short scotland trip, part two …


After staying overnight in Moffat I decided that I would head up the A701, it;s the road that runs out of Moffat in the direction of Edinburgh. By any measure it’s a fine road and is known as the Beef Tub.

To be more precise the area that the A701 runs though is known as The Devils Beef Tub and is so named because of a geographical feature of a deep,  hollow in the hills north of Moffat.

The hollow itself is 500 feet (150 m) deep and formed by four hills, it’s also one of the two main sources of the River Annan.  From a bikers perspective the road is just a joy and I planned to ride it both ways before heading off. When I mentioned this to Sue – my wonderful host at Seamore House (the B&B where I stayed) she told me about a small road that ran off the A701 and actually would link me back up with the A708 (the St Marys Loch road). If you missed the frst part of this post, you can read more about Seamore House and my trip in Part One of this Blog post by clicking this link.

I rarely need much convincing to follow local advice/knowledge and when Sue told me that the scenery was stunning I decided that I would check it out. And just for information there is a web site called Beef Tub Bikers and worth checking out if heading that way.

But none of that was before packing up and enjoying a fine breakfast that Sue cooked for me. After the decent breakfast and plentiful supply of coffee, I was soon packed up and ready to go.

I was on my way for about 09:00am and headed up an empty A701 and other than stopping to take a few pictures carried on to Tweedsmuir before turning right onto the small road that Sue had recommended.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed with the views as I rode past Talla Resevoir and then on past Megget Reservoir, it was simply stunning and by any measure the views were impressive. The road took me back down to St Marys Loch, and in so doing provided me with the bonus of riding another 15 miles or so of that road before turning off and heading for the Cumbria and the Lake District.

I made my way home via Kewsick, Ambleside and Grassmere in the Lake District, although to be honest the roads through the pretty Lakeland villages were busy and made progress slow.

I finished the final 30 or so miles of my journey home in the rain, and at one point the downpour was so heavy I took shelter under a tree until it eased off a little. I arrived home  a little wetter than I would have hoped for but my spirits were not at all dampened after a cracking short trip to Scotland.

I think it’s a fair bet that I’ll be there again if not later this year then most certainly next.

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