Campfield and Swarthy Hill North tower 20b

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Campfield

   Out on the Solway coast west of Carlisle, the land flattens into salt marsh, peat bog and wide tidal sands, and the sky takes over. Campfield Marsh, near Bowness-on-Solway, is a nature reserve run by the RSPB, a mix of salt marsh, wet grassland and raised bog, and in winter it fills with tens of thousands of geese, barnacle and pink-footed, arriving from the Arctic, along with waders that feed on the mud at low tide. Across the firth, the town of Annan and the Scottish hills are visible on a clear day.

   Read the complete Campfield write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Campfield is where the day begins. Next is Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.

2. 2. Silloth Golf Course tower 12a

   Silloth is a Victorian seaside town that never quite got the crowds it was built for, and it is all the better for that. Laid out in the 1850s as a port and resort at the end of a railway from Carlisle, it has wide cobbled streets, terraces of sandstone houses and a huge open green between the town and the sea, where people stroll, play and watch the sunsets over the Solway. On the dunes south of the town, near the famous golf course, the Romans built a chain of towers along the coast, and tower 12a was one of them, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.

   Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Silloth Golf Course tower 12a comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Swarthy Hill North tower 20b.

3. 3. Swarthy Hill North tower 20b

   Along the Cumbrian coast between Silloth and Maryport, the Roman frontier did not end when Hadrian's stone Wall reached Bowness. A chain of milefortlets and towers continued down the shore, watching the Solway for raiders arriving by boat, and Tower 20b near Swarthy Hill is one of them. It was a small stone watchtower, probably manned by a handful of soldiers, and what remains is a low outline in the turf above the beach. You come for the context and the view across the water rather than for the masonry.

   Read the complete Swarthy Hill North tower 20b write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Swarthy Hill North tower 20b. Next is back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.

4. 4. back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a, late in the day. Next is Campfield.

5. 5. Campfield

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Campfield write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Campfield. That is the ride.