Subject:

Steel Rigg

Hadrians Wall at Steel Rigg and Crag Lough near Bardon Mill, Northumberland.

You can see climbers in the foreground on Peel Crag doing ‘sunset’, a popular ‘severe’ route, aptly named as this north facing crag is cold in summer, and evening is the only time the sun hits the rock.
The crag the background is Crag Lough, this being the Northumbrian word for lake, there are also some good climbs here. The depression between the 2 crags has a famous tree in it called ‘Sycamore Gap’, and was used for a fight scene in ‘Robin Hood Prince of Thieves’ in 1991, between Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.
The east-west tilt block that Hadrians Wall is built on here was formed by volcanic uplift of hard ‘whin sill’ rock which has remained where softer rocks have been eroded way by Northumbrian winds and rain.
The Wall, built 2000 years ago by Romans, was placed on the Crags to make it easier to defend against Scots Raiders. Most of the wall has been used over the years to build local people’s houses and roads.