Why this ride
257 km from Hexham to Hexham, about 4 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor, Skinburness and Burrow Walls Roman fort. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Roman fort and Burrow Walls Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 257 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 23
- 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
Down by the North Tyne, where the river runs fast over stones under a canopy of trees, a Roman cavalry regiment once kept its horses and its very comfortable bath house. Chesters, the fort the Romans called Cilurnum, sat astride Hadrian's Wall near the village of Walwick, guarding the bridge that carried the wall across the river. It is one of the best preserved forts along the wall, with the headquarters building, the commander's house and the bath house still standing to knee or shoulder height, and the remains of the bridge abutment visible on the far bank.
Read the complete The Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Roman fort is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Around Haltwhistle the wall country becomes the landscape everyone imagines: the Whin Sill, a long ridge of hard volcanic dolerite, rears up in a series of cliffs facing north, and the Romans used it as a ready-made rampart, running their stone wall along the very top. Between the crags and the road the vallum ditch runs across the fields as a broad, clear trench, and from any high point you can see the whole military system laid out: crag, wall, road and ditch side by side.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor.
3. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
On the eastern edge of Carlisle, where the M6 motorway sweeps north towards Scotland, the line of Hadrian's Wall crosses the fields and housing estates in a way that is barely visible. Yet the vallum, the great ditch the Romans dug south of the Wall, can still be traced here as a slight dip in the ground, and this stretch between the motorway and the outskirts of the city is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. It takes some imagination, but standing here you are on the line that marked the edge of the empire for nearly three hundred years.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor 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 the M6 motor. 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 Burrow Walls Roman fort.
5. Burrow Walls Roman fort
On the northern edge of Workington, near the mouth of the river Derwent, a fragment of stone wall stands alone in a field, a jagged piece of masonry rising above the grass. It is part of Burrow Walls, a Roman fort that guarded the Cumbrian coast, one of the chain of defences that extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall down the shore to watch for raiders crossing from Scotland and Ireland. Much of the fort's stone was reused in a medieval building on the site, and what survives today is modest, but it is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site and has a lonely charm, with views over the sea and the river.
Read the complete Burrow Walls Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burrow Walls Roman fort sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through Skinburness.
6. back through Skinburness
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Skinburness comes up about 161 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor.
7. back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 200 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
8. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel 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 and vallum between the fiel, late in the day. Next is The Roman fort.
9. The Roman fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 257 km.
Leg by leg
The Roman fort to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
The Roman fort → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor to Skinburness
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor → Skinburness is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Skinburness to Burrow Walls Roman fort
Skinburness → Burrow Walls Roman fort is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burrow Walls Roman fort to back through Skinburness
Burrow Walls Roman fort → back through Skinburness is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Skinburness to back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor
back through Skinburness → back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
back through Hadrian's Wall vallum between the M6 motor → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to The Roman fort
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → The Roman fort is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.