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.
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| 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!!!
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