A new map of Hadrian’s Wall Country will be inserted into 800,000 copies of the Sunday Telegraph this weekend to raise the profile of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site.
 
The giveaway is part of a strategy to raise awareness of the current exhibition, ‘The Face of an Emperor: Hadrian Inspects the Wall’ at Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum. Supported by BP, the exhibition has been organised through the British Museum’s Partnership UK programme and features a larger than life size head of the Emperor Hadrian, on loan for the first time ever from the British Museum.
 
The map, which has been designed by Hexham-based marketing services agency, R//evolution, to a brief from Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd, shows a scale map of the entire length of the World Heritage Site. It also gives suggestions for visits, listing events taking place this year and information on walking, cycling, travel (including the award-winning Hadrian’s Wall Country bus AD122), accommodation, ‘Locally Produced’ branded products and details of relevant websites and contact information to find out more.
 
“We’re really proud to have created this flagship piece of marketing literature for the region,” said Gill Burgess, client services director for R//evolution. “It is the most comprehensive map of Hadrian’s Wall Country that Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd has produced. As well as highlighting the 14 major Roman sites, forts and museums on the map, we have also suggested a number of ‘Frontier Experiences’ which are mini itineraries that combine Wall-watching with other places of interest, both Roman and non-Roman.”
 
Gill, who was named Rural North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, admitted that the map had proved a major challenge to design. “We devised special icons for each site and tried to list everything a visitor to Hadrian’s Wall Country would be likely to want to know, such as travel options, food and drink availability, toilets and even picnic tables.”
 
Vineet Lal, communications and branding director for Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd, who commissioned the publication from R//evolution, said: “For the first time we have gathered all of our key sub-brands together in one piece of literature, which covers the whole of the World Heritage Site from Tyneside to the Cumbrian Coast.
 
“We are immensely grateful for the support received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which gives us the ability to showcase the map, the region and the exhibition to wider audiences through a national newspaper and thus raise awareness of the Wall and the importance of the ‘Face of an Emperor’ exhibition as part of the region’s Roman heritage.”
 
To accompany the map, R//evolution has also designed a ‘Where to stay’ brochure, which is a comprehensive guide to accommodation, tour operators, baggage transfers, guiding companies, places to eat and taxi companies throughout Hadrian’s Wall Country.
 
R//evolution has been established for six years. Its clients include International Paint Ltd, One NorthEast, Arriva North East and Northumberland County Council. It has worked with Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd on a number of projects over the past two years including devising their corporate identity, the ‘Locally Produced’ brand and ‘Frontier’, the World Heritage Site’s newsletter.