The vallum between the field boundary sout and Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
60 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 04
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.
From Brampton it runs 60 km to Brampton; allow about 1 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Willowford Roman temporary camp, Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp and back through Willowford Roman temporary camp. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The vallum between the field boundary sout
Not every stretch of Hadrian's Wall is the dramatic crag-top masonry of the postcards, and this is one of the quieter parts: a section of the vallum, the great ditch-and-mound earthwork the Romans dug behind the wall, running across farmland near Brampton in Cumbria. The stone wall here was largely robbed out long ago for farms and churches, so what survives is often a long, soft hollow in the grass, a line you only notice once someone points it out, and then can't stop seeing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the field boundary sout is where the day begins. Next is Willowford Roman temporary camp.
2. Willowford Roman temporary camp
Rivers move, and the Irthing at Willowford proves it. When the Romans built the Wall here, they carried it across the river on a bridge, and the massive stone abutment of that bridge survives on the east bank, now well away from the water, because the river has shifted west over the centuries. Nearby, the earthwork outline of a Roman temporary camp, one of many marching camps built by units on campaign or on construction duty, lies in the fields. Temporary camps were ramparts of turf and ditches thrown up for a few nights or weeks, and their faint shapes are often best seen from the air or in low winter light.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Willowford Roman temporary camp comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp.
3. Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
The Twice Brewed inn gives its name to a stretch of Northumberland where the Roman frontier is at its most dramatic. Here the Great Whin Sill, a hard sheet of dark volcanic rock, breaks in a long line of cliffs facing north, and the Wall runs along the very edge of it, rising and falling like a stone roller-coaster. Haltwhistle, five kilometres off, is the nearest town, and Hexham lies a good deal further east.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The vallum between the field boundary sout. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The vallum between the field boundary sout to Willowford Roman temporary camp
The vallum between the field boundary sout → Willowford Roman temporary camp is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Willowford Roman temporary camp to Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
Willowford Roman temporary camp → Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp to back through Willowford Roman temporary camp
Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp → back through Willowford Roman temporary camp is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Willowford Roman temporary camp to The vallum between the field boundary sout
back through Willowford Roman temporary camp → The vallum between the field boundary sout is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.