Why this ride
A 179 km round trip from Maryport - roughly 3 h 16 in the saddle. The stops in between: Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End, Skinburness and back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rise How tower 25a and Skinburness
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 179 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 16
- 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. Rise How tower 25a
Hadrian's Wall does not simply stop at the Solway. Beyond Bowness, the Romans extended their frontier down the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and towers, watching the shore against raiders crossing from what is now south-west Scotland. Rise How tower 25a is one of them, on the low cliffs just south of Maryport near Flimby, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Little is visible above ground, but standing here and looking out over the water, you can see why they bothered.
Read the complete Rise How tower 25a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rise How tower 25a 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 21 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 56 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 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b.
6. 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 comes up about 157 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rise How tower 25a.
7. Rise How tower 25a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rise How tower 25a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rise How tower 25a closes the day.
Leg by leg
Rise How tower 25a to Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
Rise How tower 25a → Silloth Golf Course tower 12b is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b to Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b → Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End is 35 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 Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between West End → back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b to Rise How tower 25a
back through Silloth Golf Course tower 12b → Rise How tower 25a is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.