Why this ride
355 km from Carlisle to Carlisle, about 5 h 42 of riding. It goes by way of Herd Hill North, Sea Brows, Herd Hill and Maryport. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La and Maryport
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 355 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 42
- 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. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
Just east of Carlisle, near the village of Scotby, the Wall leaves almost no mark on the land. Here, at the western end of the Roman frontier, it was built first of turf and timber before being rebuilt in stone, and much of that stone has since been carried off to build farmhouses, churches and field walls. What survives is mostly buried, a faint line in the pasture or a slight ridge followed by a hedge. The vallum, the great earthwork that ran behind the wall, sometimes shows as a shallow trough in the fields. Yet this quiet stretch is part of the same World Heritage site as the dramatic crags further east, and walking the Hadrian's Wall Path through it gives a sense of continuity across the whole country.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La 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 Birky La is where the day begins. Next is Herd Hill North.
2. Herd Hill North
Bowness-on-Solway is the western end of Hadrian's Wall, a quiet village on a low headland above the estuary, and Herd Hill lies a little farther along the shore on the Cardurnock peninsula. Roman engineers built the wall to Bowness, where the fort of Maia stood, and then continued the defences south along the Cumbrian coast with milefortlets and towers. The northern watchtower on this hill was one of the chain that watched across the water to Scotland, at a place where the Solway is narrow enough to be forded at low tide.
Read the complete Herd Hill North write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herd Hill North comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sea Brows.
3. Sea Brows
Maryport is a small harbour town on the Cumbrian coast, built in the eighteenth century by the Senhouse family, who named it after Mary, the wife of Humphrey Senhouse. Long before that it was a Roman fort called Alauna, part of the coastal defences that continued south along the shore from the end of Hadrian's Wall. The Senhouse Roman Museum, set in a former Victorian naval battery on the cliffs, has a remarkable collection of altars found nearby, many of them dedicated by the commanders of the cohorts stationed here.
Read the complete Sea Brows write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Sea Brows. Next is Herd Hill.
4. Herd Hill
Herd Hill is a modest rise in the flat country near Annan, the sort of landmark that appears on a map without much fanfare. What matters is where it lies: on the Scottish shore of the Solway, in Annandale, a broad farming valley that runs up to the Southern Uplands. Annan sits on its river, once a port with tobacco and timber trade, and has a long history as a border town where English and Scottish armies fought over a place that changed hands many times.
Read the complete Herd Hill write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herd Hill, about halfway. Next is Maryport.
5. 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
Maryport sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Herd Hill.
6. back through Herd Hill
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Herd Hill write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Herd Hill comes up about 227 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Sea Brows.
7. back through Sea Brows
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sea Brows write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 274 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Sea Brows. Next is back through Herd Hill North.
8. back through Herd Hill North
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Herd Hill North write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Herd Hill North, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La.
9. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La 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 355 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La to Herd Hill North
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La → Herd Hill North is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Herd Hill North to Sea Brows
Herd Hill North → Sea Brows is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sea Brows to Herd Hill
Sea Brows → Herd Hill is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Herd Hill to Maryport
Herd Hill → Maryport is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maryport to back through Herd Hill
Maryport → back through Herd Hill is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Herd Hill to back through Sea Brows
back through Herd Hill → back through Sea Brows is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sea Brows to back through Herd Hill North
back through Sea Brows → back through Herd Hill North is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Herd Hill North to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
back through Herd Hill North → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.