Suprisingly, the "axe head" sections each on one side of the circular top and bottom openings are unnessecary to the functioning, and just there for show.
It's also near a fort on the Antonine Wall, a further-north version of Hadrian's wall- so it's been the shortest route across Britain for quite a long time...
I have walked across it on the John Muir Way which is highly recommended. I actually didn't really remember what Hadrian's wall was. We always learnt it was to "keep out the Scots", but in fact it represented the Northernmost border of the Roman empire. I had no idea about the Antonine wall, nor that they got that far north.
The Scots are descended from an Irish Gaelic (Celtic) tribe who migrated from Ireland to Scotland in the 5th Century [0] (when all three of Britain's countries were created, it was a fascinating century).
The Romans were there before then, and left before then. The walls they built were to keep the Picts out (though this gets fuzzy - the line between "Pict" and "Briton" isn't as clear as conventional Victorian history books say).
One of the interesting things that I heard about the walls, and may or may not be true (I'd be interested if anyone has an update) is that the Romans never explored the top of the island, or sailed around it, and just assumed there was a lot more of it going north. If they'd known how close they were to the end, they might have just conquered all of it, which would probably have been less effort than building those two walls.
Just to be clear, "Scots" means current denizens of modern Scotland, who are mostly descended from a mixture of Picts and Gaels. It's not the case that the 5th century "Scoti" wiped out everyone else and they're now the only modern "Scots". The Picts and Gaels eventually united under Kenneth MacAlpin as the Kingdom of Alba... which did not include Strathclyde and the Lothians as Scotland has today.
Also to be clear to anyone else reading, "Britons" is referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Britons rather than all citizens of modern Britain. These people were predominantly in Strathclyde and Cumbria. I'm not sure how many of them were around in Roman times to be kept out.
As you say, the Romans departure from north Britain predates "Scotland". They fought with many different tribes north of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall. From Ptolemy, we have some of the names they gave these tribes: Taexali, Vacomagi, Caledonii, ... We don't know if the tribes call themselves that. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_during_the_Roman_Empi... -> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Britain.north.people... which is based on a 1467 map, which itself is based on Ptolemy's writing.
Anyone, Christian or atheist, who has any interest in the Science Vs Religion debate as it has existed since Darwin should look at "Against Celsus" by Origen. It provides a fascinating example of a well educated Roman philosopher and a well educated Christian Platonist philosopher arguing with each other.
I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
and the finding of those who seek after me,
and the command of those who ask of me,
and the power of the powers in my knowledge
of the angels, who have been sent at my word,
and of gods in their seasons by my counsel,
and of spirits of every man who exists with me,
and of women who dwell within me.
I am the one who is honored, and who is praised,
and who is despised scornfully.
I am peace,
and war has come because of me.
And I am an alien and a citizen.
I assume nixie tubes were introduced to a new generation of nerds via their appearance in Portal 2, at one of the lowest (=oldest) layers of Aperture Science. What a cool ancestor to the comparatively boring post-1970s 7 segment display!
Yeah it’s interesting to imagine a London that had such a rebuild, like Napoleon’s rebuild of Paris. I personally love the weird narrow streets and little alleyways of the City, but that’s because when I’m there I’m pretty much exclusively on foot having taken the tube in.
It would be interesting to consider composite systems where human brainstorming feeds AI writing, as well as vice versa, to see what kind of engagement with AI writing people like the most. At least in my case, I find plot writing good fun, and actual writing slightly less good fun.
Definitely on the to-do list! Right now, there's smth called fork (inspired by Github fork), where it lets you remix the story with a given input. It might be cool for you to mess around with.
It's also near a fort on the Antonine Wall, a further-north version of Hadrian's wall- so it's been the shortest route across Britain for quite a long time...