Hadrian's Wall Path emergency & health guide: hospitals, mountain rescue, 999 and 111

Emergency numbers

If you are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired, register for emergencySMS before you go: text "register" to 999 and follow the replies. Mobile signal is weak in places on the central crags, so carry a map and tell someone your plan.

Rules to know

• World Heritage Site: Hadrian's Wall is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site and the archaeology is easily damaged. Do not walk or climb on the Wall, follow the signed National Trail (acorn waymarks) and keep off worn patches.
• Walk side by side, not in single file, on the grass, especially in wet weather: a single line of footsteps wears through the turf that protects the buried Roman remains.
• Winter ("Every Footstep Counts"): the path is open all year, but the trail authorities recommend walking it between Easter and October and ask you not to walk the whole trail in winter, when the wet ground is easily damaged. In winter choose a circular walk or a Roman site instead. The Passport stamps are only available from spring to the end of October.
• There is no general right to wild camp in England. Camp only on campsites or with the landowner's permission, and never beside the Wall.
• Dogs: keep them on a lead on farmland, through the central crags and on National Trust land, where a lead is compulsory. Much of the path crosses fields with sheep and cattle; at lambing time (spring) farmers prefer you to leave dogs at home. If cattle threaten you, let your dog go.
• Solway tides: between Dykesfield and Drumburgh and between Port Carlisle and Bowness-on-Solway the path floods at high tide. Check Silloth tide times, add 1 hour in winter (GMT) or 2 hours in summer (BST), and avoid these parts for an hour either side of high tides of 9 m or more.
• Carlisle: the underpass under the A689 between Grinsdale and the Sheepmount often floods. If it is flooded, do not cross the dual carriageway on foot; go back and take a bus or taxi.
• Countryside Code: leave gates as you find them, use gates and stiles, take your litter home, and do not light fires.

Before you go, check current diversions on the National Trail news page and the Met Office forecast. The AD122 Hadrian's Wall Country bus (Hexham – Haltwhistle via the Roman sites) runs daily all year, and bus 93 links Bowness-on-Solway with Carlisle from Monday to Saturday. Book rooms and baggage transfer early: small villages have only a few beds.

Nearest hospital for each stage

Hospitals

Urgent treatment centres

Urgent treatment centres and minor injuries units treat sprains, simple fractures, cuts and burns. Opening hours differ: the urgent treatment centre at Hexham General Hospital is open 8am to 10pm, and the minor injuries unit in Haltwhistle 8.30am to 4.30pm (no X-ray). They are not emergency departments. Call NHS 111 first: it can book you in.

Pharmacies, cash and supplies

• Pharmacies: Wallsend, Carlisle
• ATMs: Wallsend, Carlisle
• Shops: Wallsend, Chollerford, Carlisle
• Bus stops: Wallsend, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Steel Rigg, Carlisle, Bowness-on-Solway

England has no duty-pharmacy rota. Use the NHS "Find a pharmacy" service on nhs.uk to check opening hours, or call 111 if you need medicines urgently at night. There are pharmacies in Newcastle and Carlisle on the route, and in Hexham, Haltwhistle and Brampton a few kilometres off it; there are none in Heddon-on-the-Wall, Chollerford, Once Brewed, Gilsland, Walton, Burgh by Sands or Bowness-on-Solway, so carry a first-aid and blister kit.

Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.