Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s.

2. 2. Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s

   Long before the wall existed, the Romans ran a road across the narrow neck of northern England, the Stanegate, linking the forts of Corbridge on the Tyne and Carlisle on the Eden. It was built around AD 80, in the time of the general Agricola, and it served as the frontier line for a generation before Hadrian ordered the wall to be built a little to the north. Forts and fortlets sat along it, among them Vindolanda and the small post at Haltwhistle Burn, and temporary camps like the one at Milestone House show where troops stopped on the move.

   Read the complete Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp.

3. 3. Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp

   Look for a faint rectangle in the rough grass north of the Military Road, a few kilometres west of Chollerford, and you will have found Brown Dikes, one of a cluster of Roman temporary camps on the high ground above the North Tyne. Nothing stands here, no walls or gates, only low earthworks that the grazing sheep have softened over nearly two thousand years. But these camps are among the most evocative traces of the Roman army in Britain, because they mark where soldiers actually slept and worked while the frontier was being built and garrisoned.

   Read the complete Brown Dikes 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 28 km into the recorded legs you reach Brown Dikes Roman temporary camp. Next is back through Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s.

4. 4. back through Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. That is the ride.