Why this ride
273 km from Greenhead to Greenhead, about 4 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f, Palisade ditches, Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp and Blitterlees. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and Blitterlees
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 273 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 38
- 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 the fiel
West of Birdoswald the Wall changes character. The central crags fall behind, the River Irthing loops through its gorge below, and the frontier runs across gentler farmland towards Banks and Hare Hill, where one of the tallest surviving fragments of the Wall still stands, patched by later hands. Here too the vallum, the great earthwork south of the Wall, can be traced across the fields, and the remains of turrets at Banks East and Pike Hill sit right beside the road. It is a quieter stretch than the famous sections further east, and all the better for it.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel 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 fiel is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f.
2. Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
West of Carlisle the Eden slows and starts to meander, swinging in wide loops through flat meadows on its way to the Solway, and here at Grinsdale Hadrian's Wall ran along the high ground above the river. It is a gentle, almost secret stretch of countryside, only a few miles from the city but feeling much further. The tiny hamlet of Grinsdale has a church dedicated to St Kentigern, an early saint associated with this region, and a scatter of farms. The Wall has gone, robbed for building stone centuries ago, but the line it followed is clear in the field boundaries and the lie of the land.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palisade ditches.
3. Palisade ditches
Hadrian's Wall did not simply stop at the edge of the Solway. Beyond its western end at Bowness, the Romans continued the frontier down the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and towers, and in places with ditches and palisades, to watch over the shoreline and guard against raids across the firth from what is now south west Scotland. The palisade ditches near Silloth are part of that coastal system, faint traces in the flat land behind the dunes, and they are a reminder that the Roman frontier was a complex network that stretched far beyond the famous stone wall.
Read the complete Palisade ditches write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Palisade ditches. Next is Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp.
4. Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Carlisle is a border city, and it has been fought over for two thousand years. The Romans founded Luguvalium here to serve the Wall and the road north, and a settlement has stood beside the Eden ever since. The red sandstone cathedral dates from the twelfth century, and the castle beside it held Mary Queen of Scots for two months in 1568, after she fled across the Solway. In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army took the city on its march into England and lost it on the way back, and the Jacobite prisoners were held in the castle. The names of the old border families, the Armstrongs, Grahams and Nixons, still fill the telephone book.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp, about halfway. Next is Blitterlees.
5. Blitterlees
Silloth sits on a flat spit of land on the Solway Firth, and from the shore you look across the water to the hills of Dumfriesshire, blue in clear weather and smudged away in rain. This was once a Roman frontier too. The line of Hadrian's Wall did not stop at the western end of the stone wall but continued down the Cumbrian coast as a chain of milefortlets and towers, small posts built to watch for raiders crossing by sea or by the tidal flats, and some of their sites lie on this shore. Blitterlees is a marsh and farm on the coast close to Silloth, and traces of those posts are found in the area, mostly as faint bumps and records rather than visible walls.
Read the complete Blitterlees write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Blitterlees sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp.
6. back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 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 Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp comes up about 174 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Palisade ditches.
7. back through Palisade ditches
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palisade ditches write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 208 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Palisade ditches. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f.
8. back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f 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 between Grinsdale and the f, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
9. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel 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 273 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f to Palisade ditches
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f → Palisade ditches is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palisade ditches to Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Palisade ditches → Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp to Blitterlees
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp → Blitterlees is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Blitterlees to back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Blitterlees → back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp to back through Palisade ditches
back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp → back through Palisade ditches is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Palisade ditches to back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
back through Palisade ditches → back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.