From the Military Road near Sewingshields, look south and you will see a long, straight scar running across the moorland: two mounds and a ditch, keeping pace with the Wall a short way behind it. That is the vallum, the great earthwork the Romans dug along the south side of the frontier to mark a military zone, and running alongside it here are traces of an early Roman road. This stretch near Housesteads is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and it is one of the places where the full layout of the frontier, wall, ditch, vallum and road, is easiest to read in the landscape.
Housesteads, just to the west, is the most famous fort on the Wall, perched on the edge of the Whin Sill escarpment with views over the moors. Its remains include barracks, granaries, the commander's house, a hospital and the best-preserved Roman latrines in Britain, with seats over a channel of running water. Further east, the Wall runs along the top of Sewingshields Crags, a wild, lonely stretch where legend has it that King Arthur and his knights sleep in a cave beneath the castle that once stood there, waiting to be woken.
To the north, Broomlee Lough and the other loughs, small lakes held in hollows between the ridges, reflect the sky and are home to waterfowl. South, the land falls away to the South Tyne valley, and Vindolanda, the fort famous for the wooden writing tablets found there, lies just a few kilometres away. The tablets, letters and documents written in ink, include a birthday party invitation from one officer's wife to another and give an extraordinarily intimate glimpse of Roman life on the frontier.
The riding here is wild and exposed. The Military Road climbs and dips along the line of the Wall, with views that stop you in your tracks. The weather can change quickly, with mist, rain and strong winds sweeping across the moors, and the road can feel very remote. Minor roads to the south, towards Bardon Mill and Haydon Bridge, are narrow and steep.
Haydon Bridge, about six kilometres away, has fuel and basic services. Hexham and Haltwhistle are the nearest larger towns. The National Trust café at Housesteads is welcome on a cold day, and there is a popular pub at Twice Brewed, a short ride west, where walkers and riders swap stories over a pint.