North-east of Brampton, the Wall climbs out of the Irthing valley and runs along a ridge past the hamlet of Banks, and here you can see something many visitors miss: not only the Wall itself, but the vallum, the great earthwork ditch with banks on either side that the Romans dug just south of it. The vallum marked a military zone, a controlled strip where civilians could not wander freely, and seeing its long straight line beside the stone curtain makes the frontier feel less like a wall and more like a whole system of control.
At Banks East there is a well-preserved turret, and a little further along is Pike Hill, where a signal tower stood at an angle to the Wall, older than the Wall itself, placed to talk to stations on the Stanegate road behind. Down by the river, Lanercost Priory was founded by Augustinian canons in the twelfth century, and its builders helped themselves to Roman stone; you can spot it in the walls. Edward I stayed at Lanercost for months in his final year, ill and still planning campaigns against the Scots.
The road from Brampton through Lanercost and Banks towards Gilsland is a narrow, hedged lane that climbs and dips with the land, with a few tight corners, sudden steep pitches and splendid views north over the Cumbrian fells and the forests towards Bewcastle. It is popular with walkers on the Wall Path and with cyclists, so ride it gently and watch for people stepping out at stiles. In autumn the trees along the Irthing turn copper and the light is lovely in late afternoon.
Brampton, a few kilometres away, is a friendly market town with fuel, a couple of decent cafés and an octagonal moot hall in the square. Carlisle is the big service centre if you need tyres or parts. Lanercost has a tearoom by the priory, which is a happy place to sit with a scone, and there is usually water and toilets for walkers along the path. Further east, Birdoswald fort is one of the best places to see a long length of Wall, and well worth the extra miles.