Hadrian's Wall lights up for British Tourism

The easiest measure of a public event’s success is how many people turn up to see it. But when there’s a concerted call, afterwards, for an original concept to become an annual fixture too, it’s fair to say the organisers have hit the mark.

The idea started with Hadrian’s Wall Heritage, the consultancy tasked with stimulating economic development along the 84 mile corridor and the preservation/conservation question; great then to find a single means to tick all the boxes.

With funding from the Arts Council, Culture10, Lakes Alive and Carlisle Renaissance, the illumination was about putting the communication
back among the emperor’s bricks and mortar. Originally, there were forts or turrets every mile that would message each other with fire beacons. Heritage brought in Farquhar-Smith to set about conjuring a 21st century interpretation of the idea at 250ft intervals, overseen by the Event Safety Shop.

Getting the requisite synchronicity across 515 points of light via 1,200 volunteers, 150 crew, 50 coaches, 25 vans and three and a half tonnes of gas, from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway, is crazy logistics. But with just a solitary, single element rehearsal some two weeks before the event and a fair wind, it worked.

“It was a machine, 84 miles long with thousands of moving parts so the random factors were many. We did the planning, we did the logistics, we just needed the luck, and we got it. All the planets came together for us on the night.”

John Farquhar-Smith

The start

Four thousand people saw a procession of ‘Roman soldiers’ escort Rosalind Elliott, deputy head at Burnside Business & Enterprise College, to light the first beacon. And the popularity didn’t drop, through Corbridge, Chollerford and Carlisle to the Bowness climax some 60 minutes later and all points in-between.

“It was a machine, 84 miles long with thousands of moving parts so the random factors were many,” Farquhar-Smith told us. “We did the planning, we did the logistics, we just needed the luck, and we got it. All the planets came together for us on the night.”

“Someone asked me what was the most difficult part of the project. I told them, getting the weather right,” he chuckles. “We knew there could well be wind or rain, and we made sure everyone was prepared for anything. As it turned out though it was possibly the best day of the year so far, next to the rehearsal.”

The reshearsal took place near Bardon Mill, along the wall’s mid-section, about the toughest part of the route. “It confirmed that the logic we were using was right and that we could use the same principles for the other 42 cells. It also meant the BBC’s Countryfile filmed us which was invaluable publicity,” Farquhar-Smith says.

“We knew the risk using volunteers but the real trick is in the communication and keeping things as simple as possible. The team we used reads like a who’s who of tour management and production management because each cell had to be by and large autonomous.

“Taking part in such an event as this one really feels like bringing history back to life, and using volunteers to do so is even better since heritage is something that belongs to everyone,”

Katleen Vandenbranden

“With that kind of stretch you just can’t get everywhere from a single point. If something goes wrong you need someone on the spot who can put it right. We did some training on the Friday before, showed them where they were going to be, and let them get on with it.”

Contrary to initial expectation, some 4,000 people registered for a role at the event, nearly four times the number required. After prioritising those who had detailed good reason for participating, one such studying for a PhD in Roman History, others coming in from overseas for the occasion, the rest were picked at random.

“Taking part in such an event as this one really feels like bringing history back to life, and using volunteers to do so is even better since heritage is something that belongs to everyone,” Belgian re-enactor, Katleen Vandenbranden, said after the event. “No exhibition about any Roman topic can give the same feeling to a visitor as participating in a project like this one.”

Legions

People were similarly motivated to get to the wall to watch. Opinions, of course, vary but somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 people turned out. And while you’d have to be about 13,000ft up to see all the lights at once, from an optimum position on the ground you could catch six of the windproof, two foot flames, and cars stopped everywhere for a look, many of them going on to follow the line.

“Eighty four miles, that was the longest show I’ve ever done,” Farquhar-Smith laughs. “There are lots of little side roads along the route and traffic really flowed sweetly apart from maybe five minutes at the end. The council and the police were right when they said anything we’d have done to try and control it would have made it worse.

“There were thousands of people on the hills either side of the wall. There was a huge cheer when we lit the first burner so I told them to light the next one and we got another huge cheer, and on it went. Capacity at Wallsend went in about five minutes so we got some bad press there but feedback generally has been exceptionally positive. People are saying we should do it all again. There are two or three things we could refine but the model works and if you got hold of a sponsor with a big budget, it would be great to have another go. It was supposed to be a once in a lifetime event but it really caught the imagination.”

Linda Tuttiett, chief executive of Hadrian’s Wall Heritage, didn’t rule the idea out either. “All things are possible,” she said. “We have a completely open mind about it but we’re so thankful for what we achieved this year. We worked with all of the landowners across the wall who have been absolutely fantastic in helping us realise this special moment and we just want to share it with the world really.”

Readers' comments (1)

• Stephen Chisholm | 13-Aug-2010 3:50 pm

  It was one of the best sights i have seen in my life time and to be part of it was great, I was one of the 150 crew that helped out on this unique event.

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