Why this ride
From Birtley it runs 194 km to Birtley; allow about 3 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor, Rise How tower 25a and back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & and Rise How tower 25a
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 194 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 04
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & → Hadrian's Wall vallum bet
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 61 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 48 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
Of all the Roman sites along Hadrian's Wall, Carrawburgh may be the most mysterious. The fort itself, called Brocolitia, is largely unexcavated, a grassy platform beside the Military Road, but just below it, in a boggy hollow, stands the reconstructed outline of a small temple of Mithras, the soldiers' god, whose cult was popular among the Roman army. The temple was excavated in 1949, and its three altars, now replaced by replicas, the originals being in the Great North Museum in Newcastle, were dedicated by commanders of the garrison. Nearby, a spring dedicated to the water goddess Coventina yielded an astonishing hoard of coins, altars and offerings when it was excavated in the nineteenth century, around thirteen thousand coins in all.
Read the complete Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor.
2. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
On the eastern edge of Carlisle, where the M6 motorway sweeps north towards Scotland, the line of Hadrian's Wall crosses the fields and housing estates in a way that is barely visible. Yet the vallum, the great ditch the Romans dug south of the Wall, can still be traced here as a slight dip in the ground, and this stretch between the motorway and the outskirts of the city is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. It takes some imagination, but standing here you are on the line that marked the edge of the empire for nearly three hundred years.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor 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 the M6 motor comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rise How tower 25a.
3. Rise How tower 25a
Hadrian's Wall does not simply stop at the Solway. Beyond Bowness, the Romans extended their frontier down the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and towers, watching the shore against raiders crossing from what is now south-west Scotland. Rise How tower 25a is one of them, on the low cliffs just south of Maryport near Flimby, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Little is visible above ground, but standing here and looking out over the water, you can see why they bothered.
Read the complete Rise How tower 25a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Rise How tower 25a. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor.
4. back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor 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 the M6 motor, late in the day. Next is Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &.
5. Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor to Rise How tower 25a
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor → Rise How tower 25a is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rise How tower 25a to back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
Rise How tower 25a → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor to Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor → Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.