Just to the south of the Stanegate – the old Roman service road for Hadrian's Wall – six miles west of Newbrough and two miles north of Bardon Mill – is Barcombe Hill, once a Roman signal station.

From up here you can see for miles in all directions. To the north, the wall runs along the contorted spine of the Whin Sill, the occasional RAF plane flying so low in the valley beyond that its wingtips seem likely to rattle the pines above Crag Lough. To the west the silver ribbon of the South Tyne winds through green meadows. To the south the thickly wooded Allen valley disappears into the cleft of Staward gorge. Beyond that the tall brick Stublick Chimney stands lonely guard over the brown-purple hills. To the east the flat hilltops of heather and blond bentgrass extend for miles, broken by the occasional steading or plantation.

A few hundred metres walk from the crest of Barcombe Hill brings you to the Long Stone, a truncated cross that looks ancient but in all likelihood dates from the 19th century. From here you can look directly down upon the neatly excavated Roman town of Vindolanda.

Even in summer you do not have to stand there for long to know why the writing tablets discovered at Vindolanda – the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain – contain many plaintive requests for thicker underwear and warm socks.

A quarry to the west offers respite from the wind. Some of the stone used to build Vindolanda was cut here. If you look closely you can see Roman graffiti of the sort you still find on the walls of pub toilets. Some things remain constant.

• What to see: Vindolanda (Bardon Mill, 01434 344277, vindolanda.com). Entrance: adult £5.91, senior/student £5, child £3.64 (family tickets and joint tickets with Roman Army Museum also available). Trains from Carlisle and Newcastle stop at Bardon Mill, and local buses connect with the Hadrian's Wall service at Hexham or Haltwhistle. Further information: visithadrianswall.co.uk.