Kilsyth

The islanders built the wall which they had been told to raise, not of stone, since they had no workmen capable of such a work, but of sods, which made it of no use.

- the Venerable Bede blamed the state of the Antonine Wall on lumpen British workmanship.

The Roman Empire colonised Britain from 43 AD: they quickly secured England, and marched up the east coast of Scotland. In 84 AD Agricola fought the battle of Mons Graupius against the Caledonians, probably somewhere near Stonehaven. He won, but Rome was preoccupied by threats elsewhere, and couldn't spare troops to garrison Scotland. They fell back to a line of control between the Tyne and the Solway, building Hadrian's Wall in 122 AD. After a few years they were again ready to advance.

So it was in 142 AD under Emperor Antoninus Pius that a new wall was built, stretching 39 miles (63 km) from Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth to Old Kilpatrick near Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde. The Antonine Wall was a turf barrier on a stone foundation topped by palisades, with a deep ditch on its north side and a military road to its south. There were 19 forts and a series of fortlets or lookouts along it, of similar homespun construction. The wall took 12 years to complete and for the following eight years the Romans enjoyed standing sentry in the rain and occasional skirmishes with the Caledonians. Then the Empire retrenched and in 162 AD the troops again fell back to Hadrian's Wall. They re-occupied the Antonine Wall briefly in 208 AD but remained on Hadrian's Wall until Rome abandoned Britain altogether early in the 5th century.

By plane:

Glasgow Airport (GLA IATA) is 25 miles west of Kilsyth. Take the airport bus 500 to Glasgow city centre then onward bus or train as below.

Edinburgh Airport (EDI IATA) is 30 miles east. Take the airport bus or tram to Haymarket then a westbound train.

Cumbernauld airport only has private aviation.

By train:

1 Croy is the nearest railway station, two miles south of Kilsyth along B802. This has trains from Glasgow Queen Street every 15 min, taking 15 min. These continue either east to Edinburgh (every 30 min via Falkirk, taking 35 min) or north to Stirling (every 30 min, taking 20 min) and Alloa. Change at Stirling for Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness: those trains rush through Croy non-stop. Croy has a staffed ticket office and machines, a waiting room, toilets and coffee kiosk. There is step-free access to both platforms.

Between Kilsyth and Croy, take the bus as below.

By road:

From Glasgow follow M80 to jcn 4A, then B802 through Croy. You could also take A803 through Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch, but it's an undivided road dragging through residential areas. From Edinburgh follow M9 then M876 to the M80.

By bus:

First Greater Glasgow Bus 89 runs M-Sa every 30 min from Glasgow Buchanan station via Caledonian University, Springburn, Bishopbriggs, Cadder and Kirkintilloch to Kilsyth, taking an hour. There's only two on Sunday.

Midland Bluebird Bus 72 runs M-Sa hourly from Glasgow via Lenzie and Kirkintilloch, taking an hour, and continues west to Falkirk, another 40 min. Change at Falkirk for Stirling or Edinburgh.

Canavan Bus 435 runs M-Sa every 30 min between Kilsyth, Croy and Cumbernauld. Bus 344 / 349 also plies between Kilsyth and Croy station.