Why this ride
148 km from Carlisle to Carlisle, about 2 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Campfield, Silloth Golf Course tower 12a, Swarthy Hill North tower 20b and Burrow Walls Roman fort.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu and Burrow Walls Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 148 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- 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 between Fulwood House at Bu
Drumburgh is a few farms and a ruined-looking castle at the edge of the Solway marsh, and it is easy to miss, but it sits on the line of Hadrian's Wall where it slides down to the shore at Bowness. The castle was built from the stones of a Roman fort, called Congavata, and that gives a picture of how much of the frontier went into later buildings. The label places us on a stretch of Wall between Fulwood House and the next landmark, with Parton Roman fort on the far side of Cumbria, a reminder that Hadrian's frontier carried on around the coast.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu 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 Fulwood House at Bu is where the day begins. Next is Campfield.
2. Campfield
Out on the Solway coast west of Carlisle, the land flattens into salt marsh, peat bog and wide tidal sands, and the sky takes over. Campfield Marsh, near Bowness-on-Solway, is a nature reserve run by the RSPB, a mix of salt marsh, wet grassland and raised bog, and in winter it fills with tens of thousands of geese, barnacle and pink-footed, arriving from the Arctic, along with waders that feed on the mud at low tide. Across the firth, the town of Annan and the Scottish hills are visible on a clear day.
Read the complete Campfield write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Campfield comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.
3. Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Silloth is a Victorian seaside town that never quite got the crowds it was built for, and it is all the better for that. Laid out in the 1850s as a port and resort at the end of a railway from Carlisle, it has wide cobbled streets, terraces of sandstone houses and a huge open green between the town and the sea, where people stroll, play and watch the sunsets over the Solway. On the dunes south of the town, near the famous golf course, the Romans built a chain of towers along the coast, and tower 12a was one of them, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Silloth Golf Course tower 12a. Next is Swarthy Hill North tower 20b.
4. Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Along the Cumbrian coast between Silloth and Maryport, the Roman frontier did not end when Hadrian's stone Wall reached Bowness. A chain of milefortlets and towers continued down the shore, watching the Solway for raiders arriving by boat, and Tower 20b near Swarthy Hill is one of them. It was a small stone watchtower, probably manned by a handful of soldiers, and what remains is a low outline in the turf above the beach. You come for the context and the view across the water rather than for the masonry.
Read the complete Swarthy Hill North tower 20b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b, about halfway. Next is Burrow Walls Roman fort.
5. 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
Burrow Walls Roman fort sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b.
6. back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Swarthy Hill North tower 20b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.
7. back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 101 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a. Next is back through Campfield.
8. back through Campfield
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Campfield write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Campfield, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu.
9. Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu 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 148 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu to Campfield
Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu → Campfield is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Campfield to Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Campfield → Silloth Golf Course tower 12a is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Silloth Golf Course tower 12a to Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Silloth Golf Course tower 12a → Swarthy Hill North tower 20b is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b to Burrow Walls Roman fort
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b → Burrow Walls Roman fort is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burrow Walls Roman fort to back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Burrow Walls Roman fort → back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b to back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
back through Swarthy Hill North tower 20b → back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a to back through Campfield
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a → back through Campfield is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Campfield to Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu
back through Campfield → Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.