Why this ride
From Whitehaven it runs 239 km to Whitehaven; allow about 3 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes Biglands House, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and back through Biglands House.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Parton Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 239 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 34
- 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. Parton Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall stopped at Bowness-on-Solway, but the Roman frontier did not. Down the Cumbrian coast, the army built a chain of forts, milefortlets and towers to watch the sea and stop raiders slipping round the end of the Wall, and Parton, just north of Whitehaven, was one of them. The fort is known from excavations and records rather than standing remains, and the coastal defences as a whole are included in the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Standing on the cliffs above the sea, you can see why the Romans worried: across the water lie the Isle of Man and, on clear days, the hills of Scotland.
Read the complete Parton Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Parton Roman fort is where the day begins. Next is Biglands House.
2. Biglands House
Out on the Cumbrian shore of the Solway Firth, at the far western end of Hadrian's frontier, Biglands is a farmhouse name attached to the site of a small Roman milefortlet, one of the posts that carried the Wall's chain of defences down the coast once the stone curtain itself had stopped at Bowness. There is very little to see above ground; the fortlet was excavated and then returned to the grass. What you come for is the setting and the sense of standing at the edge of an empire, looking across a few kilometres of mud and water at Scotland.
Read the complete Biglands House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Biglands House comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Around Haltwhistle the wall country becomes the landscape everyone imagines: the Whin Sill, a long ridge of hard volcanic dolerite, rears up in a series of cliffs facing north, and the Romans used it as a ready-made rampart, running their stone wall along the very top. Between the crags and the road the vallum ditch runs across the fields as a broad, clear trench, and from any high point you can see the whole military system laid out: crag, wall, road and ditch side by side.
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 119 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. Next is back through Biglands House.
4. back through Biglands House
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Biglands House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Biglands House, late in the day. Next is Parton Roman fort.
5. Parton Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Parton Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Parton Roman fort. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Parton Roman fort to Biglands House
Parton Roman fort → Biglands House is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Biglands House to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Biglands House → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to back through Biglands House
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Biglands House is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Biglands House to Parton Roman fort
back through Biglands House → Parton Roman fort is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.