The day may be dreich, but the beech trees at Steel Rigg car park are a frenzy of colour: pumpkin-orange, burnt umber, rust. I set off east along Hadrian’s Wall, well wrapped up against wind and rain. Ahead, the massive outcropping of the Whin Sill, its columnar rocks as grey as the heavy clouds above. It’s a familiar sight. I came here years ago to work as a site planner on a Roman dig and have lived in Northumberland ever since.
The path twists up the steep stone steps of Peel Crag. The wind whips hair across my face as I pause to study the plants. There’s wood sage, honeysuckle, ivy, bilberry and wood sorrel – remnants of a once tree-filled landscape. By a gate at the top, a group of shaggy black cattle are grazing the uptilted southern slope. Waxcaps gleam in the tufty grass – glossy, bright red buttons and wavy, buttery forms.
