Why this ride
From Carlisle it runs 176 km to Carlisle; allow about 2 h 55 of riding. It goes by way of Cardurnock milefortlet, Low Mire, Parton Roman fort and back through Low Mire. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary and Parton Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 176 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 55
- 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 the field boundary
Just outside Carlisle, among hedges and grazing fields, a short protected length of ground marks where Hadrian's Wall once ran between two farm boundaries. That is all the official name means, and the honest truth is that there is very little to see: a gentle bank, perhaps a slight ditch, the alignment of a hedge that follows the Roman line because nobody ever bothered to move it. What makes it worth a pause is the bigger picture. The wall here was heading for the crossing of the River Eden, where it met the fort of Stanwix on the north bank, the biggest fort on the entire frontier, home to an elite cavalry regiment a thousand strong.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary 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 the field boundary is where the day begins. Next is Cardurnock milefortlet.
2. Cardurnock milefortlet
The Cardurnock peninsula pokes out into the upper Solway Firth like a thumb, a flat, wind-scoured finger of farmland and salt marsh west of Bowness-on-Solway, with the tide sweeping in and out over the sands on three sides. Beyond the end of Hadrian's Wall, the Romans continued their defences down the coast with a chain of small forts and towers, and Cardurnock milefortlet was one of them, a small walled post with a handful of men keeping an eye on the fords and the open water. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, though nothing much is visible now beyond the lie of the land.
Read the complete Cardurnock milefortlet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cardurnock milefortlet comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Low Mire.
3. Low Mire
Low Mire lies in the quiet farmland behind the Cumbrian coast, near Dearham and Maryport, where the land slopes gently down to the Solway Firth and the hills of southern Scotland rise across the water. It is an area of small fields, hedges and scattered farms, with the Lake District fells visible to the south-east on clear days.
Read the complete Low Mire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Low Mire. Next is Parton Roman fort.
4. Parton Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall stopped at Bowness-on-Solway, but the Roman frontier did not. Down the Cumbrian coast, the army built a chain of forts, milefortlets and towers to watch the sea and stop raiders slipping round the end of the Wall, and Parton, just north of Whitehaven, was one of them. The fort is known from excavations and records rather than standing remains, and the coastal defences as a whole are included in the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Standing on the cliffs above the sea, you can see why the Romans worried: across the water lie the Isle of Man and, on clear days, the hills of Scotland.
Read the complete Parton Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Parton Roman fort, about halfway. Next is back through Low Mire.
5. back through Low Mire
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Low Mire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Low Mire sits at 108 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cardurnock milefortlet.
6. back through Cardurnock milefortlet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cardurnock milefortlet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cardurnock milefortlet comes up about 153 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary.
7. Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary 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 the field boundary closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary to Cardurnock milefortlet
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary → Cardurnock milefortlet is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cardurnock milefortlet to Low Mire
Cardurnock milefortlet → Low Mire is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Low Mire to Parton Roman fort
Low Mire → Parton Roman fort is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Parton Roman fort to back through Low Mire
Parton Roman fort → back through Low Mire is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Low Mire to back through Cardurnock milefortlet
back through Low Mire → back through Cardurnock milefortlet is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cardurnock milefortlet to Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
back through Cardurnock milefortlet → Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.