Nicholas Craig Column
May 6 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal
The latest advertising push from the people in charge of North-East England tourism features one of our most loved, well-known and walked attractions, Hadrian's Wall.
Yet in 18 months the heavy boots of about 400,000 people have damaged the structure of a wall that has withstood 2,000 years of turbulent history.
It illustrates how delicately we have to balance tourism objectives with custodianship of our heritage.
The reason behind the creation of Hadrian's Wall Trail was that national countryside and heritage bodies felt the wall had been undersold for too long.
Now archaeologists are quaking for its future.
At 84 miles, it took almost 20 years to complete the country's most expensive footpath. From the Irish Sea to the North Sea, 200 signs, 14 steel bridges, 30 miles of new rights of way and scores of stiles, fences, gates and visitor centres were put in place to mark Hadrian's Wall trail.
Its success is a triumph over the sceptics who claimed the complex exercise was doomed to failure. Despite the attendant problems of upkeep, the huge popularity of the trail has brought £4.5m to the region's economy in less than two years.
Since it opened, more than a million visitors have been to the area. That is excellent news for the region and for tourism.
There are obvious difficulties in maintaining visitor numbers without overcrowding or eroding the attractions that bring them to our area.
Alnwick Garden's wonderful treehouse and new gardens have had to work hard to cope with the crowds who travelled to see them as soon as they opened. However, Hadrian's Wall's magnificent frontier, and Alnwick's flourishing garden, deserve our praise and support.
They add a distinctive dimension to Northumberland's character for visitors, residents and businesses alike.
One of the more bizarre Hadrian's Wall stories I read was that last winter 800 Dutch bankers walked across the wall. No-one is allowed to walk on the wall, least of all an army of numerate Netherlanders. I must admit, however, that the image of so many rambling bankers, no doubt walking in a neat - but nevertheless banned - crocodile on top of the wall, is quite jolly and remarkably difficult to shift. Let's hope it was equally memorable for the bankers and that they return in suits to do business with us.
