Low Mire and The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
174 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 50
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.
From Maryport it runs 174 km to Maryport; allow about 2 h 50 of riding. It goes by way of Cardurnock milefortlet, Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary, The vallum between the road to Garthside a and back through Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Cardurnock milefortlet.
2. Cardurnock milefortlet
The Cardurnock peninsula pokes out into the upper Solway Firth like a thumb, a flat, wind-scoured finger of farmland and salt marsh west of Bowness-on-Solway, with the tide sweeping in and out over the sands on three sides. Beyond the end of Hadrian's Wall, the Romans continued their defences down the coast with a chain of small forts and towers, and Cardurnock milefortlet was one of them, a small walled post with a handful of men keeping an eye on the fords and the open water. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, though nothing much is visible now beyond the lie of the land.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cardurnock milefortlet comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary.
3. Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
Just outside Carlisle, among hedges and grazing fields, a short protected length of ground marks where Hadrian's Wall once ran between two farm boundaries. That is all the official name means, and the honest truth is that there is very little to see: a gentle bank, perhaps a slight ditch, the alignment of a hedge that follows the Roman line because nobody ever bothered to move it. What makes it worth a pause is the bigger picture. The wall here was heading for the crossing of the River Eden, where it met the fort of Stanwix on the north bank, the biggest fort on the entire frontier, home to an elite cavalry regiment a thousand strong.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary. Next is The vallum between the road to Garthside a.
4. The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Brampton is a small red sandstone market town at the edge of the Pennines, and just north of it, where the land rises toward the Irthing valley, a stretch of the vallum runs across the fields near Garthside. The vallum, the great ditch and banks that ran south of Hadrian's Wall, is often clearer than the wall itself in this area, because the stone of the wall was carried off long ago to build farmhouses, churches and even a priory. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, and it is best seen in low light, when the earthworks cast long shadows.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Low Mire closes the day.
Leg by leg
Low Mire to Cardurnock milefortlet
Low Mire → Cardurnock milefortlet is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cardurnock milefortlet to Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
Cardurnock milefortlet → Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary to The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary → The vallum between the road to Garthside a is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The vallum between the road to Garthside a to back through Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary
The vallum between the road to Garthside a → back through Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary to back through Cardurnock milefortlet
back through Hadrian's Wall between the field boundary → back through Cardurnock milefortlet is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cardurnock milefortlet to Low Mire
back through Cardurnock milefortlet → Low Mire is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.