Why this ride
111 km from Newburn to Newburn, about 1 h 44 of riding. On the way it passes Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra, Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp, The vallum and a British settlement betwee and Hadrian's Wall.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H and Hadrian's Wall
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 111 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 44
- 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 from East Town H
Heddon-on-the-Wall announces its pedigree in its name, and just east of the village, on the slope down towards Newcastle, you find the longest surviving stretch of the Wall in the eastern sector. It is a section of broad wall, built to the original specification of about ten Roman feet thick, before the builders further west were told to save time and stone by making it narrower. Standing beside it, with fields falling away towards the Tyne, you get a strong sense of the scale of the project: this curtain once ran unbroken for eighty Roman miles.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H 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 from East Town H is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Just east of the point where the A68 crosses the line of Hadrian's Wall, at Portgate, the Romans had a gateway through the frontier for Dere Street, the great road running north from York into Scotland. Today the A68 follows much the same course, and the wall and its vallum run east and west across the fields here, sometimes visible as a bank or a ditch, sometimes buried under the Military Road. A little to the east, the fort of Halton Chesters, known to the Romans as Onnum, lies under the fields, and like the rest of the frontier, this stretch is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra 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 Sunnybra comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp.
3. Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp
Roman armies on campaign dug in every night. Wherever they halted, soldiers threw up a rectangular earth rampart and ditch around their tents, and on Walwick Fell, a short way west of the North Tyne, the faint outline of one of those temporary camps survives in the rough pasture. You need a keen eye and low sunlight to make it out, but its presence is a reminder that the Wall was built, maintained and defended by thousands of men who lived and worked in these hills, sometimes under canvas, sometimes in stone forts.
Read the complete Walwick Fell 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 29 km into the recorded legs you reach Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp. Next is The vallum and a British settlement betwee.
4. The vallum and a British settlement betwee
There is a stretch of Hadrian's Wall that everybody has seen in photographs: the Wall riding the crest of the Whin Sill like a stone ribbon, plunging into dips and climbing again, with a long, dark lake, Crag Lough, beneath the cliffs. This is it, near Steel Rigg and Once Brewed, and the site on the label, the vallum and the remains of a native British settlement, lies just to the south in the shadow of the crags. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and it is a reminder that people lived here long before the Romans and kept living here while the soldiers watched over them.
Read the complete The vallum and a British settlement betwee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum and a British settlement betwee, about halfway. Next is Hadrian's Wall.
5. Hadrian's Wall
If you only have time for one stretch of Hadrian's Wall, make it the central section between Haltwhistle and Housesteads. Here the Wall runs along the top of the Whin Sill, a long ridge of hard volcanic rock that forms a natural cliff facing north, and the stone curtain rides the crests like a rollercoaster, dipping into gaps and climbing again. Built from AD 122 on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian, it stretched about seventy-three miles from coast to coast, with milecastles, turrets and forts along its length. The UNESCO listing covers it as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee.
6. back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The vallum and a British settlement betwee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp.
7. back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Walwick Fell 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 85 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra.
8. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra 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 Sunnybra, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H.
9. Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H 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 111 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra to Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra → Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp to The vallum and a British settlement betwee
Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp → The vallum and a British settlement betwee is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The vallum and a British settlement betwee to Hadrian's Wall
The vallum and a British settlement betwee → Hadrian's Wall is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall to back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee
Hadrian's Wall → back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee to back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp
back through The vallum and a British settlement betwee → back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
back through Walwick Fell Roman temporary camp → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra to Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra → Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.