Segedunum Roman Fort hosts broadcast by Radio 2's Radcliffe and Maconie
The Radcliffe and Maconie show, broadcast from the museum at Segedunum Roman Fort.
Two of Britain’s leading radio presenters completed the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail last Thursday and finished off their trip with a live broadcast from Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths & Museum
On Thursday afternoon, BBC Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie arrived at the fort in Wallsend, where they got the last of the six Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail Passport stamps to show they had successfully completed the 84 mile route and collected their certificate and badge for walking the Wall.
They also saw the inscription stone, which marks the end of the path and lists the names of some of those involved in building the Wall.
Mark and Stuart had set off from Bowness-on-Solway on the Cumbrian coast on Friday 4 September. They also stopped off along the route to broadcast their 2009 British Press Guild Radio Programme of the Year show live from venues within Hadrian’s Wall Country.
Mark Radcliffe said:
"You feel as though you’ve achieved something, you really do. You can do it in a week and there are loads of nice places to stay.
“The countryside is glorious. When you go up on top of those crags it’s amazing. When you get to high ground and you can see for miles around you feel on top of the world in every sense.”
Stuart Maconie said:
“I would absolutely recommend it to people. It’s been a real walk of contrasts and the archaeology and the history is a big part of it. And we’ve had great food and drink all the way along.”
Mark and Stuart have broadcast shows from various locations along the Wall, where they have been joined by guests and musicians for their live programmes, including indie folk band Noah And The Whale, Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span who lives close to the Wall in Cumbria, folk quartet The Unthanks, British Sea Power and singer-songwriter Richard Hawley.
Before broadcasting their final programme from Segedunum Roman Fort Mark and Stuart had the chance to come face to face with Emperor Hadrian, or at least a marble bust of the man who ordered the Wall to be built. The bust is currently on loan from the British Museum, and forms part of the View of an Emperor: Hadrian's Marble Portrait.
They also saw another exhibition at the museum, Names Set in Stone: the Builders of Hadrian's Wall, which tells the story of the centurions and units that built the Wall, through inscriptions found on 'centurial' stones from along the length of the Wall.
Geoff Woodward, manager for North Tyneside Museums at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said:
"We were delighted to welcome Stuart and Mark to Segedunum Roman Fort to record the last of their broadcasts along Hadrian's Wall. Segedunum is not only of huge significance within the context of Hadrian's Wall and the Roman Frontiers World Heritage Site, but it is a vital part of North Tyneside's heritage and this is a great opportunity to share this with a national audience through BBC Radio 2."