Why this ride
140 km from Carlisle to Carlisle, about 2 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp, Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail, Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp and Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchclose Roman temporary camp and Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 140 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 39
- 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. Watchclose Roman temporary camp
East of Carlisle, between the villages of Brampton and Wetheral, the countryside rolls gently towards the Pennines, with green fields, hedges and patches of woodland. Somewhere in these fields lie the faint traces of Watchclose, a Roman temporary camp, one of many marching camps built by soldiers on campaign or during the construction of Hadrian's Wall. These camps were enclosed by a ditch and bank and used for a night or a season, and today they are often visible only from the air or as slight undulations in the grass. Watchclose is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchclose Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchclose Roman temporary camp is where the day begins. Next is Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp.
2. Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Not every Roman monument is made of stone. North of Carlisle, on low ground close to the Solway plain, the traces of a Roman temporary camp show up mainly as marks in the ground and in crops: a square or rectangle of ditch and bank, with rounded corners, where an army spent a night or two under leather tents. Nowtler Hill was one of those places. Marching armies built such camps every evening, digging the ditch and piling the earth into a rampart topped with stakes, so that even a short halt was protected.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail.
3. Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
The Solway Firth narrows at Bowness-on-Solway, a small village of whitewashed cottages on a low headland, and this is where Hadrian's Wall ended, or rather began, at its western end.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail. Next is Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp.
4. Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Carlisle is a border city, and it has been fought over for two thousand years. The Romans founded Luguvalium here to serve the Wall and the road north, and a settlement has stood beside the Eden ever since. The red sandstone cathedral dates from the twelfth century, and the castle beside it held Mary Queen of Scots for two months in 1568, after she fled across the Solway. In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army took the city on its march into England and lost it on the way back, and the Jacobite prisoners were held in the castle. The names of the old border families, the Armstrongs, Grahams and Nixons, still fill the telephone book.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp, about halfway. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth.
5. Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth
The Solway Firth is a strange piece of sea. It is wide and shallow and has some of the biggest tidal ranges in Britain, and at low water it empties into a landscape of sand, mud and channels where the tide can return faster than a walker can run. On its northern shore, the Scottish side, the land around Eastriggs and Annan is flat salt marsh and farmland, backed by low green hills, and across the water you can see the Cumbrian fells rising bluish and far off. The Roman frontier ended on the other side, at Bowness, but the Romans watched this shore too, and the wall's western run along the English edge is the reason the area is on the heritage map.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp.
6. back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp comes up about 87 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail.
7. back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 110 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail. Next is back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp.
8. back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp, late in the day. Next is Watchclose Roman temporary camp.
9. Watchclose Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchclose Roman temporary camp 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 140 km.
Leg by leg
Watchclose Roman temporary camp to Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Watchclose Roman temporary camp → Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail to Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail → Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth
Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth to back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall between Apple Garth → back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp to back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
back through Nowtler Hill 1 Roman temporary camp → back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail to back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
back through Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail → back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp to Watchclose Roman temporary camp
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp → Watchclose Roman temporary camp is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.