Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
168 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 16
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 168 km round trip from Newburn - roughly 2 h 16 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal, The section of Stanegate Roman road from F, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La and back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f
Here, at the western edge of Newcastle, the Roman frontier starts to escape the city. Wall mile 8 lies around Newburn and Throckley, with Blaydon across the Tyne and the suburbs thinning into fields as you head west. The masonry itself has mostly vanished under roads, houses and farmland, but the line of the Wall and the great earthwork of the Vallum to its south can still be followed in hummocks, ditches and the occasional consolidated stretch of stone, most famously a little further west at Heddon-on-the-Wall, where a long run survives at nearly its full original width.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal
North of Hexham, where the land rises above the Tyne valley, the B6318, the military road built in the eighteenth century partly on top of Hadrian's Wall, runs straight across open country, and here, near the hamlet of St Oswald's, the remains of the wall and the vallum, the great earthwork that ran along its southern side, are clearly visible in the fields. The vallum was a broad ditch flanked by mounds, marking a military zone, and its scale still impresses. This stretch is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is The section of Stanegate Roman road from F.
3. The section of Stanegate Roman road from F
Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, and on the road through the South Tyne valley it is easy to believe that this is where England quietly runs out of people. Just north of the town, the line of the Stanegate, the Roman road that linked Carlisle with Corbridge, crosses farmland on the flank of the valley. Little of it shows as more than a faint agger, a raised bank under the grass, but it is older than Hadrian's Wall, which runs along the crags a few kilometres to the north.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach The section of Stanegate Roman road from F. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal comes up about 140 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal to The section of Stanegate Roman road from F
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal → The section of Stanegate Roman road from F is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The section of Stanegate Roman road from F to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La
The section of Stanegate Roman road from F → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La to back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La → back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal
back through The section of Stanegate Roman road from F → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal to Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between St Oswal → Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 f is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.