Member Article

£400k investment to safeguard future of Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian’s Wall is set to continue to play an important role in the North East’s cultural heritage and tourist offering following a £400k government investment.

Backing the Hadrian’s Wall Connect Project, the money will be used to make it easier for visitors to access the site, in turn boosting tourism numbers throughout the rest of the year and beyond.

The Connect Projects being delivered through the Hadrian’s Wall Marketing Partnership which includes Northumberland County Council, Carlisle City Council, Northumberland National Park Authority, Northumberland Tourism, Cumbria Tourism, NewcastleGateshead Initiative and English Heritage.

The organisations have been working together to develop transport links and enrich business and tourist information along the corridor of Hadrian’s Wall.

The £400k grant led by VisitEngland has helped to secure the popular Go North East AD122 bus service for a further four years and will also see the introduction of ‘Hadrian’s Wall Welcome Hubs’ at key visitor locations including Carlisle, Haltwhistle and Hexham railway stations.

The Hubs will provide visitors with direction at key points and improve access and information about some of the lesser known sites on Hadrian’s Wall such as the Epiacum Roman Fort at Alston and the Senhouse Roman Museum in Maryport.

Councillor Val Tyler, Policy Board Member for Community Infrastructure and Culture at Northumberland County Council, said: “Northumberland is a proud county with a proud history. Hadrian’s Wall marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire for nearly 400 years and we take our duty to protect it, manage it and educate people about the monument very seriously.

“The Wall draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the North of England every year and we owe it to businesses and service providers to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to enable visitors to access our key attractions. I would like to thank VisitEngland for their funding and I am delighted that we have been able to deliver some big improvements in a short time scale.”

VisitEngland Director Patricia Yates said: “Hadrian’s Wall is one of England’s greatest tourism assets and this investment to improve the visitor experience will drive more domestic and inbound trips, benefiting local businesses and communities and spreading the economic benefits of tourism across the region.”

The Project has also invested in the design and development of new website and marketing materials to promote the Wall as a leading tourist destination.

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