Why this ride
From Annan it runs 148 km to Annan; allow about 2 h 17 of riding. It goes by way of Wolsty South tower 13b, Maryport Golf Course tower 22a, Wolsty North tower 13a and Brownrigg North tower 21b.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Herd Hill and Brownrigg North tower 21b
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 148 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 17
- 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. Herd Hill
Herd Hill is a modest rise in the flat country near Annan, the sort of landmark that appears on a map without much fanfare. What matters is where it lies: on the Scottish shore of the Solway, in Annandale, a broad farming valley that runs up to the Southern Uplands. Annan sits on its river, once a port with tobacco and timber trade, and has a long history as a border town where English and Scottish armies fought over a place that changed hands many times.
Read the complete Herd Hill write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herd Hill is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty South tower 13b.
2. Wolsty South tower 13b
Hadrian's Wall gets the fame, but the Roman frontier did not simply stop at Bowness-on-Solway. Beyond the end of the wall, a chain of milefortlets and towers continued down the Cumbrian coast, watching the Solway Firth for raiders from the north. Wolsty South, tower 13b, was one of them, a small stone watchtower near Silloth on the low, windy coast. There is little to see today, often just a mark in the ground, but the site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listed by UNESCO, and its position tells a story: from here, Roman soldiers looked across the water to the hills of Scotland.
Read the complete Wolsty South tower 13b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wolsty South tower 13b comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maryport Golf Course tower 22a.
3. Maryport Golf Course tower 22a
Hadrian's Wall gets the fame, but the Romans kept watching long after it ended at Bowness. The coast of Cumberland, from the Solway to St Bees, was fitted with a line of forts, fortlets and watchtowers, each numbered in sequence, and Tower 22a is one of them. It stands on the cliff above Maryport, in a place that the golf course has swallowed, and what you will find is a modest earthwork or a marker rather than a standing tower. The Romans built Alauna, a fort at Maryport, on the high ground above the harbour, and the finds from it, a collection of seventeen carved altars buried in a pit, are displayed in the Senhouse Roman Museum in a former naval battery overlooking the sea.
Read the complete Maryport Golf Course tower 22a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 44 km into the recorded legs you reach Maryport Golf Course tower 22a. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.
4. 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, 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 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Wolsty North tower 13a.
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 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a.
7. back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Maryport Golf Course tower 22a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 105 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a. Next is back through Wolsty South tower 13b.
8. back through Wolsty South tower 13b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wolsty South tower 13b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wolsty South tower 13b, late in the day. Next is Herd Hill.
9. Herd Hill
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Herd Hill 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 148 km.
Leg by leg
Herd Hill to Wolsty South tower 13b
Herd Hill → Wolsty South tower 13b is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty South tower 13b to Maryport Golf Course tower 22a
Wolsty South tower 13b → Maryport Golf Course tower 22a is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maryport Golf Course tower 22a to Wolsty North tower 13a
Maryport Golf Course tower 22a → Wolsty North tower 13a is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty North tower 13a to Brownrigg North tower 21b
Wolsty North tower 13a → Brownrigg North tower 21b is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brownrigg North tower 21b to back through Wolsty North tower 13a
Brownrigg North tower 21b → back through Wolsty North tower 13a is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty North tower 13a to back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a
back through Wolsty North tower 13a → back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a to back through Wolsty South tower 13b
back through Maryport Golf Course tower 22a → back through Wolsty South tower 13b is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty South tower 13b to Herd Hill
back through Wolsty South tower 13b → Herd Hill is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.