Why this ride
A 132 km round trip from Haydon Bridge - roughly 2 h 01 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank, Roman fort and back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Coesike East Roman temporary camp and Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 132 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 01
- 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. Coesike East Roman temporary camp
The Romans were a marching people, and every night on campaign they dug in. Coesike East is one of those night camps, a temporary enclosure of banks and ditches thrown up by a column on the move, probably around the time the frontier was being organised, long before anyone thought of building a wall. Nothing much stands above ground now. What survives is a faint rectangle in rough pasture, visible mostly to people who already know what they are looking for, or to aerial photographs in low winter sun.
Read the complete Coesike East Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coesike East Roman temporary camp is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank.
2. Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank
The road west from Heddon-on-the-Wall runs straight as a ruler, and there is a reason for that. The B6318, known locally as the Military Road, was built by General Wade's engineers after the Jacobite rising of 1745 so that troops could move quickly between Newcastle and Carlisle, and for long stretches they laid it right on top of Hadrian's Wall, using the Roman stones as foundation. At Oatens Bank, just beyond Heddon, you ride with the Wall beneath your tyres and the ditch and vallum still visible in the fields beside you, two thousand years of frontier engineering compressed into a few metres.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roman fort.
3. Roman fort
At the mouth of the Tyne, on a rise above the river, stands a reconstructed Roman gateway that looks surprisingly new. It belongs to Arbeia, the Roman fort at South Shields, which supplied the soldiers along Hadrian's Wall and was built, strategically, to guard the entrance to the river. Ships unloaded grain and other goods here, and the stores were carried along the Wall's line, so this was the logistical heart of the frontier. Reconstructed buildings, including the gatehouse, a barrack and a commander's house, show how it looked, and the museum holds finds from the site.
Read the complete Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Roman fort. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank.
4. back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank 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 from Oatens Bank, late in the day. Next is Coesike East Roman temporary camp.
5. Coesike East Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coesike East Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Coesike East Roman temporary camp. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Coesike East Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank
Coesike East Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank to Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank → Roman fort is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman fort to back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank
Roman fort → back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank to Coesike East Roman temporary camp
back through Hadrian's Wall from Oatens Bank → Coesike East Roman temporary camp is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.