Why this ride
95 km from Annan to Annan, about 1 h 31 of riding. It goes by way of Beckfoot Roman fort, Maryport and back through Beckfoot Roman fort.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a and Maryport
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 95 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 31
- 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. Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a
The Solway Firth is a long, shallow estuary where the tide rushes in faster than a man can run, and at Cardurnock the land finishes in a flat, grassy peninsula that pokes into it. Hadrian's Wall once ran this way along the coast, and the line of the frontier continued along the shore with a series of milecastles and turrets watching the water. Turret 4a is one of those small signal towers, set about every third of a Roman mile, and nothing much remains of it above ground. What there is, instead, is a landscape that explains why the Romans put a tower here: wide, open and exposed, with a clear view over the sea to Scotland.
Read the complete Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a is where the day begins. Next is Beckfoot Roman fort.
2. Beckfoot Roman fort
Most people think Hadrian's Wall ended at Bowness-on-Solway, and in stone it did. But the Romans did not trust the shallow Solway Firth to keep raiders out, so they carried their defences on down the Cumbrian coast for many miles: a chain of small milefortlets and watchtowers, with proper forts at intervals, all the way to Maryport and beyond. Beckfoot is one of those forts, on a low bluff a few kilometres south of Silloth, looking straight across the water to Scotland. Above ground there is almost nothing, just a field with faint outlines, but aerial photos and excavations have shown the fort, its civilian settlement and its cemetery, and coastal erosion keeps nibbling at the remains.
Read the complete Beckfoot Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beckfoot Roman fort comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maryport.
3. Maryport
Maryport is a harbour town on the Cumbrian coast, a place of Georgian terraces, fishing boats and a long quay, with the Solway Firth and the hills of Galloway across the water. The town was laid out in the 1750s by Humphrey Senhouse, who named it for his wife Mary, and it grew on coal, shipbuilding and trade. Thomas Ismay, the founder of the White Star Line that later built the Titanic, was born here in 1837, and Fletcher Christian of the Bounty came from nearby Cockermouth. The harbour has been restored, with a maritime museum, a row of old boats, and a pleasant waterfront to walk.
Read the complete Maryport write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Maryport. Next is back through Beckfoot Roman fort.
4. back through Beckfoot Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beckfoot Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beckfoot Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a.
5. Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a to Beckfoot Roman fort
Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a → Beckfoot Roman fort is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beckfoot Roman fort to Maryport
Beckfoot Roman fort → Maryport is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maryport to back through Beckfoot Roman fort
Maryport → back through Beckfoot Roman fort is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beckfoot Roman fort to Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a
back through Beckfoot Roman fort → Cardurnock Marsh turret 4a is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Cardurnock and Maryport · 94 km
- Cardurnock milefortlet and Maryport · 93 km