Why this ride
A 270 km round trip from Hexham - roughly 3 h 53 in the saddle. It goes by way of Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp, The Stangate at Crosby Lodge, Campfield and Brownrigg North tower 21b. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun and Brownrigg North tower 21b
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 270 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 53
- 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 & 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.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is where the day begins. Next is Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp.
2. 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.
Read the complete Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Stangate at Crosby Lodge.
3. 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.
Read the complete The Stangate at Crosby Lodge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach The Stangate at Crosby Lodge. Next is Campfield.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Brownrigg North tower 21b.
5. Brownrigg North tower 21b
Most people think Hadrian's Wall stops at the Solway, but the Roman frontier did not simply end at the water's edge. Beyond Bowness a chain of milefortlets and towers ran on down the Cumbrian coast, watching the sea and the hills of Scotland across the firth, and Brownrigg North, tower 21b in the archaeologists' numbering, was one of them. There is little to see on the ground now, often just a gentle swelling in a field, but stand here and look west and you understand why it was put there: the Solway opens out, and on a clear day the Galloway hills and the Isle of Man line the horizon.
Read the complete Brownrigg North tower 21b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brownrigg North tower 21b sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Campfield.
6. 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 comes up about 181 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge.
7. back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Stangate at Crosby Lodge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 217 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge. Next is back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp.
8. back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun.
9. Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun 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 270 km.
Leg by leg
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 Campfield
The Stangate at Crosby Lodge → Campfield is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Campfield to Brownrigg North tower 21b
Campfield → Brownrigg North tower 21b is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brownrigg North tower 21b to back through Campfield
Brownrigg North tower 21b → back through Campfield is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Campfield to back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge
back through Campfield → back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge to back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp
back through The Stangate at Crosby Lodge → back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
back through Sunny Rigg 2 Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.