NR's Scottish South West 300 - 2025

The Bladnoch Inn doesn't offer breakfast but the landlords son had a greasy spoon street food wagon outsidd the pub his bacon roll and coffee was really welcome this morning. Today it was sunny and hot and I rode through all the countryside that Galloway had to offer, rolling countryside high moorland coniferous plantations and native woodland with bluebells in abundance. I diverted to the visitor centre at Kirroughtree for coffee and scone. There seemed to be lots of preparations for mountain bike races there. I noted that you can overnight on Forest and Land Scotland departments car parks in a campervan. While the overall ascent today was not the highest there was one climb I would estimate as 1 in 4. Kirkcudbright is a nice little town with a river marina. The Arden House Hotel was just outside Kirkcudbright with large gardens where I could sit have a beer in the sun. The restaurant had a reduced pensioners menu quite a bargan but they didn't adjust me to show ID for my a...

I teied to follow the coast which made this the longest section but the sun was shining and the wind had dropped. Cycling along the east side of Luce Bay I was able to see the Mull of Galloway relatively clearly. Port William was my first way point and a complete desert of coffee shops and even no pub. It was onwards to Whithorn where I was able to sort my caffeine cravings as well as having a panini. Whithorn is the site of the first Christian community in Scotland - what do you think of that Iona? Did my pilgrimage to the remains of the priory and trekked on out to the Isle of Whithorn to see St Ninians Chapel, he obviously liked a sea view. Now I've done the pilgrimage I need to make it to Rome with my red sash, funny hat and CV by 7th May for the job interviews. Around the Whithorn area are big cattle herds dairy and beef finishing. After 4 days and nearly 200 miles I actually saw some belted Galloway cattle it seems there are more on Dartmoor. I finished my days ride at th...

On the map todays ride from Port Patrick to Sandhead looks a short route however by taking in The Mull of Galloway it made it a decent days ride. It was obvious that to get out of Port Patrick involved a bit of a climb! While apparently most of the rest of the UK was basking in sun and sub tropical temperatures apparently the weather god had not been aware of including SW Scotland. Wind was prevailing and as is the norm for cyclists it is always a head wind. Once out on the peninsula I nof only had winds to contest with but a thick mist. At the Mull there was a lot of visitors and the exhibition was informative. The fog horn is no longer used and the light house has been remotely controlled since 1988. The actual light is now a tiny battery operated led! It was basically retracing my steps to get to Sandhead and a pleasant almost sunny evening. Sandhead is on the Bay of Luce and has wide sandy beaches at low tide with large tidal differences. Pictures from top - Sanhead, various vie...

It was an immdiate climb out of Girvan. Why did I think that now as I was out on the coast that the hills would be less frequent? It was dry but windy which made this the most challenging day so far. The 15 miles to Barhill were attractive rolling countryside showing that Scotland is also a green and pleasant land! Barhill was a a site of Covenenters martyrs. The covenenters were Presbyterians who had sequentially backed the wrong side. The lucky ones got out to America or Ulster. The rest were persecuted by Charles II arbitrarily shot burnt at the stake or a Scottish speciality tying them to a stake in one of the estuaries at low tide. Of course the Scott's never bear a grudge even 400years on. From Barhill it was 13 miles of bleak moorland over Craig Fell down to Newton Luce. This route passed 2 wind farms and 1 that was being constructed and none of them working. The usual British lack of joined up thinking - let's build loads of wind turbines miles away from the Natinal...

Pictures from top Girvan harbour, Girvan beach, Sanquhar former toll house, Nithsdal Hotel. On leaving Sanquhar it was dull but dry. The first 3 orx4 miles were past large slag heaps indicative of the now defunct mining industry of Ayrshire. Once onto side roads it was more rolling country and a gradual climb into the Galloway Hills. Lots of cattle and sheep and no arable makes it more scenic. All the views were obscured by low clouds and rain which eventually broke out. The small towns and villages are a bit depressing perhaps that is why my parents thought a move from Irvine to Bridgwater was a good move!! As I rode through Straiton there was a wedding being piped out of the town hall. Girvan has a long sandy beach a harbour and not much else.

I left Dumfries in the sun but decidedly chilly. I found the attractive parts of Dumfries riding on the cycle path along the river Nith and sandstone bridge over it. Now I thought all of Scotland south of a line from Glasgow to Edinburgh was The Lowlands which obviously was a bit of Scottish irony but apparently this area of Dumfries is called the Southern Uplands which is still something of an understatement. To start off it was rolling pastures with the lumpy bits in the background however I decided to vere off my route to take in Wanlockhead the highest village in Scotland and obviously boasts the highest pub in Scotland. The pub is a shrine to Harley Davidsons and the landlord obviously an aficionado called me a fraud using an ebike to get up to his establishment?! Wanlockhead was an important lead mining centre from the 18th century to the early 20th century. The bonus was a rapid downhill ride to Sanquhar.