Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 and The Stangate at Crosby Lodge · 166 km from Benwell
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
166 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 14
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.
From Benwell it runs 166 km to Benwell; allow about 2 h 14 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun, Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp, The Stangate at Crosby Lodge and back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7
Hadrian's Wall begins its life not on a windswept crag but in the streets of Newcastle, and wall mile 7 runs through the western suburbs around Benwell and Denton, a few kilometres from the city centre. The Romans numbered the miles westward from the fort at Wallsend, and in this stretch the line of the Wall follows the ridge now taken by the West Road. Most of it lies under houses and tarmac, but fragments surface where you least expect them, which is half the fun.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun.
2. Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
Hadrian's Wall runs for about seventy-three miles across the north of England, from the Solway Firth in the west to the Tyne in the east, built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian after his visit to Britain in 122 AD.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp.
3. Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp
Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, and whether or not you believe the measurements, it sits at the very heart of Hadrian's Wall country. Just outside the town, on a gentle slope called Sunny Rigg, the outlines of two Roman temporary camps have been traced, rectangular enclosures with rounded corners where units on the march, or building the wall, pitched their leather tents behind a bank and a ditch for a night or a season. They are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, though on the ground you will see only faint lines in the grass, best appreciated from the air or in low evening light.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp. Next is The Stangate at Crosby Lodge.
4. The Stangate at Crosby Lodge
Before there was a Wall, there was a road. The Stanegate, a Roman route running east to west between the Tyne at Corbridge and the Eden at Carlisle, was the first frontier line in northern Britain, guarded by a string of forts decades before Hadrian ordered his great barrier built a little to the north. Near Crosby-on-Eden, a few miles east of Carlisle, the line of the old road passes through gentle farmland on the north bank of the Eden, and while there is little to see of the road itself, the landscape tells the story of how the Romans picked their way across this narrow neck of the country.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 to Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 → Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun to Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun → Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp to The Stangate at Crosby Lodge
Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp → The Stangate at Crosby Lodge is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Stangate at Crosby Lodge to back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp
The Stangate at Crosby Lodge → back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp to back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp → back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun to Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun → Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.