Why this ride
A 96 km round trip from Newburn - roughly 1 h 30 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2, Durham Castle and Cathedral and back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 and Durham Castle and Cathedral
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 96 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 30
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 → Durham Castle and Cathedral
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 31 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 32 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10
Heddon-on-the-Wall is aptly named. Just west of Newcastle, on a ridge above the Tyne, the village sits right on the line of Hadrian's Wall, and at its eastern edge is the longest surviving stretch of the broad wall still visible in the east, a section of thick, solid masonry about a hundred metres long, complete with the foundations of a medieval kiln built into it. Wall mile 10 is the stretch around here, counting westward from Wallsend, and it is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. South of the wall, the vallum, a huge ditch flanked by earth mounds, can still be traced across the fields.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 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 in wall mile 10 is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2.
2. Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Most people picture Hadrian's Wall striding across lonely Northumberland crags. Wall mile 2 is the other end of the story: an urban stretch in the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, where the wall ran from the fort at Wallsend, Segedunum, westwards along the north bank of the Tyne towards the bridge and fort at Pons Aelius, beneath today's city centre. Very little of the wall itself is visible here; terraced houses, roads and shipyards have long since swallowed it. But you are standing on the first miles of a frontier that once ran coast to coast for about eighty Roman miles.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Durham Castle and Cathedral.
3. Durham Castle and Cathedral
The river Wear loops around a rocky peninsula in a tight horseshoe, and on top of it, rising above the trees, stand Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, one of the most impressive views in Britain. The Normans built both in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, soon after the Conquest, as a statement of power in the turbulent north. The cathedral is a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, with massive columns carved with zigzags and spirals, and its stone rib vaults are among the earliest of their kind in Europe, pointing the way to Gothic architecture. Together, castle and cathedral were listed by UNESCO in 1986.
Read the complete Durham Castle and Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Durham Castle and Cathedral. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2.
4. back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 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 in wall mile 2, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10.
5. Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 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 in wall mile 10. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 to Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 → Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 to Durham Castle and Cathedral
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 → Durham Castle and Cathedral is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Durham Castle and Cathedral to back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Durham Castle and Cathedral → back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 10 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.