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.
From Bardon Mill it runs 323 km to Bardon Mill; allow about 5 h 29 of riding. It goes by way of The vallum between the road to Garthside a, Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be, Low Mire and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
The vallum between the road to Garthside a → Drumburgh Roman fort and
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 37 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
36 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Stone circle
Long before the Romans built their wall across northern England, people were raising stones on these moors. Close to the line of Hadrian's Wall, in the hills north of Haydon Bridge and Haltwhistle, a small prehistoric stone circle stands in the rough grass, a few weathered boulders arranged in a ring, probably dating from the Bronze Age. Its exact purpose is unknown, but circles like this were often used for ceremonies or burials, and many have legends attached to them.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stone circle is where the day begins. Next is The vallum between the road to Garthside a.
2. The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Brampton is a small red sandstone market town at the edge of the Pennines, and just north of it, where the land rises toward the Irthing valley, a stretch of the vallum runs across the fields near Garthside. The vallum, the great ditch and banks that ran south of Hadrian's Wall, is often clearer than the wall itself in this area, because the stone of the wall was carried off long ago to build farmhouses, churches and even a priory. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, and it is best seen in low light, when the earthworks cast long shadows.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the road to Garthside a comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be.
3. Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be
The small Roman fort at Drumburgh sat on a low rise above the Solway marshes, guarding a stretch of Hadrian's Wall where the frontier ran along the edge of the firth towards its western end at Bowness. Nothing much survives of the fort itself, but its stones did not go far. Drumburgh Castle, a fortified farmhouse built in the sixteenth century by the Dacre family, is clearly made from reused Roman masonry, and you can still pick out dressed blocks and even the odd carved fragment set into its walls.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be. Next is Low Mire.
4. Low Mire
Low Mire lies in the quiet farmland behind the Cumbrian coast, near Dearham and Maryport, where the land slopes gently down to the Solway Firth and the hills of southern Scotland rise across the water. It is an area of small fields, hedges and scattered farms, with the Lake District fells visible to the south-east on clear days.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Low Mire, about halfway. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
5. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 256 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be. Next is back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a.
8. back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 323 km.
Leg by leg
Stone circle to The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Stone circle → The vallum between the road to Garthside a is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The vallum between the road to Garthside a to Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be
The vallum between the road to Garthside a → Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be to Low Mire
Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be → Low Mire is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Low Mire to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Low Mire → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Low Mire
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Low Mire is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Low Mire to back through Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be
back through Low Mire → back through Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be to back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a
back through Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall be → back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a to Stone circle
back through The vallum between the road to Garthside a → Stone circle is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.