CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
158 km from Workington to Workington, about 2 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: Bank Mill tower 15a, Biglands House, Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 and back through Biglands House. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
On the northern edge of Workington, near the mouth of the river Derwent, a fragment of stone wall stands alone in a field, a jagged piece of masonry rising above the grass. It is part of Burrow Walls, a Roman fort that guarded the Cumbrian coast, one of the chain of defences that extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall down the shore to watch for raiders crossing from Scotland and Ireland. Much of the fort's stone was reused in a medieval building on the site, and what survives today is modest, but it is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site and has a lonely charm, with views over the sea and the river.
Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Burrow Walls Roman fort is where the day begins. Next is Bank Mill tower 15a.
Hadrian's Wall did not stop at the sea. West of Bowness, the Romans continued their frontier along the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and watchtowers, guarding against raiders who might sail across the Solway Firth. Bank Mill tower 15a is one of those coastal towers, set on the low ground near Silloth, and its remains are slight, though the logic is clear: from here, a sentry could see the whole estuary, and a signal could pass quickly along the line. The coast defences belong to the same UNESCO frontier listing as the wall itself.
Read the complete Bank Mill tower 15a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bank Mill tower 15a comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Biglands House. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66.
The western end of Hadrian's Wall runs right through Carlisle, and the stretch counted as wall mile 66 lies on the edge of the city, close to where the wall crossed the River Eden. The Roman town of Luguvalium grew up here, and the fort at Stanwix, across the river, housed a cavalry regiment and was the largest on the wall. Very little of the stone wall survives in the city, much of it having been robbed for buildings, but the line of the wall and vallum can be traced in places, and the Tullie House museum tells the story of Roman Carlisle with excellent displays.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66, about halfway. Next is back through Biglands House.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Biglands House write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Biglands House sits at 103 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bank Mill tower 15a.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bank Mill tower 15a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Bank Mill tower 15a comes up about 136 km into the recorded legs. Next is Burrow Walls Roman fort.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Burrow Walls Roman fort closes the day.
Burrow Walls Roman fort → Bank Mill tower 15a is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bank Mill tower 15a → Biglands House is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Biglands House → Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 → back through Biglands House is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Biglands House → back through Bank Mill tower 15a is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bank Mill tower 15a → Burrow Walls Roman fort is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.