With most of my stuff in the tent in Stranraer, I could enjoy a single-pannier day, biking light down to the Mull of Galloway and back, to start the Scottish and final leg of the trip. Without camping stuff, clothes, Argos catalogues etc, the bike felt ever so light and twitchy. The Mull of Galloway…
Author: Rob Ainsley
Britain 13 (D2S 3): Clatteringshaws Loch to Stranraer
A glorious morning, and what a view to wake up to: the mirrorlike waters of Clatteringshaws Loch in the heart of Galloway Forest Park, right there in front of my tent (picture). And all mine: not another soul for, literally, miles. Not quite mirrorlike enough to see my haggard reflection clearly, which after two weeks…
Britain 12 (D2S 2): St Mary’s Loch to Clatteringshaws Loch
It rained all night, and it was a miserable cold squelchy start from the lochside campsite. Even the mad hen was taking shelter. But with a hefty tailwind, the long downhill into Moffat was a delight (picture). As was Moffat itself, a handsome town with a good line in cherry trees and Scotch pies. Outside…
Britain 11 (D2S 1): Dunbar to St Mary’s Loch
So, this morning I left Dunbar (picture). A friendly small town that acts as the administrative centre for the agricultural area and a dormitory town for Edinburgh, it’s the home of John Muir, who established the conservation movement; Belhaven Brewery; a nuclear power station; a fishing harbour; and a cement factory. A mixed economy, I’d…
Britain 10: Holy Island to Marshall Meadows to Dunbar
I cycled the handful of miles from Holy Island to Berwick, with its characteristic rust-coloured ancient bridge over the Tweed (picture), at dawn. The ancient walled city changed hands over a dozen times between England and Scotland over the last few centuries, presumably as both sides were trying to get rid of it. I didn’t…
Britain 9: Haydon Bridge to Holy Island
The riverside campsite in Haydon Bridge (picture) had been the best of the trip so far. I just had to remember not to step too far out the tent when going for a wee in the night. I spent the next eight hours hacking northwest through lumpy and muddy bits of Northumberland. The whole county…
Britain 8: Kendal to Haydon Bridge
I like Kendal. Every time I pass through I see something interesting I hadn’t seen before. And I don’t mean on the Wetherspoons menu. I mean things such as this signpost (picture) in the Market Square pointing to both Scafell Pike and Everest, for climbers who have limbered up in the Lakes and fancy something…
Britain 7: Warrington to Kendal
After a convivial night with Si, Sue and company, in which certain single malts may have been involved, I took the morning train back to Warrington Bank Quay to pick up the pieces. Er, I mean, from where I left off last night. Warrington Bank Quay (picture) is one of only two UK stations to…
Britain 6: Coalport to Warrington
The name ‘Ironbridge‘ means, literally, ‘iron bridge’, and is named for an iron bridge (picture), which is a bridge made of iron, the world’s first. It was bashed up in 1779 by Abraham Darby, son of Abraham Darby, and grandson of Abraham Darby. They didn’t have a way with words: the Industrial Revolution was born…
Britain 5: Gloucester to Coalport
What could be more English – on an English End to End – than a visit to Worcester (picture), home of the quintessential English composer, Edward Elgar? Well, lots of things I suppose, such as rail replacement buses or bad kebabs, but this scored very highly on the English scale. Elgar was, of course, a…