Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, a claim based on measurements that no one outside the town quite trusts, but which has produced a very good tourist sign. The town sits in the South Tyne valley, a few kilometres south of Hadrian's Wall, and the wall and vallum between Fell End and the neighbouring crags form one of the most atmospheric sections of the whole frontier. The label here mentions a Roman temporary camp, and the district is full of such earthworks, built by marching legions as they moved through the area.
Close by, Walltown Crags has a fine stretch of the wall, standing high on the Whin Sill, and below it the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran explains what life on the frontier was like. The wall here runs along a ridge with a steep drop to the north, and from the top the view over the empty moors and the dark forest of Kielder, to the north, is huge. The nearby ruin of Thirlwall Castle, built partly from Roman stone, is a good reminder that medieval builders were just as happy to recycle the wall as their predecessors had been to build it.
Winter on this ridge is serious. Snow and ice come early, the wind seems to have nothing to stop it, and the roads can be blocked for days. In summer the same slopes are covered in heather and wildflowers, and curlews and lapwings call from the fields. Peregrines nest on the crags, and in the evening you may see roe deer moving along the edge of the woods.
The riding is good, and the B6318 and the lanes around Haltwhistle give a mix of fast open roads and tight, twisty bends. The surface is generally good, though sheep and the odd tractor are a hazard. Mornings are quietest, and spring and early autumn are the most comfortable seasons.
Haltwhistle has nearly four thousand people, with pumps and a few shops, and Hexham, twenty-five kilometres east, is the larger town. Carry a waterproof and something warm.