Along Hadrian’s Wall, at regular intervals, there are guard-posts. Small stone residences from which a watch could be kept. They’re set at regular intervals along the wall, and most of them, perhaps all of them but one, have a very good view to the North. It’s that one that sticks in my mind. It is built down to one side of a rise in the ground – the wall goes up and over the top. If this guard-post had been built at the top of the rise, the guards inside would have been able to see everything, everywhere. As it is, they would have had, at best, only a partial view of any incursion by the Scots. Not good. The interesting thing about this guard-post is that it is exactly equidistant between its neighbouring guard-posts. On paper, it is exactly in the right place. Back in 2013, a businessman was convicted of fraud for selling fake bomb-detection equipment. Heard this morning – that kit is still in use in Iraq, and perhaps elsewhere. On paper, the good guys can detect bombs. But. |