FRIENDLY. FACTUAL. FUN.
Academic doesn't have to be dull. Ditch the old fashioned guidebooks and get the truth (straight from the ditches). Real life on the Wall was anything but boring. From girls in the barracks to murder in the pub, let an archaeologist show you what was really going on and tell you how we know it. That's what Hadrian Walking Tours is all about.
ABOUT US
Hadrian Walking Tours is my embodiment of the old advice, "do what you love". I grew up on a small farm in rural America and have always thought a day outside is a day well spent. Years ago, when I first moved to Newcastle for the University's unique MA course in Roman Frontier Archaeology, I fell in love with the land and people of Northumberland (my wife in particular). For me, a walk on Hadrian's Wall is the perfect marriage between the mystery of the deep past and the immediacy of nature's beauty.
The best archaeology classes I've taught or attended were "in the field", where we could see for ourselves the stories that ancient stones have to tell. Hadrian Walking Tours is my way of sharing that experience with you. No, you don't need to hunt for your high school history notes. This stuff is fun. So get out your hiking boots and lets go for a walk. I'll show you what you've been missing.
- Sky
MEET YOUR GUIDE
Skylar "Sky" Arbuthnot is a Roman archaeologist and your guide to the ancient past.
He is a former U.S. Army Captain, Boy Scout leader, and avid outdoorsman. Sky holds an Master of Arts degree (1st class, honors) in archaeology from Newcastle University (as well as a frustratingly unfinished PhD thesis). He lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with his Geordie wife and little lad. He has excavated at, surveyed, and written about numerous forts on Hadrian's Wall and the Cumbrian Coast. Before returning to Newcastle and starting Hadrian Walking Tours, Sky spent a few years working as archaeological advisor for an environmental consultancy. After surveying hundreds of hectares of trackless Arabian desert, searching for (and recording) forgotten tombs, Skylar greatly appreciates a good walk in green and pleasant Northumberland, even when it rains.
KEEPING WALL COUNTRY GREEN
At Hadrian Walking Tours, we don't just care about exploring the past, we are dedicated to preserving the future. Walking along a 1,900 year old monument really helps you take the long view on things. We want to help make sure that people can still enjoy a walk on the Wall in another millennia or two. That's why we have partnered with Gold Standard to offset our carbon emissions (we already have just about the smallest car imaginable). We have also chosen to limit our merchandise and use recycled material whenever possible. Hadrian's Wall is a popular tourist destination and it's important that we don't allow it to be "loved to death". We do our part by following all Hadrian's Wall Management Plan best practice. Nothing sums it up better than that old Scouting motto, "take only pictures, leave only footprints".