Why this ride
139 km from Annan to Annan, about 2 h 23 of riding. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, Vindolanda and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha and Vindolanda
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 139 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 23
- 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. Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha
The Solway Firth is shallow and wide on its Scottish side, and between Annan and Gretna the land is flat and green, with sheep and cattle, field boundaries lined with hawthorn, and long views across the water to the Lake District hills.
Read the complete Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Carlisle was a Roman town before it was an English one. Luguvalium grew beside the Eden, and just across the river at Stanwix stood the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall, home to a cavalry regiment of a thousand men. The wall itself ran along the north side of today's city, and though houses and roads cover it, its line can be traced by plaques and fragments, and the wall and its Vallum are part of the UNESCO listing. A stretch of the ditch and the foundations of milecastles are visible beyond the suburbs.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
East of Carlisle, near the market town of Brampton, Hadrian's Wall crosses a landscape of rolling farmland, hedges and woods along the valley of the River Irthing. Here the wall and its vallum, the great earthwork ditch that ran behind it on the southern side, cross fields where the stone has mostly been robbed for farm buildings, but the earthworks remain clearly visible as long ridges and hollows in the grass.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. Next is Vindolanda.
4. Vindolanda
Vindolanda is the place where the Romans on the northern frontier start to sound like people. The fort stood on the Stanegate road, just south of the wall, and for several centuries it was rebuilt again and again, each new fort laid on top of the last. The damp, airless soil preserved wood and leather, and in 1973 archaeologists found thin wooden writing tablets covered in ink, letters written by soldiers, officers and their families in about AD 100. They are the oldest handwritten documents found in Britain.
Read the complete Vindolanda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vindolanda, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
5. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel sits at 101 km, about halfway.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel comes up about 113 km into the recorded legs. Next is Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha.
7. Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha closes the day.
Leg by leg
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Vindolanda
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Vindolanda is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vindolanda to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Vindolanda → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.