The vallum and a British settlement betwee and Roman fort
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
143 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 12
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
143 km from Bardon Mill to Bardon Mill, about 2 h 12 of riding. On the way it passes Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun, Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H, Roman fort and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The vallum and a British settlement betwee
There is a stretch of Hadrian's Wall that everybody has seen in photographs: the Wall riding the crest of the Whin Sill like a stone ribbon, plunging into dips and climbing again, with a long, dark lake, Crag Lough, beneath the cliffs. This is it, near Steel Rigg and Once Brewed, and the site on the label, the vallum and the remains of a native British settlement, lies just to the south in the shadow of the crags. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and it is a reminder that people lived here long before the Romans and kept living here while the soldiers watched over them.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum and a British settlement betwee is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun.
2. Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
Hadrian's Wall runs for about seventy-three miles across the north of England, from the Solway Firth in the west to the Tyne in the east, built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian after his visit to Britain in 122 AD.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H
Heddon-on-the-Wall announces its pedigree in its name, and just east of the village, on the slope down towards Newcastle, you find the longest surviving stretch of the Wall in the eastern sector. It is a section of broad wall, built to the original specification of about ten Roman feet thick, before the builders further west were told to save time and stone by making it narrower. Standing beside it, with fields falling away towards the Tyne, you get a strong sense of the scale of the project: this curtain once ran unbroken for eighty Roman miles.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H. Next is Roman fort.
4. Roman fort
At the mouth of the Tyne, on a rise above the river, stands a reconstructed Roman gateway that looks surprisingly new. It belongs to Arbeia, the Roman fort at South Shields, which supplied the soldiers along Hadrian's Wall and was built, strategically, to guard the entrance to the river. Ships unloaded grain and other goods here, and the stores were carried along the Wall's line, so this was the logistical heart of the frontier. Reconstructed buildings, including the gatehouse, a barrack and a commander's house, show how it looked, and the museum holds finds from the site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H sits at 108 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun comes up about 123 km into the recorded legs. Next is The vallum and a British settlement betwee.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum and a British settlement betwee closes the day.
Leg by leg
The vallum and a British settlement betwee to Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
The vallum and a British settlement betwee → Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun to Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H
Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun → Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H to Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H → Roman fort is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman fort to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H
Roman fort → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H to back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum from East Town H → back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun to The vallum and a British settlement betwee
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum between field boun → The vallum and a British settlement betwee is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.