CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 122 km round trip from Hexham - roughly 1 h 53 in the saddle. On the way it passes Housesteads fort, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
Just north of Hexham, the A road climbs out of the Tyne valley and meets the Roman frontier on a high, windy shoulder of Northumberland. Here, near Acomb, Wall and the crossing of the North Tyne at Chollerford, the line of Hadrian's Wall and its vallum runs across open farmland, sometimes visible as a low bank, sometimes followed by the road itself. Like every stretch of the frontier, it belongs to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and this middle section is where the wall starts to feel serious, heading west into the wild central crags.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac is where the day begins. Next is Housesteads fort.
Of all the forts on Hadrian's Wall, Housesteads is the one that most people picture. It stands on the edge of the Whin Sill, high above the moors, with long grey walls running along the ridge on either side and an enormous view in every direction. The Romans called it Vercovicium, and from the road it takes about ten minutes to walk up the hill from the car park and museum to the gate, with the wind in your face.
Read the complete Housesteads fort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Housesteads fort comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La, about halfway. Next is back through 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel sits at 100 km, about halfway. Next is back through Housesteads fort.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Housesteads fort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Housesteads fort comes up about 102 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac closes the day.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac → Housesteads fort is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Housesteads fort → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Housesteads fort is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Housesteads fort → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the trac is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.