The Stanegate is the Roman road that came before the Wall, and Burnhead lies close to its line. Before Hadrian's engineers began their great work in AD 122, the frontier of Roman Britain ran along this road from Corbridge in the east to Carlisle in the west, guarded by forts at intervals of about a day's march, and the Wall was built a little to the north, along the crags. The camp at Burnhead, which belongs to the temporary camps that armies built on the march, is one of the faint earthworks in this country, a low square of bank and ditch in a field above the Haltwhistle Burn.
The Haltwhistle Burn is a pretty stream, and the valley holds the remains of a Roman fort, a small one, built to guard the Stanegate crossing, and the traces of an older, smaller fort beside it. Nearby the Written Rock of Gelt, a quarry face carved with Roman inscriptions, lies in a wooded gorge on the Gelt, some miles to the west near Brampton. The soldiers who quarried stone here left their names and the date, a rare personal touch in the story of an empire.
The upland is bleak and beautiful, with open grassland, rushes and long views. Lapwings and curlews nest in the fields, and the burn runs clear over stones. The weather turns fast, and cloud can bring a sudden chill even in summer. In winter the ground is hard and the wind sharp.
Riding in the area is a delight, with a good mix of fast sweeping roads and tight lanes. The B6318 and the A69 are the main routes, with a steady stream of lorries and cars, and the minor roads towards Greenhead and Gilsland are quiet, steep and twisty. Sheep wander on the road, and the surface is rough in places. Haltwhistle has fuel, a few shops and cafés, and a pub with a fire in winter. Haydon Bridge is farther and Brampton further still. Late spring and early autumn are the best seasons.