Why this ride
89 km from Maryport to Maryport, about 1 h 21 of riding. The stops in between: Wolsty North tower 13a, Herd Hill North and back through Wolsty North tower 13a.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Brownrigg North tower 21b and Herd Hill North
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 89 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 21
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Brownrigg North tower 21b
Most people think Hadrian's Wall stops at the Solway, but the Roman frontier did not simply end at the water's edge. Beyond Bowness a chain of milefortlets and towers ran on down the Cumbrian coast, watching the sea and the hills of Scotland across the firth, and Brownrigg North, tower 21b in the archaeologists' numbering, was one of them. There is little to see on the ground now, often just a gentle swelling in a field, but stand here and look west and you understand why it was put there: the Solway opens out, and on a clear day the Galloway hills and the Isle of Man line the horizon.
Read the complete Brownrigg North tower 21b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brownrigg North tower 21b is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.
2. Wolsty North tower 13a
Silloth is a small Victorian town on the Solway coast of Cumbria, built in the nineteenth century as a port and a seaside resort, with wide cobbled streets, a green along the seafront and views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Scotland. Just south of the town, at Wolsty, the Romans built a tower as part of the defences that extended Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian coast. Tower 13a was one of a chain of small towers and milefortlets, spaced along the shore to watch for raiders crossing the firth from the north.
Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Herd Hill North.
3. Herd Hill North
Bowness-on-Solway is the western end of Hadrian's Wall, a quiet village on a low headland above the estuary, and Herd Hill lies a little farther along the shore on the Cardurnock peninsula. Roman engineers built the wall to Bowness, where the fort of Maia stood, and then continued the defences south along the Cumbrian coast with milefortlets and towers. The northern watchtower on this hill was one of the chain that watched across the water to Scotland, at a place where the Solway is narrow enough to be forded at low tide.
Read the complete Herd Hill North write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Herd Hill North. Next is back through Wolsty North tower 13a.
4. back through Wolsty North tower 13a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wolsty North tower 13a, late in the day. Next is Brownrigg North tower 21b.
5. Brownrigg North tower 21b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Brownrigg North tower 21b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Brownrigg North tower 21b. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Brownrigg North tower 21b to Wolsty North tower 13a
Brownrigg North tower 21b → Wolsty North tower 13a is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty North tower 13a to Herd Hill North
Wolsty North tower 13a → Herd Hill North is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Herd Hill North to back through Wolsty North tower 13a
Herd Hill North → back through Wolsty North tower 13a is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty North tower 13a to Brownrigg North tower 21b
back through Wolsty North tower 13a → Brownrigg North tower 21b is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.