Why this ride
284 km from Bardon Mill to Bardon Mill, about 4 h 04 of riding. On the way it passes Burgh by Sands Roman fort, The English Lake District and back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort. It strings together lakeside roads.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Defended settlement and Roman signal stati and The English Lake District
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 284 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 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
Defended settlement and Roman signal stati → Burgh by Sands Roman fort
61 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 54 km
Burgh by Sands Roman fort → The English Lake District
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 67 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 89 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Defended settlement and Roman signal stati
The South Tyne valley below Haydon Bridge is one of the best places in England to understand why the Romans chose this line. To the north rises the long whinstone crag, the Whin Sill, a hard dark rock that stands up in a series of cliffs facing north, and along its crest Hadrian's Wall once ran. South of it lies the valley, with the river, the old road called the Stanegate and a string of forts. A defended settlement and signal station here would have been part of this web, sitting on high ground where a fire or flag could pass news along the line in minutes.
Read the complete Defended settlement and Roman signal stati write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Defended settlement and Roman signal stati is where the day begins. Next is Burgh by Sands Roman fort.
2. Burgh by Sands Roman fort
When King Edward I died in 1307, he was camped on the Solway marshes, on his way north to deal with Robert the Bruce once more, and the spot is marked by a monument beside the road near Burgh by Sands. Long before him the Romans had built a fort here, called Aballava, on a low ridge above the tidal flats, with a garrison of troops from the Moorish provinces of North Africa. Today the little village is spread along a single road, and its church, St Michael's, is built partly of Roman stone and has a defensive tower, a reminder of the centuries of Border raiding that followed.
Read the complete Burgh by Sands Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burgh by Sands Roman fort comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is The English Lake District.
3. The English Lake District
Wordsworth wandered lonely as a cloud round here, and anybody who has ridden the Lake District on a wet bank holiday will understand the appeal of being lonely. The English Lake District, listed by UNESCO in 2017 as a cultural landscape, is a compact knot of mountains, lakes and valleys in Cumbria, shaped by glaciers and then by centuries of sheep farming, slate quarrying and, from the late eighteenth century, by poets, painters and tourists who came looking for the sublime.
Read the complete The English Lake District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 143 km into the recorded legs you reach The English Lake District. Next is back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort.
4. back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Burgh by Sands 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 Burgh by Sands Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Defended settlement and Roman signal stati.
5. Defended settlement and Roman signal stati
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Defended settlement and Roman signal stati write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Defended settlement and Roman signal stati. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Defended settlement and Roman signal stati to Burgh by Sands Roman fort
Defended settlement and Roman signal stati → Burgh by Sands Roman fort is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burgh by Sands Roman fort to The English Lake District
Burgh by Sands Roman fort → The English Lake District is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The English Lake District to back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort
The English Lake District → back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort to Defended settlement and Roman signal stati
back through Burgh by Sands Roman fort → Defended settlement and Roman signal stati is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.