Day 10 Preston to Liverpool 46 miles

And the flattest day of all. Preston’s fine civic buildings bade us goodbye and we rejoined NCN 62 for most of the day. More signs of civilisation(?) as brick becomes more predominant and Methodist chapels start to rival their CoE relatives.

The countryside could be Norfolk with drainage channels and meres galore. With the tide out at Southport the flat sands seems to extend to the horizon. It’s heaving with bank holiday traffic. The birds on the nature reserves seem oblivious to it all.

We’d started the Trans Pennine Trail cycling in 2003. No plaque though. Route 62  follows Cheshire Lines old railway line for many miles between Southport and Liverpool, then back to the Leeds Liverpool canal path.

All too soon were navigating through the Victorian northern parts of Liverpool and that’s this leg done as we arrive the grandeur of Lime Street Station and surrounds.  To be continued in September.

Day 9 Cartmel to Preston 58 miles

More changes today. Signs of civilisation(?) as car volumes increase, old industrial canals shadowing their successors (rail and road) meander across the route and larger places reach out.

Leaving Cartmel we encounter quite a few cyclists making the most of the bank holiday sunshine. A stop at Levens Hall introduces is to the Bangor family, apparently an old English family(they probably haven’t heard of us either so I won’t hold that against them). They have nice hedges and some fine steam engines on show for the natives set against the back cloth of a fine Elizabethan pile. Nice to know the National Trust don’t have a monopoly.

The levens turn out to be a huge flood plain which gives some flat cycling.  Villages show a mixture of recovery and decline from the fast M6 and A6 which now bypass them.

Two main cities today, Lancaster and Preston. It may have been the cycling route: Lancaster disappointed, Preston exceeded (albeit low) expectations. The Lancaster Canal accompanied us for a long part: this runs for some 46 miles with no locks.

One highlight of today was Carnforth Railway Station , and its heritage display. It makes there most of its setting in David Lena’s Brief Encounter. Rachmaninov’s tune is now being hummed.

Day 8 Whitehaven to Cartmel 55miles.

Today was less about distance than contrasts. The variation in places and landscapes was amazing; the valley floors allowed you to anticipate eagerly the ascents ahead whilst the downs were over all too quickly.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Looks like quite a few groups are using the bank holiday to start the C2C in Whitehaven. whilst the East coast is their destination, we head south east. Leaving Whitehaven gives you a sense of the industrial legacy of the not too distant past. As you head inland you look back on communities hanging onto the coast fringes. Then the sheer scale of Sellafield (with both decommissioning going on and new development) gives another view.

The western edges of the lakes opens up new vistas. People are rarer, hills steeper. Note, the Lakes and Dales Loop looks a great 196mile tour of this area. Birker Fell then Dunnerdale Fell test the legs on the up and the nerves on the way down. Blissfully quiet roads.

We’re stopping at a friends’ at Cartmel, though they are on holiday. The races are on, as is Simply Red concert. Luckily neither of these divert us from the ascents to get to our stopping point and the tasting of a Cartmel pudding, followed by a good natter with friends of our Bill and Neil.

Day 7 Gretna to Whitehaven 60miles

A diversion to Longstone to get a spoke replaced. Well done Bikeseven for great help and to Google. “OK Google, where is the nearest bike repair shop?”, came up with the answer.

The route left ncn7 to pick up ncn72 via quiet country lanes. You knew it was country by the smell of the silage. Ncn72 is also known as Hadrian’s cycle way. Whilst i have my suspicions that Hadrian’s chosen transport might not be a 2 wheeled device, he obviously knew a good route when he saw one.

With the velocity of flat roads powering us on, the coast soon returned. We now passed through towns whose prosperity lies in the past. Whilst regeneration attempts are obvious, it looks like tourism isn’t a substitute for industries of old.

Whitehaven’s castle on the horizon turns out to be the ruins of Wellington colliery, built in the shape of a castle. The statues tell the story of the 136 miners who lost their lives in 1910. I was surprised the last coal mine shut in 1986. Even more suprised to read about the density of Georgian buildings on a grid system which was apparently the precursor design for New York.

Day 6 Kirkcudbright to Gretna 60miles

The landscape changes over today. From rolling hills to Dumfries  then flat flood plains of the river estuaries. Which meant the ups were focused in on the first 30 miles. A little research shows this was on an old military road dating to Roman times though most recently laid by Wade’s successor. Not to subjugate the Scots though: a through route to Ireland (to subjugate the Irish no doubt).

Most of the landscape was a mixture of arable and pastoral farming: the first cut of hay had already been taken so many fields were showing their new hair cuts. Castle Douglas markets itself as a food town. this is evident in the girth of a lot of its loyal residents.

Stopping at Dumfries to see Ian and Elspeth Greig was timed nicely to chat over lunch. Dumfries was of course where Burns died: he packed a lot of verses into his 37 years.

The afternoon was a tour around the Solway Firth. We skirted Caerlaverlock Castle leaving that to return to another time. A diversion took us past Powfoot . It’s easy to miss details. Apart from a distinctive small route of houses there’s nothing much to show this as a potential Victorian sea side resort promoted by the Marquis of Queensbury. He reappears in Annan, overshadowed by the statue of
Edward Irving . Who’s he?

Then onto the transit camp of Gretna, which will…come back for more…put a spoke in the wheel.

Day 5 Kirkmichael to Kirkcudbright 60miles

The temperature drop was offset initially by the steepness of the ascents. Leaving Ayrshire for Dumfries and Galloway, today’s changing landscape was dominated by the Galloway forests.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Very sparsely populated, it’s ready to appreciate this area was the first Dark sky areas in Britain.  The first 40 miles is basically of rolling hills with large patches of working forest. Some of these, like in Glen Trool,  have been hit by Larch disease.

Approaching the coastal plains, villages appear. Surprisingly vibrant, vs dormant, the classic lowland single storey croft remains much as it has for a few hundred years, at least on the outside.

Gatehouse of Fleet is our precursor for Kirkcudbright. Alas no centipedes, just some hares and a red squirrel. A sound we’ve heard every day so far reappeared: the distinctive cuckoo is having a busy spring.

Day 4 Houston to Kirkmichael

Starting off on another old railway track made a good 14 mile start to the day. Colin and Marion stay very near the meeting point of route 75 and route 7. So we’re now on the latter which will take us to Carlisle.

Renfrewshire has a diverse mix of very rural and old industrial places. Today was about greenery. Even Irvine was surprising with the regeneration around the harbour contrasting with the architectural gems new towns are renowned for.

The Ayrshire coast took in Troon, Prestwick and Ayr. Golf courses dotted liberally with even some women golfers being shown off as proof of their modernity. The play was a bit slow I have to say.

A queer mixture of rich and poor with the sea refusing to take sides. Robert  appears now in serious statue form. Troon is gearing up for the Open.

Then inland to Kirkmichael, which turns out to be a charming wee village founded on weaving.

Day 3 Tarbert to Houston

The shortcut was that 6 miles of today was on ferries. Gloriously calm they showed off the scenery to good effect to Portavadie then Gourock. In between the hills of the Cowal peninsula have striking views down the Kyles of Bute.

The single track road thankfully was free of the promised logging lorries, though that perhaps accounted for the new road surface. A sweeping descent to Dunoon then over the water to the mainland.

So today was mostly on NCN75. On the mainland this winds its way along the coast trying to pick out the pretty spots of Gourock and Greenock. This is a tough job in Port Glasgow.

It says an old railway line to Johnstone: you go steeply up to access it, then down again as the path is closed for a crucial bit. Then flat, taking in the Quaker villager Quarriers.  And then to Houston where friends await.

Day 2 Taynuilt to Tarbert

No railway lines today. Just undulating hills and a canal. We’re still on NCN 78 which is being branded the Caledonia Way, 227 miles from Campbeltown to Inverness from start to finish. That’s for another year, who knows: linking with the Northcoast 500.

Following Loch Awe for the first half of the day was a joy. Our lungs enjoyed gulping in the fresh air ascending. Spring flowers were in abundance, framing the distant mountains.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Then we discovered Kilmartin. A wee gem of a village, well worth returning to. Kilmartin Glen houses the most abundant number of prehistoric sites in Scotland (800 in a 6mile radius), together with 1000 year old crosses and gravestones. You tootal by standing stones from 3200BC. Never heard of the place before!

Before reaching the Crinan Canal, you pass one of Britain’s last raised peat bogs, Moine Mhor. Crinan Canal opened 1801. We were just pleased it was flat!

This lulled us into a false sense of completion: off course you need to get to the harbour at Tarbert via hills. It’s what keeps it secure. Apparently Robert Bruce stopped in the castle looking over the harbour en route to watch a spider.

Day 1 Fort William to Taynuilt

Arriving in Fort William via Glasgow takes in the contrasts between city and country. The railway line passed many places we stopped at when walking the West Highland Way in 1997.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our route today was mainly on NCN 78. Leaving the transit camp of Fort William the passenger ferry allowed us to avoid the confines of these A82. The rain was indiscriminate: it just came straight down. Lush green scenery along Loch Linnhe, streams cascading in torrents and no midges. The Corran Ferry entertained us with the scraping noise of a low slung caravan crunching its way on board. A simple short stretch on the A82 and then Ballachulish.

The surprise was then the rest of the day was mainly on an old railway line, closed 50 years ago between Ballachulish and Oban. Wonderful scenery when it dried up, skirting sea lochs. What a delightful train journey that must have been.

So an excellent first day.