Hadrianswallmoments.com are Valerie Mutton, a lawyer-turned-writer, and Steve Rees, who works in the computer industry and is an avid photographer. We’re active travellers and we’re here to inspire other ‘over fifties’ like us to live your adventure travel dreams .

About the name: Twenty-two years ago, on our first trip to the UK, Steve wanted to visit Hadrian’s Wall, a Roman defensive wall that dates back to AD 122 and spans a sizeable chunk of the North English countryside from west to east.  The late afternoon sky over Northumberland was a dismal and brooding grey, and a steady drizzle added dampness to the already chilly October day.  I opted to stay in the dry car with the seat warmers on high, while Steve ventured out in the rain.

I thought I’d gotten the better end of the deal, but to my surprise, he returned beaming with happiness. There had been no one else about. There was just Steve–alone with his camera, and the sounds of the rain, the sheep and the crows–as he stood atop a stone wall that stretched out for miles ahead of him and centuries behind him.

Since then, we’ve come to refer to our most memorable travel experiences–the ones that feel like they were created just for us–as “Hadrian’s Wall Moments.”  They’ve been as diverse as watching playful bats swoop through the deserted ruins of Pompeii at sunset, abseiling down a mine shaft in Wales, or running a half-marathon through a salt mine in Germany.

We hope you’ll join us as we tell you in words and pictures about some of our favourite Hadrian’s Wall Moments–and that you’ll find some of it useful in creating your own.