Why this ride
From Maryport it runs 105 km to Maryport; allow about 2 h 01 of riding. The stops in between: Parton Roman fort, Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house and back through Parton Roman fort. It keeps close to the shore for long stretches.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sea Brows and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 105 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 01
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Hardknott and Wrynose Passes
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 31 km this is Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 31 km
- Named road
- Hardknott and Wrynose Passes
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sea Brows
Maryport is a small harbour town on the Cumbrian coast, built in the eighteenth century by the Senhouse family, who named it after Mary, the wife of Humphrey Senhouse. Long before that it was a Roman fort called Alauna, part of the coastal defences that continued south along the shore from the end of Hadrian's Wall. The Senhouse Roman Museum, set in a former Victorian naval battery on the cliffs, has a remarkable collection of altars found nearby, many of them dedicated by the commanders of the cohorts stationed here.
Read the complete Sea Brows write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sea Brows is where the day begins. Next is Parton Roman fort.
2. 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 comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
3. Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Walls Castle is the odd name for a Roman bath house, and the building still stands to a height of about four metres, one of the tallest Roman structures in northern England. It stood outside the fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass, a harbour station at the meeting of three rivers, the Irt, the Mite and the Esk, and in the dry shelter of the dunes it has survived because its walls were thick and well built. You can walk around it on a short path from the village, and see niches and a doorway in the thick walls. The fort itself lies mostly under farmland and the railway.
Read the complete Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house. Next is back through Parton Roman fort.
4. back through 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 through Parton Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Sea Brows.
5. Sea Brows
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sea Brows write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Sea Brows. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Sea Brows to Parton Roman fort
Sea Brows → Parton Roman fort is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Parton Roman fort to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Parton Roman fort → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Parton Roman fort
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Parton Roman fort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Parton Roman fort to Sea Brows
back through Parton Roman fort → Sea Brows is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.