something spiritual about this part of the world.

So pack your corn plasters, fill your Thermos

and join me for the walk of a lifetime.

The Romans, they gave us it all.

Now I'm on the second leg of my journey

across the beautiful Northumbrian countryside.

I'm starting at Chollerford, near Hexham,

and my aim is to reach Walltown Crags in three days,

a mere 40,000 steps.

It's 20 miles of rugged landscape

that a couple of millennia ago was teeming with rugged Romans.

Now it's home to a flock of sheep.

Rugged sheep, mind.

The wall stretches from east to west across England,

from coast to coast.

But this particular section is filled with the remains of Roman forts.

They were home to many of the 10,000 strapping soldiers on the wall

who saw off barbarians to the north and troublesome tribes to the south.

Just 600 steps into my journey

and I've already reached Chesters fort,

built in AD124...

...clearly a time when men were men,

as the soldiers here spent their time not just seeing off the enemy

but the northern weather

and all the while wearing skirts and sandals.

Tour guide Laura is going to show me how

the fort's Roman inhabitants braved the cold

wearing only tunics.

It doesn't bear thinking about.

So, along the wall, each fort has its own unique story to tell.

What was special about this place?

If you'd been here 2,000 years ago

there would have been 500 cavalry men living here.

500 cavalry men and their horses would have been living on this site,

so this would have been a really important strategic point

because it guarded the crossing of a river.

So where did they all live? Well, there are barracks just over here.

We'll have a look at the barracks.

Only 20% of the fort has been excavated

but these rows of identical low walls reveal

dozens of small barracks buildings side by side.

Was this area where the horses were kept

or was this where the soldiers lived? Well, this was a bit of both.

This was a place where there were three men and three horses,

so the men lived alongside their horses.

Really? Yeah, really. When you say lived alongside,

they didn't sleep alongside them? They did. They didn't. They did.

You know how you're in bed with your partner and you have a little rollover?

Imagine a horse rolling over you. That's going to leave a mark.

Well... That's going to smart.

It would have been a way of keeping warm, the heat the horses give off.

I'm thinking about the smell.

It must have been a mucky existence.

Now, you'd think, given their sleeping arrangements,

that centurions would be oblivious to horse dung

but it seems not.

Every fort had its own spa.

So we've just come through the lobby - this is the lobby -

to take us into what was, in effect, the changing room.

This would have been where they would have entered

and prepared themselves to go into the bath.

What, these are little lockers here? Just like little lockers.

Like today you put your pound coin in and turn it,

and you put the wrist band on.

So this was a place just to start to prepare yourself,

to get your clothes off, to put your sandals on.

You would have had wooden, flat wooden sandals

that were sort of raised up a little bit

because everywhere here had underfloor heating.

What, so hot it would burn your feet? It probably would. Really?

Really, really hot stones.

Did they have some sort of kind of towel to take with them?

We don't know. They might have had something to cover their modesty

but because this was just the blokes from the fort,

this was just the Roman soldiers from the fort, maybe not.

Just let it all hang out, Laura. Nothing's changed there, either.

Coming here was even hotter. Oh?

It was a really, really hot, dry room

which would start you to sweat.

Open up the pores. Start to open your pores. Yeah.

And then you would go round to one of the warm rooms,

start to cover yourself in oil,

or you'd perhaps have a servant to do that... Of course.

...and then use warm water to scrape it all off

to clean yourself. Right!

They actually did manscape.

Just when you think you've grasped who the Romans were,

they slip through your fingers.

Probably all that oil.

Oh, Laura! Love it!

I just wish you'd have been my history teacher back then. I do.

I really wish you had.

So the Roman lesson for today is

never underestimate the power of a sauna,

although I think I might have to find a different solution

to getting warm and clean in my tent.

As I've travelled along the wall,

I've been collecting stamps for my Hadrian's Wall passport,

so here's another one to mark the way.

But I've a few miles to go before I set up camp

and the trail, as ever, has some pretty good chat on offer.

Where are you guys from? The South, near London. Near London? Yeah.

I'm Robson. What's your name? Catriona.

Where are you from, Catriona? From London.

Are you walking the full length?

Because you're going to need more than that, bonny lad.

You need a tent and everything.

Are you doing the full walk, from, like, the west to the east?

No, so I think we started...

Do you know where you are? You're on Hadrian's Wall.

Just in case you're lost.

Just in case you still think you're in London

and you took a wrong left.

Good luck for the rest of your walk. Thank you. You, too.

Enjoy. Bye. Bye.

The wall might have been built to protect Rome from the north

but today the invasion is obviously coming from the south.

You don't just have to come here

and have to learn about Roman history.

It's just one of the most beautiful walks in the world.

That's why they're here.

You know, the hustle-bustle of London they've left behind

and come to the open space and beauty of Northumberland.

You know, there's something here for everybody.

I'm just at the point where the North Tyne river intersects the wall.

Now, I should be heading west on my journey

but just look at this.

For my money, there's no better river in the world.

Now, I can't travel along Hadrian's Wall without taking a diversion

to one of my most favourite places in the world.

Now, as some of you may or may not know, I like a bit of fishing,

so I'm off to meet one of my best buddies,

who is the self-acclaimed number-one angler in Northumberland.

And if you think of that famous film Gladiator,

he's like Russell Crowe's body double

and this river is his arena.

Oh my, as I live and breathe, James Stokoe.

How are you? Mr Green. Not bad, mate. You've eventually arrived.

I've been waiting. The salmon are waiting.

How many have you caught? None yet.

Do you want me to get changed... Yes, please.

...and come back and show you how it's done? Someone has to.

I've given you the big build-up. I know.

You going to look pretty daft if you didn't catch.

Right, time to get kitted out

and back to catch some of those trout or salmon

I know are hiding there.

He's a good-looking fella, isn't he?

I would love it if I caught one and he didn't.

I would love it! He'd never get over it.

He'd need therapy.

Because he's a world-class fisherman and a fishing guide on this river,

he's even got flies named after him.

All these here, they're actually named after Stokoe.

They're the Stokoe Shrimp and they're very, very good.

There's only one fly in my book.

That there is called the Calvin Shrimp,

designed by Ross Macdonald,

and I have caught 95% of my fish with this fly.

And I've not told Stokoe I've got loads of them.

I've got loads.

He's not getting one.

Mate, there's a load of fish showing here, I'm telling you now.

They're not touching anything at the minute but it's a good start.

They're here, which is the most important thing.

It's just the anglers.

Are you all right, bud? Yeah, fine. I shouldn't laugh but I did.

Stop laughing! I'm old, OK?

I'm old.

JAMES LAUGHS

And in fact, it's been 20-odd years

since me and James first stepped into this river to fish.

But, mate, me and you have been fishing together,

we have had some amazing times on this water.

In the stories we have, the fish we've caught.

I mean, these fish are quite comparable to yourself.

Well travelled, they've got an air of elegance...

Oh, here we go. Sought after. Uh-huh.

Silver. Oh, aye.

And they can be the most annoying thing on the planet.

It's just like spending a day with yourself.

I like the fish analogy, James! Yeah.

So putting our angling rivalry to one side for just one second...

So going back to Roman times,

would this river have been a good source of protein

for most of the Roman soldiers?

This river would have been a lifeline.

I mean, it's not a coincidence

that the wall has been built parallel to this river.

You've got a source of water and a source of food

and I would give anything to be back in those days

to see what this river was like. Really?

It's good now. It's the best river in England and Wales

but we just don't have anywhere near the numbers of fish that they would have had.

So you would have had salmon, you would have had trout.

It's endless - trout, salmon, sea trout,

eels, chub, pike...

Pike? Pike. There's pike in the Tyne? There's pike in the Tyne.

And when you get one, there's no greater sensation.

They do say the tug is a drug. And no matter where you are or who you're with...

But it is important who you're with. It is.

When you've got a friend like yourself who can come

and you can out-fish them, it's even better.

Is that the scenario that's going to play out today? It's up to the gods.

You have talked this up so much and I've bigged you up so much,

mate, it's just an accident waiting to happen.

Let's let the fish do the talking.

Come on, then. I'll go up there.

Get yourself up there without falling in. Here we go.

Fishing isn'tjust a hobby for me and James.

It is an absolute obsession.

It's an addiction, a love, an absolute everything.

Hadrian's Wall is just over the hill from here,

so I wonder how many Roman soldiers came down for a spot of fishing

at the end of a stressful day guarding the wall.

Although today, the fish do seem to be in rather short supply.

James has just suggested that I start singing

so the fish will throw themselves on the bank, you know?

Mate, three number ones. I rest my case.

Kept Oasis off the number one spot and Elton John and David Bowie.

You may mock.

I was banking on a bit of salmon for my dinner on the campfire.

Stokoe, what are you playing at? Where are the fish?

Can you imagine, 2,000 years ago, we were Roman soldiers,

we've got to provide for our families? We'd be sacked.

Sacked! Disowned. Absolutely. Our wives would have left us.

Mate, I'll settle for a trout. Mate, I'll settle for a minnow.

Have you...?

Literally, anything that's got a fin on it. Please!

Please! We are anglers, we actually do catch fish.

Don't we, James? Yeah, most of the time.

After three hours, it's time to admit defeat.

With no dinner caught for tonight and my manhood definitely dented,

I realise I'd make a rotten Roman.

I'm back pounding the path by the beautiful Hadrian's Wall,

now almost halfway along its 84-mile length.

So far my journey's taken me from Chollerford to the River North Tyne.

The route will eventually lead to Walltown Crags...

...but my target this morning is Housesteads Fort,

eight miles away.

At this point I really need to get a wriggle on

if I'm to get ahead of the weather.

I don't really have time to stop and chat to this couple

but I do.

It's not what you call overcrowded around here, is it?

But then, of course, the heavens open.

Four seasons in one day.

I try some amateur weather forecasting.

My grandma used to say, "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight.

"Red sky in the morning,

"shepherd's delight."

Bonkers, my grandma.

But it rains so much the crew pack up

and I'm left alone with my selfie stick.

I kind of discovered today I don't like my own company.

After miles of sheep, I pass some cows.

Slow progress is better than no progress at all.

Failure is not an option.

Mind you, I do need a wee.

And after a close encounter with some nettles...

THUNDER RUMBLES ..the Northumberland weather closes in.

Thank God for waterproof trousers.

You know what it is.

Oh, I so wanted to say that view over there is beyond beautiful

but it's a bit bleak today

but there is a beauty in its bleakness.

It has been absolutely chucking it down all morning.

But as my mam always said, when it rains, just let it rain

and a rainy day outdoors is better than a sunny day indoors.

Bit of a philosopher, my mum.

She had lots of sayings, my favourite being,

"Any man who wears a bulletproof jacket cannot complain

"if he gets his old fella shot off."

8,000 steps and three rain showers later,

I arrive at Northumberland National Park...

...400 square miles of sparsely populated countryside

looked after by only a handful of very busy rangers.

All right? And I'm meeting Margaret, who's one of them.

I'm one of the rangers. I've never met a ranger from the national park. Your lucky day.

So what does a ranger do? Kind of all sorts, to be honest.

I mean, I'm here today, we're putting up this finger post.

This one's been broken. Do you want a hand?

Well, since you offered, yeah. There you go.

Your gloves are in the back there.

I was just going to supervise. I've got a bad back but...

That's all right. I'm sure you'll manage.

I didn't know. Of course - they're called finger posts.

I didn't know it was called a finger post

because it points in the right direction.

I thought it was a signpost. Every day is a school day on this adventure.

There you go, Robson. Thanks very much. You're welcome.

OK, so, what do I do?

OK, what I'm going to get you to do, just clean out round here,

so just a wee bit at a time. All right.

Are you in a supervisory capacity now? Oh, yeah, totally.

You're like a clerk of the works. Oh, aye. Got you.

This is the hardest work I've had to do in years.

Is it time for a tea break yet?

Now we're getting a bit further down what I want you to do...

Can I just tell you something?

I was digging away and I thought, "Eh, I've found something here."

Yeah - the other bit of the post. It's the bottom of the post.

All right! This could have been a Vindolanda tablet for all you know.

It's a massive job, not just maintaining the trail,

but protecting the public as they make their way along the wall.

Eh, I've struck... I've struck water here.

Or it's oil.

Yes! There you go.

Lovely. There you have it. I've done a good job, there, haven't I?

You've not done too badly for a first attempt, I'll give you that.

Right, we'll get the post and we'll see what it's like in the hole.

A finger post? Yeah.

There's around 180 finger posts along the 84 miles of the path

to keep the thousands of tourists who visit the wall every year

on the right track.

Phew!

There you go. Excellent.

So the next time I walk past a finger post

I'll appreciate the hard work that's gone into it. Yeah.

Would you mind, if I walk by this one with my friends,

I'll go, "I put that in with Margaret, the Northumberland National Park ranger"?

Not at all. You take credit for that one. Thank you very much.

Right.

Which way's the path? Er, that way.

Yeah. HE GROANS

Phoof!

See you, Margaret. See you.

Of course, in Roman times you wouldn't need a signpost to ask directions

because there'd literally be thousands of soldiers

patrolling the wall.

But now it's mostly sheep.

OK, it's time for a comfort break - Roman style.

Housesteads is one of the best-preserved forts

in the whole of the Roman Empire

and Andrew Poad from the National Trust

is going to give me a tour of the facilities.

Am I right in thinking this is the best-preserved Roman toilet

in Great Britain? It is, yeah.

The most important place in the fort.

If you needed a number two, this is where you came.

Really? 800 soldiers in here

and probably quite a queue in the mornings.

And how many does this particular toilet seat, then?

I should think you could probably get about 20 people in here.

And this communal toilet block wasn't just special

because of the volume of bottoms it was accommodating.

It's an example of, in my humble opinion,

one of the greatest things the Romans have ever invented.

But it is a flushing toilet,

a flushing toilet to the same standard as you would get in Rome.

Now, it's not an easy thing, inventing the plumbing for a toilet.

For a start, out here on the northern frontier,

they didn't just have water on tap -

if you'll excuse the pun.

They relied on what we now call grey water.

Collect all the water off all the roofs

and it would all feed down to this point here,

the lowest point in the fort.

So the Romans harnessed Northumberland's greatest resource -

the rain.

Genius.

So you'd make your way in

and there'd be wooden benches either side with holes cut in them for you to sit on.

This channel would have had water running through it. Constantly?

Constantly. We call that the sponge channel

because they didn't have toilet paper.

They probably didn't have sponges in Northumberland

but they might have had Sphagnum moss or something like that.

OK, so I'm a centurion.

Those figs are playing havoc with my stomach.

And what, I just hang over here? Position yourself there.

There would be a wooden bench with a hole in it

for you to perch on.

And just sit here? And just sit. That's it. And off you go.

HE SIGHS That's great.

All right, Brian? Yeah. Had a good night on the wall?

See any barbarians? No?

Oh, you had the figs as well? Playing bloody havoc.

So I've done my business... Yeah. ..and that's a load off my mind... Good.

...and I've wiped my bum with a sponge or a bit of moss. Yeah.

What would I do with the sponge?

Would I just dip it in vinegar or something to clean it?

We don't know, in all honesty.

But it's rumoured there was a punishment

that you could be made to publicly suck the sponge

if you'd been, er, a naughty soldier.

What? Yeah.

Oh, that's horrible. Oh, no. I was having a really nice...

We're not going to make you do that. Well, I wouldn't do it anyway.

I'd get on to my agent.

Anyway, so, and the waste product would just be washed away down here

very cleverly because of the design.

And it's carried out through the fort wall

and out into the fields.

To fertilise the land to grow crops. Yeah. A good bit of recycling.

They were clever those Romans. Very clever. Blooming clever, man.

Yeah. Phew!

I think it says a lot about a civilization,

how seriously it takes its toilet arrangements.

And to think all that incredible engineering they passed on to us,

so we can flush today.

On that note, I think it might be time for me to retire.

All this talk of conveniences has made me hanker

after a night in a fancy hotel.

But instead, I have to make do with...

Oh, I love a bit of camping.

What is there not to like about camping?

You know?

You're at one with nature, you're closer to the countryside.

However, you are further away from a nice cosy bed,

a hot shower and a flushing toilet.

Right, hopefully this won't take long.

HE SINGS TO HIMSELF Right, hang on. Hang on, hang on.

HE WHISTLES

That wind's picking up! This could take off!

No!

What the...?

Ow! I just stabbed myself in my leg.

Jesus.

I just put the peg in my leg.

Hey, I'm losing pints, here.

Oh, hilarious!

# Ta-dah! #

This here could end up way over there through the night

with me in it.

TV gold.

BIRDSONG

It's day two on this leg of my journey

and I wouldn't describe sleeping under canvas as a highlight.

Oh!

I think the bottom line is I've got camper van envy.

HE YAWNS I wouldn't say I had a good night's sleep.

And I'm not going to say I had a bad night's sleep.

It was bloody awful. Just wind and rain.

I'll need a good breakfast

because I've got some serious walking to do today.

I'm hoping the views will keep me going...

...as I'll be climbing up past the spectacular crags at Whin Sill

to the wall's highest point at Steel Rigg.

Fingers crossed the weather holds.

THUNDER RUMBLES

My fair-weather friends, the crew, run for cover again

with some lame excuse about keeping the equipment dry,

so it's me and my selfie stick again.

Ah, that's more like it!

This is the Northumberland I know and love.

Absolutely chucking it down!

HE LAUGHS

The sun was shining this morning, which was delicious,

and now it's chucking it down with rain.

I think I'm going to need a bigger coat.

Ooh!

Now, there's a sight for sore eyes.

The world-famous Great Whin Sill,

created millions of years ago

during a cataclysmic geological event.

And it created that formation we see today.

Utterly jaw-dropping.

Geologists reckon this landscape was once a sea of molten lava

which burst up to the Earth's surface.

And the Romans took advantage of the jaggy landscape

that was left behind

because the hardened lava created strong foundations for the wall.

And there is no better spot along the wall

to have a cup of tea

than the location at the bottom of this hill.

In my opinion, it is the most beautiful spot in Great Britain.

And because of the view or the promise of a tea break,

the crew decide to come back.

Fair-weather friends.

Sycamore Gap, named for obvious reasons,

is almost exactly halfway along the wall

and the tree itself is one of the most photographed trees in Britain,

though how they know that I've no idea.

Mm! And this location is famous for many reasons.

The tree, not so long ago, was voted Best Tree In England

but it's probably best known for making an appearance

in the movie Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

starring the one and only Kevin Costner.

And it's now known for Robson Green having a cup of tea next to it.

It doesn't have the same ring, though, does it?

I can't compete with Kev.

Mam says I look like him, though.

Onwards...

and upwards.

Breakfast seems like such a long time ago

and my rumbling tummy makes me think of the legionaries who lived here.

They say an army marches on its stomach

and Romans' rations, like everything else about them,

seemed to be imaginative and versatile.

In fact, they may have invented fusion cuisine.

With the Romans being in Britain came many wondrous things,

including carrots, cabbages and plums.

Strange but true.

And believe it or not, the beautiful landscape of Northumberland provided

a natural panty of its very own right on their doorstep.

Ancl dinner is still being foraged for

by wild food enthusiasts like Linus and Louise Morton,

just as it was by the Romans.

They call this the Marmite plant

because you either love it or you hate it.

If you want to grab yourself some.

I think the leaves on this are as close to roast beef

as you're going to get on a plant.

That actually smells like roast beef!

LAUGHTER It does!

It's mad. That's insane! Yeah!

It smells like beef.

So I use this as a herb, so, you know, you mix it with a salad,

so you're having it as a flavour in amongst other things.

You love it or hate it? Yeah. Well, I'm going with the latter.

OK. It doesn't taste like beef.

It might smell it. Yeah.

You know, I'm just looking round, seeing a lot of clock leaves.

I don't think you can eat them. Oh, we've got bush vetch.

It's a member of the pea family.

This one tastes just like pea shoots.

Really? Yeah.

What, just like herb robert tasted like beef?

Erm, I think this is closer to peas.

Yeah, this is a genuine pea. OK. Let's see if it tastes like a pea.

Oh, my goodness. They do.

Well, what do you know?

This is... Its common name is jack-by-the-hedge

but its other name is garlic mustard

and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

It tastes of garlic mustard.

Mate, I've had roast beef, I've had pea shoots...

Well, who knew you could get all the flavours of your nan's Sunday roast

just from a few hedgerow plants?

It doesn't smell like garlic or mustard.

Does mustard have a smell? Yes, it does, yes.

Mm!

Garlic mustard! Garlic mustard!

LAUGHTER It's garlic mustard!

What a picture that must have been -

those burly Romans picking dainty flowers in the hedgerows.

Fortified by a few carefully chosen leaves,

I'm back on the trail

and today's hike is going to be strenuous.

It's time to take on the mountain.

Phew! HE CHUCKLES

Whoo! My heart rate's gone up a bit.

That's because I'm heading for the famous Steel Rigg.

There are a lot of riggs around here,

all hills named from the old Scots word for ridge,

but this is the biggest.

Oh, I think climbing Steel Rigg is a young person's game, I think.

Oh, God.

HE EXHALES HEAVI LY

I do like a challenge.

What was it Edmund Hillary said?

It's not the mountain you conquer but yourself.

Clearly, I'm not climbing Everest like he was

but let's face it - he had a Sherpa to carry his bag.

Phew! This ain't going to be easy.

Just take your time and enjoy the view.

HE EXHALES HEAVI LY

Oh, wow. I tell you, if someone painted that view and showed you it

you wouldn't believe them.

HE EXHALES

I'm at the highest point of my journey.

How do I know that?

Because this here's the trig point.

And to think I've come all the way from over there,

as far as the eye can see.

I'm not a religious person but...

...there is something spiritual about this part of the world,

there really is.

It just makes your heart sing, man.

ROBSON SIGHS

I'm 13 miles or 33,000 steps into this leg of my journey

and I feel the Romans are beginning to get under my skin.

Time to dig a little deeper,

which is an archaeologicaljoke, by the way.

Oh, never mind.

If there is one place on this journey

that continues to bring the past back to life

it's where I'm headed now.

50 years ago something was discovered there

that completely redefined the way we view an entire empire.

The Vindolanda Fort is the only one along the wall

where there is a live archaeological dig

and it's supervised by a friend of mine, Dr Andrew Birley.

Under Andrew's supervision they've dug up fascinating artefacts

that help us understand day-to-day Roman life.

Well, we've found thousands of shoes since you were last here, Robson.

I heard you found a sword in its scabbard.

We got a sword in its scabbard and a sword outside its scabbard

and in the room next door - beat this -

something we'd never expect to find in a million years,

a set of boxing gloves made of leather.

Boxing gloves? Boxing gloves. Leather boxing gloves.

The only surviving boxing gloves from the whole Roman Empire.

Today is my lucky day because I've been invited to help at the dig.

Hopefully, I'll hit the jackpot,

though I'm having to share this potential treasure trove

with Dr Trudi Buck, a forensic archaeologist

who specialises in human bones.

Trudi, how are you? I'm good, thank you. Lovely to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

So this man is artefacts.

Am I right in saying you're dead people? I'm dead people, absolutely.

So if you came across skeletal remains,

are you able to tell the sex of the person, the age of the person?

If you've got a skull and usually if you've got teeth

you can tell where they're from.

Teeth are really good because they preserve very well

and they're the hardest substance in the body

so you can get DNA from them, you can get isotopes from them

and from that you can tell stuff about their background, where they grew up.

But the most famous find of recent years,

one that altered our whole perception of Roman life, wasn't human bones.

It was a pile of remarkably preserved letters

that have come to be known as the Vindolanda Tablets.

If you find a letter that somebody's left,

not for you, but for somebody else from 2,000 years ago

every single word has a resonance which cuts through 2,000 years ago

and is a window into the soul of the person who wrote it and that's incredibly special.

Trudi looks at the bones and they can give you a lot of information

but you can't get that person's opinion from their bones.

The letters are very personal to Andrew.

In fact, you could say it's a family affair

because it was Andrew's dad who found the very first tablet

back in 1973.

And he found it by accident.

He was working hard in very deep excavations

and he picked up a little oily piece of wood that caught his eye

and we don't know why but he rubbed his two fingers together

and it came apart

and as he peeled it apart, just out of curiosity,

it was covered in ink writing.

And that tablet, still today, it's one of the most special

because it's somebody sending a package

to their son at Vindolanda from home

and they're saying what's in the package.

They're saying it's a couple of pairs of socks,

a couple of pairs of shoes, two sets of underpants.

And this is the first reference to underpants ever in Roman Britain

but it's also the only evidence we've found that Romans wore them.

While we're talking, something really odd happens.

I think I've found something. Yeah? It feels like metal.

Pass it to Dr Buck. She'll be able to let you know.

It's certainly not bone.

If it is bone it's the Bionic Man.

No, I think that is the head of a large nail. A very chunky nail.

Good, all right. He's off. Mate, how much is it worth?

Eh? We're talking cash, eh, man? This is Antiques Roadshow time now.

We're not letting you melt it down and you can't take it home.

It's got to go in the museum.

This is my Vindolanda tablet, this nail.

This is my discovery.

This makes me want to be an archaeologist.

Well, if it does, then it's the most important nail that we've ever found.

Would be nice to find some cash, though, wouldn't it? LAUGHTER

I've got seven miles to go from Vindolanda

to my final destination at Walltown Crags

and my feet are aching.

Now, this section here is known as the Heart of Hadrian's Wall.

And that's what it is about this place.

It just works its way under your skin and gets into your heart

and I promise you, if you come here, it will stay there forever.

And a lot of it is to do with the views north and south.

Over here you've got the beautiful Cheviot Hills,

you've got Northumberland's extraordinary national park

and, of course, the famous Pennine Way.

And to the south you've got the stunning South Tyne valley.

And to think I was born here.

And I live here.

Spurred on by the scenery

ancl mulling over all my brilliantly close encounters with the Romans -

the saunas, the toilets, the postcards and underpants -

Walltown Crags comes into view.

It's the final destination for this leg of the journey

and it's spectacular.

But I have one last thing to do.

Because it has next to no light pollution,

Northumberland is one of the best places in Europe

to get a clear view of the stars,

so it's time to look up.

I'm not the only one who's here after dark.

Naz, an astronomer from the nearby Kielder Observatory,

is pulling a night shift...

...though I've no idea how she brought that on the bus.

Well, my goodness. Evening! Hello.

Here's something you don't see every evening.

12-inch reflector? Yes, correct. Yeah? Yeah.

I've got a six-inch Russian telescope back home,

a six-inch reflector. Nice, yeah!

Naz has wanted to be an astronomer since she was little girl in Iran.

When I was a kid my granddad would constantly ask me

to point out the moon in the sky.

And then I got my first telescope when I was seven

and was just amazed at the fact that I could see these planets

through my telescope.

Anything going on in the heavens above Northumberland?

There's a few things going on, yeah.

I'm here to look at shooting stars

but also we've got a few of the planets in the sky tonight as well.

Would you like a look through the telescope? I thought you'd never ask.

What are you lined up on there? We're just having a look atJupiter.

There we go.

Just looking through the eyepiece, there.

Wow.

Wow! That's incredible.

That's really, really clear. Yeah.

There's something quite comforting in the thought

that although our civilization has changed beyond all recognition

in the 2,000 years since the wall was built,

if you look up, some things have barely changed at all.

So in terms of Roman life along here... Yeah.

...all those centurions looking into the Northumberland night sky

would see exactly what we're seeing tonight, would they?

Yeah, basically the exact same thing.

The planets might have been in a slightly different position

but in terms of stars,

the stars will have been in the exact same place.

Most of the planets are named after the Roman gods.

At that time there wasn't a sort of distinction

between mythology and astronomy.

It kind of both became the same thing.

The stars were their gods. Jupiter is the king of the gods.

Yes. It was named afterJove, so...

And you've got Venus... Yeah. ..the goddess of love. Love and beauty.

You've got Mars, god of war. War.

Ancl Saturn, the god of agriculture. Yeah!

That doesn't have the same ring, does it? Not quite, no!

Do you think by design we're meant to stare at the heavens?

Because I was told at a very early age

it's because that's what we're made of. Yeah.

We've made of stars. We're made of stardust. We are. We are made of star stuff.

Chemicals that make up our bodies have come from the insides of stars.

It's always going to be a very human thing to look at the skies

and wonder about where we came from and what the stars are

and what we can learn about what's out there

because it's so unknown and I think people want to know more

about what's out there.

OK. After the vast universe, it's time for the tiny tent.

OWL HOOTS

ROBSON YAWNS

What a day,

coming across some incredible stories about Roman history

in a way that I kind of never came across at school.

And it's just the best thing to be alongside,

you know, people who can be passionate

and committed

and really enjoy their subject

and enjoy talking about their subject because they love it.

It's a lovely thing to be alongside.

I'm really, really enjoying that.

And to think there's more to come.

I can't wait.

COCKEREL CROWS

Oh, come on!

Next time, I discover some revealing Roman graffiti.

It's a willy. It's a what? It's a phallic symbol.

I get to grips with some Cumbrian cuisine.

I've got a kink in my sausage, David. Hang on.

'And I reach for the sky.' Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media