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Hadrian's Wall on England-Scotland Borders Awaits Hiking Lovers

In this July 3, 2018 photo, a stretch of Hadrian's Wall cuts through the northern English countryside, near Birdoswald Fort, Cumbria. (AP Photo/Jerry Harmer)
In this July 3, 2018 photo, a stretch of Hadrian's Wall cuts through the northern English countryside, near Birdoswald Fort, Cumbria. (AP Photo/Jerry Harmer)
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Hadrian's Wall on England-Scotland Borders Awaits Hiking Lovers

In this July 3, 2018 photo, a stretch of Hadrian's Wall cuts through the northern English countryside, near Birdoswald Fort, Cumbria. (AP Photo/Jerry Harmer)
In this July 3, 2018 photo, a stretch of Hadrian's Wall cuts through the northern English countryside, near Birdoswald Fort, Cumbria. (AP Photo/Jerry Harmer)

The Hadrian's Wall is one of many remains of fortifications built by the Roman Empire after invading Britain in the second century A.D.

The wall's original structure stretched over 73 mile (117 kilometers) within the English countryside, near the borders between modern Scotland and England. It extends in the west and the east, from Wallsend and Newcastle to the River Tame in the East.

The Roman soldiers constructed it in six years starting from the eastern side. The wall is enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered a popular tourist landmark. It was originally built upon the orders of Emperor Hadrian in 122 A.D. to support thousands of troops deployed to watch the borders with Scotland.

Hiking lovers can walk this path in both directions, and those who have time can start their hike from Carlisle in Solway Firth, a water outlet that separates Scotland and England.

Experts suggest the best hiking route is the one extending from Carlisle or Haltwhistle to Corbridge. Hikers who take it would need three to five days to reach Newcastle, according to the German News Agency.

On the path's sides, hikers would see green pastures, rocky hills, and some grey rural houses that appear on their way. They would also enjoy a soothing scene of cattle pasturing under the trees. Haltwhistle, which marks the middle of the itinerary, is a 700-year-old town that still features ancient rural houses known as "Bastle" that are open to the public. These houses were constructed by locals in the 16th and 17th centuries amid constant threats by the soldiers dominating England and Scotland.

It is thought that the Hadrian's Wall was the inspiration behind the famous ice wall separating the seven fictional kingdoms from the wild lands beyond in George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

The great appeal to walk along the Hadrian's Wall is partly attributed to the banners spread along the road, in addition to the scenery that accompanies the hikers during their trip, and not to the wall itself. The itinerary extends between the hills and valleys, and passes by fields full of cattle, animals, and flowers.

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S.Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates as Climate Warms

Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
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S.Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates as Climate Warms

Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP
Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP

On his farm two hours north of Johannesburg, Nico Thuynsma gestured towards thousands of orange, yellow and pink proteas in flower and thriving 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa.

"They're all different," the 55-year-old farmer said of the assorted blooms from the diverse Proteaceae family that has more than 350 species in South Africa, from firework-like "pincushion" varieties to delicate "blushing brides".

He picked out a majestic pink and white crown, nearly the size of his head, that has taken four years to reach its impressive size. "The King Proteas are very slow to grow," Thuynsma said.

The largest of the proteas, the King Protea, is South Africa's national flower.

It has lent its name to the national cricket team and countless brands. It features on the currency and is the logo for South Africa's presidency this year of the G20 group of leading economies, which convenes a summit in November.

It is also the country's largest flower export with more than 10 million stems sent abroad last year, worth close to 275 million rand ($15 million), according to the Cape Flora industry organization, said AFP.

Its status offers the King Protea some protection but almost half of South Africa's other protea species face extinction because of pressures on their native habitats in the mountains of the Cape, according to South Africa's National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

These include habitat loss to agriculture, the proliferation of invasive alien species and "changes to natural fire cycles", SANBI said in a 2021 report.

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"People come to South Africa to see proteas," Nigel Barker, a professor in plant sciences at the University of Pretoria, told AFP. "It's the plant equivalent of the elephant or the lion."

Most proteas are endemic or semi-endemic to the Cape Floral Kingdom biome of "fynbos" ("fine bush") that stretches across the southern tip of South Africa and is one of the world's richest flora biodiversity hotspots.

But climate projections predict "hotter, drier conditions", Barker said. "We'll be looking at a completely different vegetation type in the future, semi-desert almost in some places."

"Many species, because they're so range-restricted, will probably go extinct under those scenarios," he said.

"The only solution we have is to cultivate them artificially... in greenhouses or farms where you control irrigation," Barker said.

An example is Thuynsma's farm in the grasslands of the north, where he began planting proteas three decades ago.

Here, winters are dry and frosty, and the summers rainy -- conditions very different to those in the far south where the proteas are at home.

Gel for irrigation

Through trial and error, Thuynsma has been able to cultivate close to 200 protea varieties, including some long forgotten and abandoned by farmers in their original habitats.

In his latest experiment, he has planted 36 varieties with just two liters (four pints) of saturated gel for irrigation.

"I hope to unlock the power of some of these varieties," Thuynsma said. "They come from the Western Cape out of very harsh conditions, so they do have it in them."

"I learn from them, I learn with them. And, hopefully, in the future I can advise my nursery public -- and even estates -- how to plant this lovely fynbos without irrigation," he said.

"I don't think I have a solution for climate change," he joked, crouched over a small seedling in freshly turned soil. "But I do have a solution: to plant proteas."

A few meters (yards) away, in a warm nursery, thousands of protea sprouts awaited their turn in the soil.

"I love them, I protect them, I collect them," Thuynsma said. "The protea is part of South Africa's DNA."