Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth

   The Solway Firth is a strange piece of sea. It is wide and shallow and has some of the biggest tidal ranges in Britain, and at low water it empties into a landscape of sand, mud and channels where the tide can return faster than a walker can run. On its northern shore, the Scottish side, the land around Eastriggs and Annan is flat salt marsh and farmland, backed by low green hills, and across the water you can see the Cumbrian fells rising bluish and far off. The Roman frontier ended on the other side, at Bowness, but the Romans watched this shore too, and the wall's western run along the English edge is the reason the area is on the heritage map.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.

2. 2. Wolsty North tower 13a

   Silloth is a small Victorian town on the Solway coast of Cumbria, built in the nineteenth century as a port and a seaside resort, with wide cobbled streets, a green along the seafront and views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Scotland. Just south of the town, at Wolsty, the Romans built a tower as part of the defences that extended Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian coast. Tower 13a was one of a chain of small towers and milefortlets, spaced along the shore to watch for raiders crossing the firth from the north.

   Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Burrow Walls Roman fort.

3. 3. Burrow Walls Roman fort

   On the northern edge of Workington, near the mouth of the river Derwent, a fragment of stone wall stands alone in a field, a jagged piece of masonry rising above the grass. It is part of Burrow Walls, a Roman fort that guarded the Cumbrian coast, one of the chain of defences that extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall down the shore to watch for raiders crossing from Scotland and Ireland. Much of the fort's stone was reused in a medieval building on the site, and what survives today is modest, but it is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site and has a lonely charm, with views over the sea and the river.

   Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Burrow Walls Roman fort. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.

4. 4. Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

   Walls Castle is the odd name for a Roman bath house, and the building still stands to a height of about four metres, one of the tallest Roman structures in northern England. It stood outside the fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass, a harbour station at the meeting of three rivers, the Irt, the Mite and the Esk, and in the dry shelter of the dunes it has survived because its walls were thick and well built. You can walk around it on a short path from the village, and see niches and a doorway in the thick walls. The fort itself lies mostly under farmland and the railway.

   Read the complete Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house, about halfway. Next is back through Burrow Walls Roman fort.

5. 5. back through Burrow Walls Roman fort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Burrow Walls Roman fort sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Wolsty North tower 13a.

6. 6. back through Wolsty North tower 13a

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 165 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth.

7. 7. Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth closes the day.