The West Roman and Kielder Water Loop

Tourist Attractions:

Chesters, Brocolitia, Once Brewed, Housesteads, Roman Camps, Roman Fort, Roman Army Museum, Poltross Burn Milecastle, Birdoswald

Route Overview:

 Start & Finish: Moffat

Approximate Distance: 172Miles

The Western Loop takes in some of the same roads as the Eastern Loop, but is more accessible from Moffat, Lockerbie and the A74 (M). Starting from Moffat, it’s a thirty-mile trip down the quiet A708 into Selkirk, a perfect opportunity to get warmed up for a good day behind the wheel.  Then after a short hop on the A7 into Hawick, the route joins the B6399 south. This starts with some incredible (and deserted) stretches up empty valleys before becoming narrow after ten miles or so. These narrow miles are still fun but perhaps not as fluid as before. Not as fluid either, as the roads that follow. The next roads carve through the Cheviots, then through the Kielder Forest and down to Kielder Water itself. After following the North Tyne into Bellingham, the B6320 takes the route south to meet the Military road, and like the Eastern Roman Loop an opportunity to sample the history of the area. This includes a number of Roman forts, the Roman army museum and a chance to walk on Hadrian’s Wall itself. Finally, the B6320 leads back to Langholm and from here the last thirty-five miles or so of the loop into Moffat offers some excellent uninterrupted B-road driving.

Route Directions:

From	Moffat					Follow	Signposts to	A708 Selkirk
At	Selkirk	after	32	miles on the	A708	Follow	Signposts to	A7 Hawick
At	Hawick	after	12	miles on the	A7	Follow	signposts to	Drumlanrig’s Tower Visitors Centre
At	Drumlanrigs Tower Visitor Centre	after	1	mile on the	A7	Turn Right	signpost	B6399 Newcastleton (the turning is right in front of the visitors centre)
At the	B6357	after	18	miles on the	B6399	Turn Left		B6357 Jedburgh
At	Saughtree	after	6.5	miles on the	B6357	Turn Right	signpost	Kielder Water
At the	Kielder Water Experience Centre	after	12	miles on the	Unmarked Roads	Follow	signposts to	Bellingham
In	Bellingham	after	8	miles on the	Unmarked Roads	Turn Right	signpost	B6320 Hexham
At	Chollerford	after	9	miles on the	B6320	Turn Right at Roundabout	signpost	B6318 Carlisle, Hadrian's Wall
At the	A7	after	37	miles on the	B6318	Turn Right	signpost	A7 Langholm
In	Langholm	after	2	miles on the	A7	Turn Left	signpost	B7068 Lockerbie
At	Lockerbie	after	17.5	miles on the	B7068	Follow	signposts to	A74(M) North, Moffat
In	Lockerbie	after	0.7	miles on the	B7076/B723	Turn Right	signpost	B723 Boreland/Eskdalemuir
		after	7	miles on the	B723	Turn Left	signpost	Moffat
		for	9	miles on the	Unmarked Road	Follow	signposts to	Moffat
End at	Moffat

List of Recomended Drives:
The Northumberland Coast and the Cheviot Valleys
The Tweed, the Moorfoot Hills, and the Lammermuir Hills
The Tweed and the Cheviots
The Kelso Monster (and the Monster’s tail)
The East Roman and Kielder Loop
The West Roman and Kielder Water Loop
The Extended Roman and Kielder Loop
Index of all roads tested
Complete Road Index
Back to Northumberland Home Page