The Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in AD 122 and ordered a wall built from coast to coast, and the soldiers who did the work left their marks in stone that still stands across the north of England. The section near Brampton, in Cumbria, lies toward the western end of the Wall, where it crossed gentler country toward Carlisle and the Solway Firth. Here the Wall was first built partly in turf and later rebuilt in stone, and the remains of turrets, milecastles and the ditch can still be traced in the fields. Hadrian's Wall is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
A few kilometres to the east lies Birdoswald, one of the best-preserved forts on the Wall, overlooking a loop of the River Irthing, and nearby is one of the longest continuous stretches of Wall, running across the open country with a fine view. Lanercost Priory, a beautiful ruined Augustinian monastery partly built with stone taken from the Wall, sits by the river near Brampton and is well worth a stop.
The riding in this area is quietly excellent. Roads wind through rolling farmland and moorland, with long views to the Pennines and the Scottish hills. The B6318, known as the Military Road, follows the line of the Wall to the east, built in the eighteenth century after the Jacobite rising using stone from the Wall itself, and it rolls and dips along the ridge with blind crests that can catch out the unwary. Watch for sheep, cattle, tractors and walkers crossing the road, and for the wind, which can be strong on the high ground.
Brampton, about two kilometres away, is a small market town with fuel, shops, cafés and pubs, and a distinctive octagonal moot hall in its centre. Carlisle, around sixteen kilometres west, is a city with a castle, a cathedral and the excellent Tullie House museum, where you can learn more about the Wall and the Roman frontier.
Weather in this part of England is changeable, with rain and wind common at any time of year. Late spring and early autumn are the best seasons, with long days and fewer crowds. Find a stretch of Wall away from the car parks, sit on a stone and look north across the empty land, the way a Roman sentry might have done on a grey afternoon nearly two thousand years ago.