Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp and Roman fort

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp

   Carlisle is a border city, and it has been fought over for two thousand years. The Romans founded Luguvalium here to serve the Wall and the road north, and a settlement has stood beside the Eden ever since. The red sandstone cathedral dates from the twelfth century, and the castle beside it held Mary Queen of Scots for two months in 1568, after she fled across the Solway. In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army took the city on its march into England and lost it on the way back, and the Jacobite prisoners were held in the castle. The names of the old border families, the Armstrongs, Grahams and Nixons, still fill the telephone book.

   Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp is where the day begins. Next is Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags.

2. 2. Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags

   The Wall needed millions of dressed stones, and the Romans quarried them close to where they were needed. On Queen's Crags, a ridge of sandstone north of the Wall near Housesteads, they left a calling card: an inscription cut into the rock face, one of several known Roman quarry inscriptions along the frontier, recording a soldier or unit at work. It is a small, weathered thing, hard to find without directions, but it is a direct link to the men who cut the stone for the Wall.

   Read the complete Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags comes up about 52 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roman fort.

3. 3. Roman fort

   Newcastle got its name from a castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, but the hilltop he chose above the Tyne had already been used for centuries. Beneath the Castle Keep and the Black Gate lie the remains of Pons Aelius, a small Roman fort that guarded a bridge across the river near the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. The name honoured Hadrian himself, whose family name was Aelius. Outlines of the fort are marked in the paving around the keep, and the Swing Bridge below crosses the river close to where the Roman bridge stood.

   Read the complete Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 103 km into the recorded legs you reach Roman fort. Next is back through Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags.

4. 4. back through Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags, late in the day. Next is Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp.

5. 5. Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp. That is the ride.