Most people think Hadrian's Wall stops at the Solway, but the Roman frontier did not simply end at the water's edge. Beyond Bowness a chain of milefortlets and towers ran on down the Cumbrian coast, watching the sea and the hills of Scotland across the firth, and Brownrigg North, tower 21b in the archaeologists' numbering, was one of them. There is little to see on the ground now, often just a gentle swelling in a field, but stand here and look west and you understand why it was put there: the Solway opens out, and on a clear day the Galloway hills and the Isle of Man line the horizon.
The anchor of this coastal system was Maryport, four kilometres away, where a Roman fort called Alauna stood on the cliff above the harbour. An extraordinary group of Roman altars was dug up there in the nineteenth century, many of them now displayed in the Senhouse Roman Museum, which occupies an old naval battery overlooking the site. They were dedicated to Jupiter by successive commanders, and they are among the finest collections of their kind in Britain.
This is a different Cumbria from the Lake District tourist circuit, a coast of old mining and port towns, with Workington and Whitehaven to the south and the Solway marshes to the north. The A596 coast road is fast and fairly straight, with some lovely stretches where the sea is right beside you; smaller lanes inland towards Dearham and Cockermouth climb into green rolling country with views of the northern fells, Skiddaw dominant among them. Watch for agricultural traffic and mud, and in winter for salt spray on the coast road.
Maryport has fuel, shops, chippies and a harbour where you can sit and watch the tide, which rises and falls a long way here. Its Georgian streets climb up from the water, and the town was the birthplace of Thomas Ismay, founder of the White Star Line that later owned the Titanic. Sunsets over the Solway can be spectacular. When the westerlies are blowing, though, it can be properly wild, so check the forecast before you commit to the exposed stretches.