A day of sun and jaw-dropping scenery, which will be further concern to my NHS dentist back in York. It started with a beautiful cloudless dawn over my wildcamp on the shores of Loch Lomond (picture). The only sound was the mallards gang-mating, which made me think the jet-skiers weren’t so bad after all. There’s…
Author: Rob Ainsley
Britain 16: Ayr to Loch Lomond
The pleasant Sustrans route north out of Ayr on this sunny morning took me right through a golf course in Troon. A notice (picture) warns you that you may get hit by golf balls. I didn’t know that cyclist-hating golfers had such a good aim. Following Sustrans’s suggestions to get to Glasgow from Ayr was…
Britain 15: Stranraer to Ayr
With heavy rain forecast and time in hand – but also strong tailwinds – I wasn’t sure whether to get some wet miles in, or sit out the deluge for a day. Eventually – after about five seconds actually – the prospect of 24 more hours in Stranraer, and inevitable mania in consequence, was enough…
Britain 14: Stranraer to Kirkmaiden to Stranraer
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…
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…