Why this ride
From Maryport it runs 177 km to Maryport; allow about 3 h 06 of riding. It goes by way of Palisade ditches, Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End, Skinburness and back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Maryport and Skinburness
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 177 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 06
- 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. 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 Palisade ditches.
2. Palisade ditches
Hadrian's Wall did not simply stop at the edge of the Solway. Beyond its western end at Bowness, the Romans continued the frontier down the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and towers, and in places with ditches and palisades, to watch over the shoreline and guard against raids across the firth from what is now south west Scotland. The palisade ditches near Silloth are part of that coastal system, faint traces in the flat land behind the dunes, and they are a reminder that the Roman frontier was a complex network that stretched far beyond the famous stone wall.
Read the complete Palisade ditches write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palisade ditches comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End.
3. Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End
Out on the Solway plain the land flattens, the sky gets enormous, and the sea is never far off even when you cannot see it. The stretch of the vallum near West End lies between Carlisle and the village of Burgh by Sands, on the last run of Hadrian's Wall towards its western end at Bowness-on-Solway. Here the Roman frontier ran along the edge of the marshes and the estuary, where the tide sweeps in across vast sands and salt marsh. Nothing of the Wall stands above ground in this section, but the line is clear on the map, and the country around has a strange, quiet beauty.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End. Next is Skinburness.
4. Skinburness
Skinburness is a scatter of houses at the tip of a shingle spit on the Solway coast of Cumbria, just north of Silloth, looking across the wide, shimmering estuary to the hills of Scotland. When the tide goes out, the Solway empties into vast expanses of sand and mud, with channels winding through them, and the light changes constantly as clouds race overhead. On clear evenings, the sunsets over the Scottish hills, with the dark bulk of Criffel opposite, are spectacular.
Read the complete Skinburness write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Skinburness, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End.
5. back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End 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 vallum between West End sits at 103 km, about halfway. Next is back through Palisade ditches.
6. back through Palisade ditches
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palisade ditches write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Palisade ditches comes up about 155 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maryport.
7. 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
Maryport closes the day.
Leg by leg
Maryport to Palisade ditches
Maryport → Palisade ditches is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palisade ditches to Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End
Palisade ditches → Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End to Skinburness
Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End → Skinburness is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Skinburness to back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End
Skinburness → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End to back through Palisade ditches
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End → back through Palisade ditches is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Palisade ditches to Maryport
back through Palisade ditches → Maryport is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.