Original article can be viewed at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/3813209.stm16 June, 2004
Roman ruin 'movie' wins accolade
A plan to boost tourism by recreating Roman life in a special effects-laden film, has itself won recognition.
The National Lottery has awarded a commemorative blue plaque in recognition of the project to boost tourism around Hadrian's Wall. The scheme involved a film shot from a bird's perspective.
The Vindolanda Trust, which preserves a fort on the northern part of the wall, received a £145,000 grant to make the film in 2002. Since then the film, shot from a helicopter, has intrigued experts and first-time visitors to the Roman Army Museum, at Greenhead, a few miles west of the Vindolanda Fort, which is near Hexham, Northumberland.
The 15-minute film features a flight over a section of the Wall - a World Heritage site - followed by a virtual reality reconstruction of how the local forts may have looked.
Economic framework
The blue plaque was awarded as part of a national campaign to highlight examples of "money well-spent" across the UK. Andrew Birley, Vindolanda archaeologist, said: "The Eagle's Eye film project highlights the amazing potential of Hadrian's Wall and the impact that its superb sites, like Vindolanda, have on both the cultural and economic framework of our region."
Professor Richard Bailey, chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the North East, was a huge fan of the Wall and its surroundings. He said: "You only have to look around you and see the countryside all around. "This is a World Heritage Site, after all."
Hadrian's Wall, which won the designation in 1987, was hit hard by the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The wall, built by the Emperor Hadrian in 122AD, spans 73 miles from Wallsend in North Tyneside to Bowness-on-Solway. There are 10 forts and museums open to the public along the wall's length.