North East heritage chiefs stand accused of “ignoring” sections of Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle – and have been urged to use its 1,900th birthday to rectify that.
The city’s West End is home to multiple Roman remnants including the Denton Hall Turret, Condercum Fort, and the Temple of Antenociticus – yet the area is excluded from the famous walking trail that brings thousands of visitors to the region each year.
Chi Onwurah MP is now leading calls to reroute the 84-mile Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail to follow the true route of the world-famous landmark down the West Road, instead of having it veer off to the more picturesque banks of the Tyne.
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The trail also misses out the actual path of the wall through the East End of Newcastle before finishing at Segedunum fort in Wallsend.
The Labour MP led a debate in Parliament on Tuesday in which she asked the Government to stop “ignoring” the West End and make sure that trails “stick to the truth”.
She said: “Hadrian’s Wall tends to conjure up images of the wonderful Northumbrian countryside.
“The wall is and was an urban wall too. It runs through the wonderful, vibrant, multicultural urban West End of Newcastle.
“Not everyone knows this. Many tourists are actually directed away from the wall by the National Trail’s Hadrian’s Wall Path and other trails and tours that follow it, such as the Ramblers Association and the National Cycle Network.
“I want to set out why this just isn’t right that the West End of Newcastle should be missed out of our national, Roman heritage.”
Ms Onwurah questioned whether “snobbish elitism” about a deprived part of the city or the presence of large immigrant populations in the West End may have been behind the decision in the 1990s to exclude areas like Denton Burn and Benwell from the trail path, in favour of the “prettier” riverside.
And as a year of celebration begins to mark Hadrian’s Wall’s 1,900th birthday, the Newcastle Central MP called the anniversary a “great opportunity to represent the wall as it was then and now, and move away from the history of exclusion and elitism”.
A previously undiscovered section of the wall was unearthed during routine water works on the West Road just last summer, while the remains of a Roman fort were uncovered in back gardens in Benwell featured on TV series The Great British Dig.
Local councillor Rob Higgins has long been a passionate advocate for the West End’s Roman heritage and says a rerouting of the trail could help regenerate the area.
The Benwell and Scotswood representative told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I always defend the West End and I think a lot of the criticism it gets is unjust. Yes there does need to be some improvement, but a lot of the criticism is unfair.
“The benefits of doing this would not just be limited to remembering the history of the wall but also to our economy. Hadrian’s Wall brings a lot of visitors to the North East who spend money and support local businesses, and we could really benefit from that here.
“It could be so helpful in terms of changing the image of the West End and attracting new people to the area. It could make a huge difference.”
Heritage minister Nigel Huddleston responded in Tuesday’s Westminster Hall debate that welcomed awareness raising about Hadrian’s Wall and its importance as an educational tool and the “crown jewel” of the North East’s visitor economy.
He added that the issue of the trail’s inaccuracy had been “partly addressed” already by a walking guide that highlights an alternative route through the West End, and said that responsibility for a formal redrawing of the trail would like with Natural England and a group that manages the route.
Hadrian's Wall Path is managed by a partnership comprising Northumberland National Park Authority, Cumbria and Northumberland County Councils, Newcastle City Council, English Heritage and Natural England.
A park authority spokesperson said: “Northumberland National Park Authority’s role is to maintain the Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail on behalf of the Hadrian’s Wall Partnership.
“The route of the Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail within Newcastle remains as was originally proposed by the then Countryside Commission in 1993/4 and subsequently approved by the Secretary of State for the Environment in 1994/5. The consultations and discussions about this route were undertaken by the Countryside Commission and, upon SoS approval, then implemented by the various local authorities along the route.”
