Dumfries and Galloway cycle trip June 2011- Day 3

Monday 6th June - Newton Stewart to Stranraer ( 45 miles )

Foregoing the porridge, partly due to the threat of rain, we carbed up on pancakes and yoghurt washed down with a mug of tea, and repacked ready for the last push to Stranraer. Our first leg took us south towards Wigtown, on a cycle route we had discovered by chance while looking at a map in town the evening before. Eventually this rejoined the road, and not long after we again veered off onto a lovely quiet coast road where we could just enjoy cycling with minimum numbers of cars to pass us. We reached Wigtown pretty early and decided to stop for coffee. Unfortunately it seems that no one drinks coffee here before noon so we had no choice but to push on.

Bike takes a rest outside the Cock Inn

Once again the B7005 road across the peninsula was quiet and enjoyable cycling through rolling farmland. On reaching the western coastline we had to rejoin a busier road for a couple of miles until we spotted the Cock Inn and decided to investigate for a lunch stop.

It turned out it was shut on a Monday, and to be honest it didn't look that great anyway so perhaps it was for the best.

A short rest stop, some juice and some macaroon bar later ( yum! ), we finally pushed on till we reached the small village of Glenluce. To be honest my behind was getting sore by this time, for the first time in three days, so I was glad of the rest. We found a small hotel which served lunch. I wouldn't have stayed there to be honest as it seemed a bit run down, but the food was pretty OK and hit the spot.

On the way back out of town we headed on a slight detour up towards Glenluce Abbey about two miles up the valley. There wasn't much left of what seemed to have been a pretty substantial building, but even the history didn't want to make us pay the £4.50 entrance fee to get in to see the ruin. We admired from outside the fence and joked that we'd come back and do all of these sites when we retire! Across the river and back down the valley took us unavoidably straight onto the A74, luckily however for less than a mile. Turning off again onto the quieter roads we wended our way gently towards Stranraer.

We had found out that the trains back to Glasgow were at 2.15pm and then 7.45pm, so hardly a regular service. Most of the trains are timed to meet the ferries, and since actually finding the station is so difficult, it's doubtful that they get many like us turning up every day. Without our map we wouldn't have found the station as there's not a single sign for it anywhere in town. thankfully we realised that the way in was through the somewhat chaotic ferry terminal and arrived to collect our tickets.

Faced with nearly a three hour wait till the train arrived we headed back into town to grab a well deserved pint and a bite to eat. I may be doing Stranraer a bit of a disservice as we didn't really explore the whole town but it feels like a town with nothing much to offer. Most people who come here are simply doing so to catch a ferry to go somewhere else. The rumour that some of the ferry companies may stop sailing from here in favour of Cairnryan further up the west coast would be pretty devastating for the town which would have to find another purpose as it's not really a tourist attraction. Finding ourselves a welcome chain pub we settled down to a couple of pints of Guinness and waited for the train journey home.

Our first weekend had been a success! The weather gods had smiled on us yet again ( although they could have made it a wee bit warmer! ). All of our kit worked well and I had managed to negotiate my clips for three days without incident which was my biggest achievement. Granted we need to make a few tweaks here and there, but we weren't lacking anything, and still have plenty of room left over if we need to take any more kit with us.

Orkney here we come!!!

Dumfries and Galloway cycle trip June 2011 - Day 2

Sunday 5th June - Ross to Newton Stewart ( 31 miles )

We awoke on Sunday morning to overcast skies but, yet again, ones that didn't seem to promise rain. Luckily it had been dry overnight, but yet again we struggled a bit getting porridge cooked on the stove in the stiff breeze. We'll need to remember to rustle up a suitable windshield for the next trip!

Next came the challenge of repacking the panniers for the first time since the comfort of home, but this was pretty easy, even if things went in slightly differently to the way they came out. I'm sure that with a bit of practice we'll get used to this, and also remember what pannier things are in when we need them along the way ( the 50-50 lottery never goes our way! ).

Hope we can remember where everything goes!

The first section this day took us back north towards Kirkudbright for about 5 miles then swung west over the peninsula towards Gatehouse of Fleet through scenery and rolling hills similar to those experienced the day before. By noon we had reached Gatehouse of Fleet, pretty quiet on a Sunday morning, but luckily a local pub had just opened ( presumably to catch folk just as they left church! ) so we stopped for a coffee.

Not feeling like hanging about for lunch, we pushed on towards our next town, Newton Stewart. To reach there, we knew that there was a fairly long climb up round the back of a hill, via a minor road and I wasn't looking forward to it. The A74 which runs all the way from Dumfries to Stranraer is notoriously busy with freight traffic going for or coming from the Northern Irish ferries, and is best avoided wherever possible.

The A74 runs round the coast so we had no choice but to take the high road! As it turned out it was a fantastic cycle. The road leads you out of Gatehouse of Fleet and up the lush green valley, rising all the while at a fairly comfortable gradient. With hardly a car on the road, it really was a relaxing ride, although our legs were a little tired once we reached the top it has to be said. Once again our reward was a fantastic freewheel down the steeper descent towards Creetown, and for the first time we were grateful we hadn't chosen to go in the opposite direction.

A steady hill - I like these!

Although by the time we reached Creetown we hadn't had lunch, neither of us felt like eating and we decided to push onwards. Just outside town we joined a disused railway track for several miles which did involve me getting off and pushing up the hill to the level as the gradient was really steep.

A couple of good miles cycling, broken only by farm gates every so often finally saw the cycle route veer off into nearby forest where I was eventually faced with a hill I really couldn't handle. Perhaps if you were on a mountain bike with no panniers this might have been OK, but the fact that it was part of the 7 Stanes Kirroughtree route said it all really. Way too steep for a National Cycle Route guys! Al made it to the top and relished the opportunity to take some flattering photos of me as I finally managed to push my bike up to meet him.

This might not look steep but believe me it was!

Our original plan had been to revisit a campsite we had stayed in a couple of years ago south of Wigtown, however this had been a pretty long day. We knew we had to stop to get food in Newton Stewart, so decided to check out the campsite in town while we were there. Just on the left on the way into town, thankfully the owner was friendly and made us feel pretty welcome. Charges for this night were only £11 but we got what we paid for as it was pretty basic and no frills. We were one of only two tents on the site, with the majority taken up by static caravans that had seen better days. The chap did however give us a lovely private pitch for our tent, complete with picnic table, and the facilities were spotlessly clean. Tokens had to be purchased for the shower ( which the nice man gave us for free ). All in all a pretty down at heel site, but quiet, clean and cheap so it was just fine for a night.

The owner had recommended the hotel over the road for a drink later, so we headed into town to see what the other options were. He sold the hotel to us by saying it had entertainment every night, and that he himself would be going there later. It didn't sound too enticing to be fair. A wander round Newton Stewart confirmed that, other than a chinese or a curry, there really wasn't any other option, and not feeling like cooking we headed for the hotel to check it out.

Well it was lovely! We had a drink and polished off a three course meal ( this is one of the joys of cycling for me - really enjoying my food and feeling like I've worked for it! ) before heading back to the campsite. Newton Stewart doesn't really have a huge amount to offer, but if you find yourself there, then the Creebridge Hotel is worth a visit.

Our home for two nights

So, back to the tent. Luckily for us, having spent quite a bit on other gear, Alistair already had a suitable lightweight tent which he had used regularly for hillwalking trips. A two man Macpac Minaret, it weighs only 2.5 kilos in total. As with most things, the smaller and lighter they get , the more expensive they become, and this tent cost about £350 quite a few years ago. As the inner and outer sheets are semi permanently fixed together ( they can be pitched separately if needed...but this is Scotland! ), once you've inserted the two poles it's simply a case of pulling upright and guying out, all of which can be completed in a few minutes. With plenty of pockets inside, and all you need in terms of vents and insect mesh, it pretty much ticks all the boxes, particularly as it's high enough for two to sit up in inside. Put it this way, I wouldn't want to be stuck in it for days on end in the rain ( that's what hotels and hostels are for! ) but for our purposes it was a comfortable home for two nights and hopefully will be for many more. To read another review see http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/product-reviews/macpac-minaret-tested/1668.html

To be honest the biggest hassle for me with a small tent such as this is having to store all our gear in the relatively small porch space. Ideally our panniers could be stored outside as they are waterproof, but we probably still feel a little precious about them to do this yet. Generally we feel totally OK with leaving stuff outside our tent on smaller more remote sites, so maybe it was something to do with this one being in the middle of town. Who knows, it may all be a throwback to getting robbed on our first day in Namibia a few years ago, but I'm sure that as we do more of this I'll get a little more relaxed about it all. We've never had any issues anywhere else, so I think it's slight paranoia about having all your stuff close to hand! It had rained quite heavily overnight but we woke up dry and warm in the tent. I had been surprised just how warm it was, so much so that on the second night we opened the ventilation still further, and I was pleased that my new sleeping bag seemed to have passed the test. I am generally quite a cold sleeper, but had felt pretty good on both nights. The deer which the campsite owner had said often come down in the middle of the night, including an albino one apparently, had failed to materialise - either that or we slept so soundly we missed them.

Dumfries and Galloway cycle trip June 2011 - Day 1

With our trip to Orkney confirmed for the end of June, we had been looking for an opportunity to test the bikes and kit out on a three day camping trip. The weather having been so dismal on the last Bank Holiday weekend in May, we decided on a cycle between Stranraer and Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland. This trip would take us three days, a journey of approximately 115 miles, so a Monday holiday was booked and we were all set. The weather forecast didn’t look too great but our theory was that it would ‘test our mettle’ and really give us an idea of what a trip like this could throw at us. As the wind direction was set to blow from the east we decided to give ourselves a fighting chance and travel west from Dumfries to Stranraer. Faced with the prospect of showers and some pretty prolonged climbs this seemed like the best plan to keep the wind at our backs as much as possible.


Saturday 4th June - Dumfries to Ross ( 38 miles )

Dedicated cycle space on the train!

Slightly bleary eyed, we set off for Dumfries by train at 7am on the Saturday morning. The train was tiny, only two carriages, but had a dedicated cycle area to the rear ( for up to 6 bikes ) where we could hang our bikes up.
With the bikes duly strapped in we settled down for the two hour journey. Arriving in Dumfries we quickly got everything off the train (thankfully the train was pretty quiet but was continuing its route onwards to Newcastle), checked the maps, and headed down towards the river to pick up the cycle route (National Cycle Route 7). We got a few cheery waves from some road cyclists out for their Saturday run, and found the signs for the route without too much difficulty.

Route 7 takes you along minor roads, this one an old Military Road, all the way from Dumfries to our first real stop at Castle Douglas. The countryside is pretty rural with rolling hills, which tested out tired morning legs but gave us regular freewheeling opportunities which were much appreciated! At some point on this leg, my bike stand decided to shear off completely, leaving me with no option but to lean my heavy bike against a wall etc for the rest of the trip. Note to self – look at buying a Pletscher twin leg stand when I get back.

There had to be at least 1000 calories
in this piece of cake!

By the time we reached Castle Douglas the clouds had cleared to give us patches or warm sunshine, so we decided on a coffee stop where Al managed to consume single handily a calorie laden piece of cake. Think ‘Death by Chocolate’ filled with slightly salty runny tablet, and then covered in single cream! God knows how many grams of fat it contained but skinny ones like him can afford to eat this kind of stuff. Even on a cycle trip this would have made me put on a couple of pounds instantly.


Castle Douglas is a lovely wee market town, and well worth a visit if you like individual and quirky wee shops, particularly good for jewellery and house wares etc. It also has a pretty good cycle shop, and a Tesco which you pass on the way into town if you’re needing to stock up. On this occasion we weren’t stopping to shop, so headed on towards Kirkudbright on the coast, roughly another 15 miles away.

Once again the roads were really quiet and our reward for a fairly long climb was a lovely descent through almost ‘tropical’ woods down into the town itself. Dumfries and Galloway really is big tree country and is beautifully lush at this time of year.


Our second pit stop of the day saw us now sitting in bright warm sunshine for half an hour, eating a sausage supper on a park bench ( lovely! ) and unhappily burning our peely-wally Scottish legs in the process. Scotland’s sunshine isn’t really that warm but it taught us a lesson that sunscreen should always be applied even if you think it’s not that hot! Kirkudbright, which we’ve visited before, is also worth spending an afternoon in.

Fishing boats at the harbour, and plenty of little art galleries give this small artists town a faintly bohemian air. We sat and watched kids excitedly catching crabs on the harbour front before heading off to the ubiquitous Tesco to stock up on supplies for dinner and breakfast the next morning.

Heading for Ross bay before we had to turn back!

Our destination was a campsite south of Kirkudbright, continuing on via the minor coast road. I had seen this site on the internet and thought it sounded ideal. Reaching it involved a run down a long hill, by a single track road which I couldn’t imagine anyone taking a caravan along with any ease. When we reached the site we were reliably informed by the slightly offhand owner that it was open to Caravan and Camping Club members only, and that we could only stay if we paid the annual membership fee of £39.50!! Al and I have been camping for years and have never, ever had to join this to find a decent site, in fact any camper worth his or her salt wouldn’t bother as there are plenty of lovely sites in Scotland to choose from without resorting to these kind of archaic rules. So our answer was a swift no thanks, and we headed off back up the hill towards the next one. This site’s restrictions seemed like commercial suicide to me, and I wouldn’t have wanted arrive with my caravan only to have to turn round and head back as we did.


Eventually we found the ‘Holiday Park’ at Brighouse Bay about a mile or two further on. Crossing fingers we went into reception and luckily they took tents and had plenty of space for us. As a rule we try to avoid these kinds of places, preferring to go for the more basic ones where you really feel you’re getting away from everyday life. That said this site was lovely. Well landscaped areas hid the fact that you were staying on a huge site, and our pitch was fairly sheltered and came with a handy picnic table, perfect when you’re on a bike. Our only gripe was that it cost £21 for the night which we thought was a bit steep for a tiny tent and two bikes. The chap at reception said they were trying to encourage cyclists, and I nearly said that lowering their prices would be a good place to start.

Our tent was up and pitched in minutes ( more on the tent tomorrow night ) and after a wee walk to stretch our bike legs we got tea on the go. In hindsight risotto on a tiny gas stove on a breezy campsite was perhaps not the best idea! We used up way too much gas, and it took an absolute age to cook, but you live and learn, and it was at least very tasty when it was finally finished! We climbed into our sleeping bags at about 10pm after a few beers and slept snugly for about 10 hours, despite the overnight temperature dropping to about 6 degrees. I'm sure there's a knack to sleeping in these small tents that I'll get used to eventually.....