Why this ride
226 km from Silloth to Silloth, about 3 h 25 of riding. It goes by way of Boothby Roman fort, Haltonchesters Roman fort and back through Boothby Roman fort. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b and Haltonchesters Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 226 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 25
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Boothby Roman fort.
2. Boothby Roman fort
Brampton is a small red-sandstone market town on the edge of the northern Pennines, and just outside it, on the line of the old Stanegate road, lay Boothby, one of the Roman forts that guarded the frontier before Hadrian's Wall was built. There is nothing much to see on the ground now, only a field and a slight rise, but the location is a good jumping-off point for some of the best riding and the best Wall sites in Cumbria.
Read the complete Boothby Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Boothby Roman fort comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Haltonchesters Roman fort.
3. Haltonchesters Roman fort
Where Dere Street, the great Roman road north from York, met Hadrian's Wall, the Romans built a gateway, and a mile or so west of it they placed the fort of Haltonchesters, known to them as Onnum. Today the site is a grassy field on the edge of the Military Road above the Tyne valley, with little to see beyond the faint outline of ramparts. But the setting is the thing: rolling Northumberland farmland, stone walls, the Tyne below, and on a clear day views far to the north and south.
Read the complete Haltonchesters Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 113 km into the recorded legs you reach Haltonchesters Roman fort. Next is back through Boothby Roman fort.
4. back through Boothby Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Boothby 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 Boothby Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Silloth Golf Course tower 12b.
5. 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 at Silloth Golf Course tower 12b. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b to Boothby Roman fort
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b → Boothby Roman fort is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Boothby Roman fort to Haltonchesters Roman fort
Boothby Roman fort → Haltonchesters Roman fort is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Haltonchesters Roman fort to back through Boothby Roman fort
Haltonchesters Roman fort → back through Boothby Roman fort is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Boothby Roman fort to Silloth Golf Course tower 12b
back through Boothby Roman fort → Silloth Golf Course tower 12b is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.