Why this ride
A 156 km round trip from Annan - roughly 2 h 58 in the saddle. On the way it passes Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21, Silloth Golf Course tower 12a and Swarthy Hill North tower 20b.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pasture House and Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 156 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 58
- 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. Pasture House
The Solway Firth is one of Britain's great tidal estuaries, wide, shallow and quick. At low water, a vast expanse of sand and mud opens, and when the tide returns, it advances across the flats with astonishing speed. Pasture House lies on the English shore, on the Cardurnock peninsula, with the Scottish town of Annan visible across the water about six kilometres to the north. The Romans extended Hadrian's Wall defences down this coast, and Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21, on a neighbouring ride, is one of a chain of small forts that guarded against crossings.
Read the complete Pasture House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pasture House is where the day begins. Next is Silloth Golf Course tower 12b.
2. Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
Most people think Hadrian's Wall ends at Bowness-on-Solway, where the stone curtain reached the sea. It did, but the frontier did not. From there, the Romans continued their defences down the Cumbrian coast for many miles, with a chain of milefortlets and towers watching the Solway Firth for raiders crossing from what is now Scotland. Tower 12b stood near Silloth, on ground now occupied by the town's golf course. Nothing much is visible, but the location makes sense as soon as you stand on the shore: the firth is wide and shallow, and across the water rises the hill of Criffel in Galloway.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21.
3. Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21
Milefortlets are the small, easily overlooked members of the Roman frontier family. On Hadrian's Wall itself they stood every Roman mile, with a gate through the wall and a tiny garrison, and when the Romans extended the system along the Cumbrian coast, to guard against landings from across the Solway, they built milefortlets and watchtowers all the way down the shore. Number 21 stood at Swarthy Hill, on a low rise by the sea north of Maryport, and excavations here showed a small rectangular fortlet with timber buildings inside and a ditch around.
Read the complete Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21. Next is Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.
4. Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Silloth is a Victorian seaside town that never quite got the crowds it was built for, and it is all the better for that. Laid out in the 1850s as a port and resort at the end of a railway from Carlisle, it has wide cobbled streets, terraces of sandstone houses and a huge open green between the town and the sea, where people stroll, play and watch the sunsets over the Solway. On the dunes south of the town, near the famous golf course, the Romans built a chain of towers along the coast, and tower 12a was one of them, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Silloth Golf Course tower 12a, about halfway. Next is Swarthy Hill North tower 20b.
5. Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Along the Cumbrian coast between Silloth and Maryport, the Roman frontier did not end when Hadrian's stone Wall reached Bowness. A chain of milefortlets and towers continued down the shore, watching the Solway for raiders arriving by boat, and Tower 20b near Swarthy Hill is one of them. It was a small stone watchtower, probably manned by a handful of soldiers, and what remains is a low outline in the turf above the beach. You come for the context and the view across the water rather than for the masonry.
Read the complete Swarthy Hill North tower 20b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a.
6. back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a comes up about 91 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21.
7. back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21. Next is back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b.
8. back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Silloth Golf Course tower 12b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, late in the day. Next is Pasture House.
9. Pasture House
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pasture House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 156 km.
Leg by leg
Pasture House to Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
Pasture House → Silloth Golf Course tower 12b is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b to Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b → Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 to Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 → Silloth Golf Course tower 12a is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Silloth Golf Course tower 12a to Swarthy Hill North tower 20b
Silloth Golf Course tower 12a → Swarthy Hill North tower 20b is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b to back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a
Swarthy Hill North tower 20b → back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a to back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12a → back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 to back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
back through Swarthy Hill milefortlet 21 → back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b to Pasture House
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b → Pasture House is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.