CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
298 km from Whitehaven to Whitehaven, about 5 h 02 of riding. It goes by way of Dubmill Point milefortlet 17, Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End, Bank Mill tower 15a and Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Parton Roman fort is where the day begins. Next is Dubmill Point milefortlet 17.
Dubmill Point is where the Solway coast road comes closest to the sea, and on stormy days with a high tide, waves break right over the B5300 and the road can be closed. The point is a low spit of shingle and grass between Allonby and Silloth, and here the Romans built milefortlet 17, part of the coastal defences that extended the frontier of Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian shore. A small garrison watched the firth for boats crossing from the north, and signals passed from post to post along the coast. Little remains today, but the site is exposed and evocative, with the sea on one side and the flat fields of the coastal plain on the other.
Read the complete Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End. Next is Bank Mill tower 15a.
Hadrian's Wall did not stop at the sea. West of Bowness, the Romans continued their frontier along the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and watchtowers, guarding against raiders who might sail across the Solway Firth. Bank Mill tower 15a is one of those coastal towers, set on the low ground near Silloth, and its remains are slight, though the logic is clear: from here, a sentry could see the whole estuary, and a signal could pass quickly along the line. The coast defences belong to the same UNESCO frontier listing as the wall itself.
Read the complete Bank Mill tower 15a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Bank Mill tower 15a, about halfway. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu.
Drumburgh is a few farms and a ruined-looking castle at the edge of the Solway marsh, and it is easy to miss, but it sits on the line of Hadrian's Wall where it slides down to the shore at Bowness. The castle was built from the stones of a Roman fort, called Congavata, and that gives a picture of how much of the frontier went into later buildings. The label places us on a stretch of Wall between Fulwood House and the next landmark, with Parton Roman fort on the far side of Cumbria, a reminder that Hadrian's frontier carried on around the coast.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu sits at 142 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bank Mill tower 15a.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bank Mill tower 15a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Bank Mill tower 15a comes up about 189 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 228 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End. Next is back through Dubmill Point milefortlet 17.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Dubmill Point milefortlet 17, late in the day. Next is Parton Roman fort.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Parton Roman fort write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 298 km.
Parton Roman fort → Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 → Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End → Bank Mill tower 15a is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bank Mill tower 15a → Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu → back through Bank Mill tower 15a is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bank Mill tower 15a → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End → back through Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dubmill Point milefortlet 17 → Parton Roman fort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.