When King Edward I died in 1307, he was camped on the Solway marshes, on his way north to deal with Robert the Bruce once more, and the spot is marked by a monument beside the road near Burgh by Sands. Long before him the Romans had built a fort here, called Aballava, on a low ridge above the tidal flats, with a garrison of troops from the Moorish provinces of North Africa. Today the little village is spread along a single road, and its church, St Michael's, is built partly of Roman stone and has a defensive tower, a reminder of the centuries of Border raiding that followed.
The country is flat and open, and the roads run in straight lines between hedges. Riding is easy, though the wind off the Solway can be strong and the saltmarsh floods at the highest tides, occasionally covering minor roads. The surface is mostly good, with muddy patches where farm vehicles turn. In spring the verges are full of wild flowers, and in autumn the geese arrive in great skeins, calling overhead. The English Lake District, which the label mentions, lies to the south and west, and its mountains are visible on a clear day, a blue line beyond the plain.
Carlisle, seven kilometres off, has nearly seventy-nine thousand people, so fuel, food and rooms are plentiful. Denton Holme, an inner suburb, has a few small shops. The Hadrian's Wall Path passes right through Burgh, and in summer walkers fill the pub gardens. A sheep auction, a cattle market and the sound of curlews make up the rest of the soundscape.
There is a small detail I like. The Solway has a tidal bore, and the sandbanks shift each year, so the old crossing points moved with them. People in Burgh talk about the tide the way people elsewhere talk about the weather, with respect and a certain humour. Spend a few minutes at the Edward memorial, look out across the marsh and consider how much history can happen on such a quiet edge of the map.