Why this ride
223 km from Carlisle to Carlisle, about 3 h 46 of riding. On the way it passes Blitterlees, Parton Roman fort, Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house and back through Parton Roman fort. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 223 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 46
- 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
Hardknott and Wrynose Passes
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 31 km this is Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 31 km
- Named road
- Hardknott and Wrynose Passes
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 Blitterlees.
2. Blitterlees
Silloth sits on a flat spit of land on the Solway Firth, and from the shore you look across the water to the hills of Dumfriesshire, blue in clear weather and smudged away in rain. This was once a Roman frontier too. The line of Hadrian's Wall did not stop at the western end of the stone wall but continued down the Cumbrian coast as a chain of milefortlets and towers, small posts built to watch for raiders crossing by sea or by the tidal flats, and some of their sites lie on this shore. Blitterlees is a marsh and farm on the coast close to Silloth, and traces of those posts are found in the area, mostly as faint bumps and records rather than visible walls.
Read the complete Blitterlees write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Blitterlees comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Parton Roman fort.
3. 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
about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Parton Roman fort. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
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 Parton Roman fort.
5. back through Parton Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Parton Roman fort sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Blitterlees.
6. back through Blitterlees
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Blitterlees write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Blitterlees comes up about 188 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 Blitterlees
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary → Blitterlees is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Blitterlees to Parton Roman fort
Blitterlees → Parton Roman fort is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Parton Roman fort to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Parton Roman fort → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Parton Roman fort
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Parton Roman fort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Parton Roman fort to back through Blitterlees
back through Parton Roman fort → back through Blitterlees is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Blitterlees to Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
back through Blitterlees → Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.