On Hadrian’s Wall, the anger of rangers towards visitors who hide their bags of dog waste in the monument

Respect for the thousand-year-old monument stops where the dog droppings begin. Several agents from the Northumberland National Park, in the north of England, are warning of the multiplication of bags containing dog droppings left on the site which houses Hadrian’s Wall, the BBC reported this Monday, April 6.

This unique site, built between 122 and 127 by around 15,000 soldiers, which at the time demarcated the northern border of the Roman Empire, has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987. However, this historical symbol also suffers the torments of a few visitors lacking in good manners: more and more of them hide their “poop bags” between two bricks of the monument built 1900 years ago.

“It makes me quite sad”

Walkers are free to visit the places on the surrounding trails and can bring their pets. Only request: that they pick up their dogs’ droppings, provided with dropping bags. But apparently that’s still too much to ask of some.

“It’s really frustrating: we have this extraordinary structure that so many people want to come and admire. “For anyone to think it’s OK to jam bags of dung into a UNESCO World Heritage site, well, that makes me quite sad,” says Margaret Anderson, Chief Ranger of the Northumberland National Park.

Few trash cans, but a lot of incivility

Stretching 72 miles (117 km) across the north of England, Hadrian’s Wall stretches from Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria on the west coast to Wallsend in North Tyneside. On the route, there are few bins for disposing of waste, recognizes Margaret Anderson, including in the Steel Rigg car park, one of the busiest by tourists, numbering 750,000 each year.

But on this site which is difficult to preserve, “new structures are the last thing we want”, underlines the forest guard. And added: “Let’s be honest, it’s not very complicated to keep your poop bag with you, in another bag, until you can throw it away.”

But these incivilities are far from the only ones that the Roman vestige suffers on a daily basis. Beyond the dog droppings stuck between two bricks, many visitors climb Hadrian’s Wall or have their children climb it for a photo, or even have lunch on it.