Why this ride
From Annan it runs 76 km to Annan; allow about 1 h 20 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl, Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd and back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Roman fort and associated civil settle and Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 76 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 20
- 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. The Roman fort and associated civil settle
Bowness-on-Solway is where Hadrian's Wall ends, or begins, depending on which way you are walking. This quiet village on the southern shore of the Solway Firth sits on top of the Roman fort of Maia, the second largest on the Wall, and its civilian settlement, which together make up the site on the label, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Almost nothing of the fort survives above ground, as much of the stone went into the houses, church and farm buildings of the village, but you can find Roman stones reused in walls if you look closely.
Read the complete The Roman fort and associated civil settle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Roman fort and associated civil settle is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl.
2. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
West of Carlisle, Hadrian's Wall heads out across flat farmland toward the Solway Firth, and the closer you get to the estuary, the quieter it becomes. Along this stretch, the wall itself has largely gone, robbed for stone over the centuries, but the vallum, the wide ditch with its mounds that ran behind it, can still be traced in places, and the line passes the sites of Roman forts and the civilian settlements that grew up around them. At Stanwix, now a suburb on the north bank of the Eden, stood the largest fort on the whole wall, home to a cavalry regiment of a thousand men. Further west, at Burgh by Sands, another fort lies beneath the village and its fortified church, built partly with Roman stone.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd.
3. Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd
East of Carlisle the Eden valley opens into a wide, quiet plain of dairy farms, hedges and red sandstone villages, and Hadrian's Wall crosses it with very little to show. Here the Wall was not built of stone at first. West of the river Irthing the Romans made it out of turf, a sloping rampart of cut sods with timber milecastles, and only later rebuilt it in stone. What survives in the fields around Laversdale is mostly a line of banks and ditches, visible as a ripple in the grass and in the pattern of the hedges, and the road that you follow probably owes its direction to the old frontier. It is a fine place to understand that the Wall was a system, not just a fence: a ditch, a barrier, a patrol road and a back ditch called the Vallum.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl.
4. back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl 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 the dismantl, late in the day. Next is The Roman fort and associated civil settle.
5. The Roman fort and associated civil settle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Roman fort and associated civil settle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Roman fort and associated civil settle. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Roman fort and associated civil settle to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
The Roman fort and associated civil settle → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl to Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl → Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd to back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversd → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl to The Roman fort and associated civil settle
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl → The Roman fort and associated civil settle is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.