Hadrian's Wall and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house starting at Haltwhistle
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
334 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 30
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.
A 334 km round trip from Haltwhistle - roughly 5 h 30 in the saddle. On the way it passes Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The, Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so, Low Mire and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall
North of Haltwhistle the land rises in a series of dark ridges, and along their crest runs the most dramatic surviving stretch of Hadrian's Wall. Built from AD 122 on the orders of the emperor Hadrian, the wall ran some seventy three miles from the Tyne to the Solway, with forts, milecastles and turrets along its length, and here, between Walltown Crags and Birdoswald, it climbs and drops along the edge of the Whin Sill, a band of hard volcanic rock that forms natural cliffs facing north. The wall is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The.
2. Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Do not expect a great stone wall here. Near Brampton, on the stretch running out toward the A6071, Hadrian's Wall is mostly a matter of earthworks and imagination: a line in a field, a softened ditch, the long parallel banks of the vallum to the south. In this western sector the wall was originally built of turf and timber before being rebuilt in stone, and centuries of farmers and builders carried off the dressed stones for barns and churches. What survives is listed as part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and once your eye tunes in, you start seeing the line everywhere.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so.
3. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so
Between Bowness-on-Solway and Drumburgh, the road follows the shore of the Solway Firth along a strip of land so flat and low that the highest tides cover it, and the line of Hadrian's Wall and its vallum runs just inland, through fields and past farms. This stretch, near Port Carlisle and Glasson, is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Little is visible of the Wall itself, which was robbed for stone long ago, but the vallum and other earthworks can be traced in places by those with a keen eye.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so. Next is Low Mire.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Low Mire, about halfway. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
5. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 263 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The.
8. back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 334 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall to Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Hadrian's Wall → Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so to Low Mire
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so → Low Mire is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Low Mire to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Low Mire → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Low Mire
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Low Mire is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Low Mire to back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so
back through Low Mire → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so to back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the track so → back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The to Hadrian's Wall
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The → Hadrian's Wall is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.