Biglands House and The Stangate at Crosby Lodge

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Biglands House

   Out on the Cumbrian shore of the Solway Firth, at the far western end of Hadrian's frontier, Biglands is a farmhouse name attached to the site of a small Roman milefortlet, one of the posts that carried the Wall's chain of defences down the coast once the stone curtain itself had stopped at Bowness. There is very little to see above ground; the fortlet was excavated and then returned to the grass. What you come for is the setting and the sense of standing at the edge of an empire, looking across a few kilometres of mud and water at Scotland.

   Read the complete Biglands House write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Biglands House is where the day begins. Next is Roman fort and watch tower.

2. 2. Roman fort and watch tower

   The Solway Firth is the border's wet edge, a wide estuary with some of the biggest tides in Britain, and the Romans built the western end of Hadrian's Wall right on its southern shore. Here, a few kilometres west of Carlisle, a fort and a watchtower stood in a low, open country of marsh and meadow, watching the crossing points across the water. The route passes Biglands House and the Stangate at Crosby Lodge, local names that mark an old road, and the landscape has the long, flat, windswept character that makes this corner of Cumbria feel remote even close to a city.

   Read the complete Roman fort and watch tower write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Roman fort and watch tower comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's.

3. 3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's

   East of Carlisle, the Eden river bends through a broad red-sandstone valley, and the line of Hadrian's Wall once ran across it. Little of the wall is visible here, because stone was reused for houses and field walls over the centuries, but the course is known, and the Vallum, the great ditch and mounds on the south side, leaves faint marks in the fields. The sector between Baron's Close and the nearby farms runs through gentle pasture, with hedgerows, oak trees and cattle, and the memory of soldiers is carried by the land itself.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of.

4. 4. Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of

   The Solway Firth, west of Carlisle, is a wide, shallow estuary where the Cumbrian plain opens out to the sea, and the marshes and farmland on its southern shore are the western end of Hadrian's Wall, with the Scottish hills visible on the far side. The land is low, wet and windy, with cattle in the fields and tall skies full of birds, and a visitor will find little that looks like Roman engineering until they look closely at the ground.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of, about halfway. Next is The Stangate at Crosby Lodge.

5. 5. The Stangate at Crosby Lodge

   Before there was a Wall, there was a road. The Stanegate, a Roman route running east to west between the Tyne at Corbridge and the Eden at Carlisle, was the first frontier line in northern Britain, guarded by a string of forts decades before Hadrian ordered his great barrier built a little to the north. Near Crosby-on-Eden, a few miles east of Carlisle, the line of the old road passes through gentle farmland on the north bank of the Eden, and while there is little to see of the road itself, the landscape tells the story of how the Romans picked their way across this narrow neck of the country.

   Read the complete The Stangate at Crosby Lodge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The Stangate at Crosby Lodge sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of.

6. 6. back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's.

7. 7. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 115 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's. Next is back through Roman fort and watch tower.

8. 8. back through Roman fort and watch tower

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roman fort and watch tower write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Roman fort and watch tower, late in the day. Next is Biglands House.

9. 9. Biglands House

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Biglands House write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 157 km.