Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630 and Red House Roman camp

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630

   Out at the eastern end of the frontier, the Wall leaves the moors behind and runs through gentle farmland toward Newcastle, and most of what survives here is not stone but earth: the vallum, a broad ditch flanked by banks that the Romans dug just south of the Wall along almost its entire length. Between the Tyne and the Military Road, near Heddon-on-the-Wall and Rudchester, the vallum can be traced in the fields as a long hollow, and the Wall itself lies largely under the road or as low courses in the grass. Its purpose is still debated, but most scholars see it as a boundary marking the military zone, controlling who could approach the Wall.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630 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 B630 is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road.

2. 2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road

   Between Hexham and Haydon Bridge, the river Tyne runs through a wide green valley, and on the ridge to the north the line of Hadrian's Wall can be traced across fields and woods in a series of ditches, banks and stretches of masonry.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road 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 road comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp.

3. 3. Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp

   Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, and whether or not you believe the measurements, it sits at the very heart of Hadrian's Wall country. Just outside the town, on a gentle slope called Sunny Rigg, the outlines of two Roman temporary camps have been traced, rectangular enclosures with rounded corners where units on the march, or building the wall, pitched their leather tents behind a bank and a ditch for a night or a season. They are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, though on the ground you will see only faint lines in the grass, best appreciated from the air or in low evening light.

   Read the complete Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp. Next is Red House Roman camp.

4. 4. Red House Roman camp

   A few kilometres west of Hexham the South and North Tyne have long since joined, and the valley widens into a level green floor of fields, hedges and small woods, with the Wall's ridge just visible to the north. The Red House Roman camp lies in this farmland, about five kilometres from Haydon Bridge, Acomb and Hexham, on the Roman road known as the Stanegate, which ran across the neck of Britain from Carlisle to Corbridge.

   Read the complete Red House Roman camp write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Red House Roman camp, about halfway. Next is back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp.

5. 5. back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sunny Rigg 2 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 through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp sits at 98 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road.

6. 6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the road 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 and vallum between the road comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630.

7. 7. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B630 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 B630 closes the day.