Maryport and Cardurnock milefortlet

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Maryport

   Maryport is a harbour town on the Cumbrian coast, a place of Georgian terraces, fishing boats and a long quay, with the Solway Firth and the hills of Galloway across the water. The town was laid out in the 1750s by Humphrey Senhouse, who named it for his wife Mary, and it grew on coal, shipbuilding and trade. Thomas Ismay, the founder of the White Star Line that later built the Titanic, was born here in 1837, and Fletcher Christian of the Bounty came from nearby Cockermouth. The harbour has been restored, with a maritime museum, a row of old boats, and a pleasant waterfront to walk.

   Read the complete Maryport write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Maryport is where the day begins. Next is Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields.

2. 2. Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields

   The Roman frontier did not stop where Hadrian's Wall ended. At Bowness, on the Solway shore, the stone and turf barrier gave out, but a chain of small forts, fortlets and watchtowers continued south along the Cumbrian coast, past Silloth and Maryport to near St Bees, to guard against raiders coming across the water from Scotland and the Irish Sea. Archaeologists still argue about how it worked. Often only a faint platform in a field remains.

   Read the complete Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cardurnock milefortlet.

3. 3. 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.

   Read the complete Cardurnock milefortlet write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Cardurnock milefortlet. Next is back through Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields.

4. 4. back through Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields, late in the day. Next is Maryport.

5. 5. Maryport

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Maryport write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Maryport. That is the ride.