Skip to content
CurveScout

CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
187 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 18
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

A 187 km round trip from Annan - roughly 3 h 18 in the saddle. On the way it passes Wolsty North tower 13a, Burrow Walls Roman fort, Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house and back through Burrow Walls Roman fort. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou

    The vallum is the strangest part of Hadrian's Wall, and a good place to see it is on the flat ground near Bowness-on-Solway. It is a broad, deep ditch with a flat bottom, flanked by two mounds of earth set back from the edge, and it ran along the south side of the wall for its whole length. Nobody is certain what it was for, but the best theory is that it marked the rear boundary of a military zone, a line that civilians could cross only at controlled points, which fits with the idea of the wall as a border of customs and security as well as defence.

    Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou 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 the watercou is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.

  2. 2. Wolsty North tower 13a

    Silloth is a small Victorian town on the Solway coast of Cumbria, built in the nineteenth century as a port and a seaside resort, with wide cobbled streets, a green along the seafront and views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Scotland. Just south of the town, at Wolsty, the Romans built a tower as part of the defences that extended Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian coast. Tower 13a was one of a chain of small towers and milefortlets, spaced along the shore to watch for raiders crossing the firth from the north.

    Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Burrow Walls Roman fort.

  3. 3. Burrow Walls Roman fort

    On the northern edge of Workington, near the mouth of the river Derwent, a fragment of stone wall stands alone in a field, a jagged piece of masonry rising above the grass. It is part of Burrow Walls, a Roman fort that guarded the Cumbrian coast, one of the chain of defences that extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall down the shore to watch for raiders crossing from Scotland and Ireland. Much of the fort's stone was reused in a medieval building on the site, and what survives today is modest, but it is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site and has a lonely charm, with views over the sea and the river.

    Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Burrow Walls Roman fort. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.

  4. 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 Burrow Walls Roman fort.

  5. 5. back through Burrow Walls Roman fort

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Burrow Walls 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 Burrow Walls Roman fort sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Wolsty North tower 13a.

  6. 6. back through Wolsty North tower 13a

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Wolsty North tower 13a write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 161 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou.

  7. 7. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou 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 the watercou closes the day.

Leg by leg

Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou to Wolsty North tower 13a

Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou → Wolsty North tower 13a is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Wolsty North tower 13a to Burrow Walls Roman fort

Wolsty North tower 13a → Burrow Walls Roman fort is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Burrow Walls Roman fort to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

Burrow Walls Roman fort → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Burrow Walls Roman fort

Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Burrow Walls Roman fort is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Burrow Walls Roman fort to back through Wolsty North tower 13a

back through Burrow Walls Roman fort → back through Wolsty North tower 13a is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Wolsty North tower 13a to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou

back through Wolsty North tower 13a → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

More motorcycle rides nearby