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cycling hadrian's cycleway carl mckeating and rachel crolla. cicerone press paperback. 129pp illus. £11.95

hadrian's cycleway

in 1976, my late father, a sales manager with the scottish brick company, took my family and i to the opening of the centurion brickworks, so called after its location close to the antonine wall in bishopbriggs. this particular roman built fortification, stretched from the clyde on scotland's west coast, to the forth on its eastern side, a total distance of 60 kilometres (37 miles).

although the romans had first invaded britain as early as 55bc, their lasting invasion took place around 43ad. thirty years later, they reached scotland, building a few forts that would eventually dictate the line of the antonine wall. from 80ad onwards, the roman troops were withdrawn from scotland due to their requirement elsewhere in the roman empire, and circa 122ad, the emperor hadrian consolidated the occupation with the construction of his own wall close to what is now the border between england and scotland. when hadrian died, he was succeeded by antoninus, who decided to re-invade scotland, and build the so-called antonine wall around ad 142.

hadrian's cycleway bowness

however, hadrian's wall is the better known. almost twice as long as the antonine wall, at 116km (73 miles), it forms the subject of a recently published guide by cicerone press. this cycling guide begins several kilometres south of the actual start of the wall, in ravenglass, continuing from west to east and arriving in south shields on the north-east coast of england, creating a 277km (174 mile) route. authors carl mckeating and rachel crolla have not only curated a ride that the exceedingly intrepid could possibly undertake at one pointless sitting, but for the book, has been divided into a three-day ride of between 80 - 100km each day.

hadrian's cycleway birdoswald

though i have frequently reviewed cicerone cycling guides by claiming them to be ideal for the armchair tourist, this particular volume truly excels in ths fashion. for instance, though i would scarcely classify myself as a student of british history, to learn that the roman fort of which i have never heard at vindolanda is "...arguably the most famous roman fort in britain..." came as something of a surprise. even more extraordinary, it's apparently privately owned (how on earth did that happen on a unesco site?). my total ignorance of the area and its history was once again underlined when the authors pointed out that from vindolanda can be seen the famous sycamore gap.

hadrian's cycleway map

who knew?

it transpires that there are several forts associated with hadrian's wall, the majority of which acquire their own short detours to visit as you meander on your merry way towards an eventual arrival at south shields.

so, if hadrian's wall actually commences in bowness-on-solway, a point not reached until a good 35 kilometres into day two, why have the authors chosen ravenglass to begin their guide? apparently, the romans built fortifications that stretched from the ride's start point up the west coast to bowness. centurions would march north from glannaventa fort, of which the roman bath house is the only recognisable survivor, past the present-day site of sellafield nuclear plant (formerly known as windscale) to reach the substantial wall that ..."essentially seeded the notion of england and scotland."

hadrian's cycleway sycamore gap

in common with every publication from cicerone, the pages are punctuated with box outs describing, in concise detail, points of interest to be enjoyed along the way. the authors contend that hadrian's cycleway is "...an enjoyable challenge within the reach of almost all cyclists." however, they recommend that those undertaking their described three-day route "...will need to be saddle fit and have completed some training (day rides of 40+ miles)..." on which would be the most appropriate style of bicycle to undertake the ride, they admit that there are a couple of sections that might challenge of what a road bike is capable. but then, the guys in rapha's north american continental peloton rode steel road bikes across many kilometres of gravel, so messrs mckeating and crolla may simply have erred on the side of care for their potential readership.

hadrian's cycleway corbridge

despite its compact and bijou format, cycling hadrian's cycleway comprises an entire history lesson before any bicycle has even turned a wheel. the possibility of seeing the remains of this history in the flesh (so to speak) is an extremely enticing prospect. no doubt the route could be undertaken in the opposite direction, but i'd imagine the prevailing winds are west to east, making the bicycle route as described, probably the more pragmatic option. and even if you've no intention whatsoever of saddling up and investigating the remains of a wall that once reached heights of six metres and a width of three metres, there's plenty of reading and images to bolster your education.

and while i'm on the subject of illustration, i feel i have to point out that they are just a tad too 'cycling world' for yours truly. considering that the defined readership is almost exclusively velocipedinal, was it really necessary to feature a bicycle and/or cyclist in virtually every one of them? but, if nothing else, you now know that vindolanda is the most famous roman fort in britain.

and perhaps this opens the way for a future cicerone guide to ride scotland's antonine wall?

cycling hadrian's cycleway

sunday 30 august 2020

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................