Why this ride
From Durham it runs 176 km to Durham; allow about 3 h 03 of riding. The stops in between: Roman fort, Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc and back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Durham Castle and Cathedral and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 176 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 03
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
Durham Castle and Cathedral → Roman fort
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 29 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 29 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Durham Castle and Cathedral
The river Wear loops around a rocky peninsula in a tight horseshoe, and on top of it, rising above the trees, stand Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, one of the most impressive views in Britain. The Normans built both in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, soon after the Conquest, as a statement of power in the turbulent north. The cathedral is a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, with massive columns carved with zigzags and spirals, and its stone rib vaults are among the earliest of their kind in Europe, pointing the way to Gothic architecture. Together, castle and cathedral were listed by UNESCO in 1986.
Read the complete Durham Castle and Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Durham Castle and Cathedral is where the day begins. Next is Roman fort.
2. Roman fort
Newcastle got its name from a castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, but the hilltop he chose above the Tyne had already been used for centuries. Beneath the Castle Keep and the Black Gate lie the remains of Pons Aelius, a small Roman fort that guarded a bridge across the river near the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. The name honoured Hadrian himself, whose family name was Aelius. Outlines of the fort are marked in the paving around the keep, and the Swing Bridge below crosses the river close to where the Roman bridge stood.
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
Roman fort comes up 21 km in.
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
42 km in you reach Roman fort. Next is Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5.
4. Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5
Wall mile 5 is in Newcastle, which means that the Roman frontier is under a bus route. The Wall began at Wallsend and ran west, and the antiquarians who surveyed it numbered every Roman mile from there, so mile five falls in Benwell, a hillside district of terraces above the Tyne. Here the old line is now more or less the West Road, a main road into the city, and a short way off the road you can find real Roman stone. A tiny temple dedicated to a local British god called Antenociticus stands in a small garden between modern houses, with its three altars copied in place, and the remains of the Vallum, the broad ditch south of the Wall, crosses a causeway nearby. The fort of Condercum stood on the hill above, with a fine view east down the river.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5, about halfway. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc.
5. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Most people meet Hadrian's Wall in the wild middle section around Housesteads, where it rides the crags of the Whin Sill. Out here at the eastern end, a few miles from Newcastle, it is a quieter, more domestic affair, and that is part of its charm. Heddon on the Wall, four kilometres away, keeps one of the longest surviving stretches of the wall's full broad foundation on this side of the country, a solid run of masonry beside the road, and the ground around it preserves the vallum, the great flat-bottomed ditch with banks on either side that the Romans dug just south of the wall to mark the military zone. Begun under the emperor Hadrian in AD 122, the whole frontier ran from the Tyne to the Solway, and it is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc sits at 83 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 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 in wall mile 5 comes up 104 km in. Next is back through Roman fort.
7. back through Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
125 km in you reach back through Roman fort. Next is back through Roman fort.
8. back through Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Durham Castle and Cathedral.
9. Durham Castle and Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Durham Castle and Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 176 km.
Leg by leg
Durham Castle and Cathedral to Roman fort
Durham Castle and Cathedral → Roman fort is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman fort to Roman fort
Roman fort → Roman fort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman fort to Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5
Roman fort → Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc to back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc → back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 to back through Roman fort
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 5 → back through Roman fort is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roman fort to back through Roman fort
back through Roman fort → back through Roman fort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roman fort to Durham Castle and Cathedral
back through Roman fort → Durham Castle and Cathedral is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.