Hadrian's Cycleway: Coast-to-coast cycling from Ravenglass to South Shields

By Rachel Crolla and Carl McKeating

Guidebook to Hadrian’s Cycleway, a waymarked cycle route that traces what was the most northerly frontier of the Roman Empire. This 174-mile (280km) coast-to-coast route from Ravenglass in Cumbria to South Shields follows quiet roads and cycle paths and can be ridden by cyclists of all abilities.

• Suggested route takes three days with stages of 53–64 miles (85–103km)
• Also includes more leisurely four- and five-day options, a 100-mile (161km) two-day cycle tour along Hadrian’s Wall only, and an alternative stage that rides closer to the Wall than the official route
• Clear route descriptions with 1:100,000 mapping, city-centre detail maps and elevation profiles
• The main route is described from west-east, but includes descriptions for riding east-west
• Includes facilities listings, local history, travel to and from the start and finish, and advice on preparing your kit, bike and self for the adventure
• Highlights include Ravenglass, Whitehaven, Solway Coast and AONB, Carlisle Castle, Lanercost Priory, Hexham, Tyne Bridge, Roman forts of Birdoswald, Vindolanda, Housesteads, Chesters
• GPX files for all route variants available for download

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cicerone Press
• Release date: Jan 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781783627240

Rachel Crolla

Rachel Crolla is an outdoors all-rounder who loves hiking, biking, scrambling and climbing. She grew up in Yorkshire, where she still lives with her partner Carl McKeating and their young family. Rachel is an outdoors writer and photographer who is also trained as a journalist and teacher. She has hiked and climbed across the UK, Europe and the USA. In 2007 Rachel became the first woman to reach the summit of every country in Europe – she co-wrote the Cicerone guide book Europe’s High Points soon afterwards. Rachel has since co-written a guide to the mountains of the Massif Central in France and more recently has enjoyed writing about areas in the UK. She and Carl fully updated the Cicerone guide book Scrambles in Snowdonia , which was originally written by Steve Ashton in 1980. Rachel’s first cycling guide to the Yorkshire and Lancashire-based Way of the Roses was published in 2018. Rachel and Carl are passionate about enthusing the next generation of hikers and cyclists with a love of the outdoors.

Book preview

About the Author

Carl McKeating and Rachel Crolla live on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. They are outdoor pursuits all-rounders, with specialisms in climbing and mountaineering; Rachel notably became the first woman to reach the highest point of every country in Europe in 2007. The couple had their earliest cycling adventures together as teenagers in 1994. They learnt the hard way by carrying camping gear for nine days on their first extended cycle tour round the north of England in 1996, with the Buttertubs Pass between Wensleydale and Swaledale – famously used on the opening stage of the 2014 Tour de France – proving the toughest challenge (although the following descent with dodgy brakes was also interesting!). Carl attempted to cycle to Egypt during winter the following year – a tour that was cut short at the Somme by his bike’s ball-bearings having ground to a paste. In the early 2000s the couple cycled Sustrans’ C2C and a six-day version of the Walney to Wear ride that finished on Holy Island. In 2018 Rachel Crolla’s guide Cycling the Way of the Roses (Cicerone) was published; her work on the book inspired Carl to ride the whole 170-mile tour in a day. The couple have enjoyed fostering a love of cycling in their two children and have included many family cycle routes in their recent book, Outdoor Adventures with Children: Lake District (Cicerone, 2019).

Other Cicerone guides by the author

Cycling the Way of the Roses (by Rachel Crolla)

Europe’s High Points

Outdoor Adventures with Children – Lake District

Scrambles in Snowdonia (with Steve Ashton)

Walking in the Auvergne

HADRIAN’S CYCLEWAY

COAST-TO-COAST CYCLING FROM RAVENGLASS TO SOUTH SHIELDS

by Carl McKeating and Rachel Crolla

JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,

OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL

www.cicerone.co.uk

© Carl McKeating and Rachel Crolla 2020

First edition 2020 Reprinted 2022 (with updates)

ISBN 9781783627240

Printed in Czechia on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All photographs are by the authors unless otherwise stated.

© Crown copyright 2020 OS PU100012932. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

Updates to this guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/1042/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time.

We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [e-mail] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.

Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk.

All of the research, editorial and design work for this guide was completed early in 2020 before the coronavirus lockdown, and the guide was printed during this period. There may be changes to the route as a result, particularly in relation to accommodation and other facilities. Please bear this in mind and let us know of any changes you encounter. Any updates we receive will be reviewed by the authors and shared on the Cicerone website.

Acknowledgements

Thanks in particular to Louise Robinson for coming along on our first experience of the ride. Likewise thanks to Chris Truss for an early start in order to cycle Day 1 and having to pose for our photos at Sellafield – which intrigued the police security! Thanks to the energetic three sisters – Esther, Kate and Sarah Robinson – who were using part of Hadrian’s Cycleway (HCW) on a tour connecting Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis and who recommend beginning HCW with a hike up Scafell Pike! Thanks also to Matt, Lynne and Phil Robinson for imparting local knowledge of the route and their help with the Emperor Hadrian statue in Brampton.

Thanks are due to our daughters, Heather and Rosa, who have accompanied us on numerous HCW outings – some with later than expected finishes – but who at least had plenty of fun sitting on the car roof cheering on HCW cyclists. Also thanks to Stephanie Crolla, whose caravan proved useful in support of work on days 1 and 2 of this guide.

Front cover: Passing Hadrian’s Wall at Birdoswald (Day 2)

CONTENTS

Map key

Overview map and profile

Route summary tables

INTRODUCTION

Why choose Hadrian’s Cycleway?

How tough is it?

How many days?

West to east or east to west?

Getting there and back

Where to stay

What kind of bicycle?

Equipment

Carrying your gear

What to wear

Maps and apps

Signage

Hadrian’s Wall

Who was Hadrian?

Seeing more of the Wall

Alternative endings: running late and Tynemouth

Using this guide

HADRIAN’S CYCLEWAY

The three-day ride

Day 1 Ravenglass to Silloth

Day 2 Silloth to Haltwhistle

Day 2A More Wall Alternative

Day 3 Haltwhistle to South Shields

Other itineraries

The Wall Only – a shortened two-day version

Appendix A Accommodation

Appendix B Bike shops and other useful contacts

Appendix C Further reading

ROUTE SUMMARY TABLES

Sycamore Gap (Day 2A)

Milecastle 39 near Sycamore Gap on the More Wall Alternative (Day 2A)

INTRODUCTION

Hadrian’s Cycleway (HCW) is a magnificent 174-mile (277km) coast-to-coast ride that crosses northern England along the most northerly frontier of the Roman Empire. The route takes in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hadrian’s Wall and its fascinating settlements, forts, milecastles, fortlets and turrets. The ride allows cyclists to follow the route of centurions from Glannaventa Fort in Ravenglass to Arbeia Fort in South Shields, connecting many famous vestiges of Roman Britain in between that include Birdoswald, Housesteads, Vindolanda, Chesters and Corbridge Roman Town. Taking time to explore the Wall and its associated forts and settlements will get the most out of the ride. Yet even without the enticing prospect of the Wall, HCW would be tremendous in its own right. Sustrans has done a good job designing the route predominately on minor roads and cycle paths. While a number of towns and cities are connected on HCW, including Whitehaven, Workington, Carlisle, Haltwhistle, Hexham and the extended Newcastle urban area, these are mostly negotiated by enjoyable, cleverly worked, traffic-free cycle paths along rivers and dismantled railways. HCW takes in parts of two national parks – the Lake District and Northumberland – in addition to exploring the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Beginning in Ravenglass, the ride serves up delicate Cumbrian coastal strands overlooked by red sandstone cliffs or skirted by gentle rolling foothills – tamed echoes of the great Lakeland fells. These give way to the wild beauty of the northern Pennines before finally country is exchanged for town and the route snakes along cycle paths beside the River Tyne to the North Sea.

Hadrian’s Wall from Birdoswald with Walltown Crags in the distance (Day 2)

Hadrian’s Cycleway, also known as National Route 72, opened in the summer of 2006. It belongs to the Sustrans family of northern coast-to-coast routes that includes the original C2C, the excellent Way of the Roses and the impressive Reivers