Just north of Hexham, the A road climbs out of the Tyne valley and meets the Roman frontier on a high, windy shoulder of Northumberland. Here, near Acomb, Wall and the crossing of the North Tyne at Chollerford, the line of Hadrian's Wall and its vallum runs across open farmland, sometimes visible as a low bank, sometimes followed by the road itself. Like every stretch of the frontier, it belongs to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and this middle section is where the wall starts to feel serious, heading west into the wild central crags.
A little way along is Heavenfield, a quiet hillside with a wooden cross and a small church, where in 634 the Northumbrian king Oswald defeated the British king Cadwallon. According to Bede, Oswald raised a cross before the battle, and his victory helped establish Christianity in the north. It is a bleak but moving spot, with views across the valley and the wind singing in the grass.
The riding here is famous for one road in particular: the B6318, known as the Military Road, built after the Jacobite rising of 1745 to move troops quickly between Newcastle and Carlisle. Its builders used the Roman wall as a convenient source of foundations and stone, and in places the road sits right on top of it. Today it is a fast, rolling ride with long straights, blind crests and sudden dips, beloved by bikers and photographers alike. Be careful: the crests hide oncoming traffic, sheep wander freely, and the wind can be strong and gusty on the exposed sections. Low sun in the morning or evening is magical, but it can also blind you on the eastward and westward stretches.
Hexham, six kilometres away, is a market town of eleven thousand with fuel, supermarkets and the beautiful Hexham Abbey, whose Anglo-Saxon crypt was built by Wilfrid in the seventh century, partly with Roman stones from nearby Corbridge. Corbridge itself, a pretty village with a Roman town site on its edge, has good tea rooms and pubs. Pick up a Northumbrian pie, and if it is wet, do not be shy about warming up by a pub fire before continuing.