RogueRunners '25 - Day Four

 

ROUTE A – Almost Selkirk

Today we were without Duncan who went to see a friend locally. The rest of us left town heading north west past Carlyle’s monument & joined the A74(M), so everything had to be well well battened down. At junction 18 we left & after a couple of turns in Lockerbie, headed out on the A709, over the River Annan & past Castle Loch. Next we headed north from Lochmaben on the B7020 – briefly – because we needed to go north east, so after crossing the A74(M) & the main west coast railway (on a bridge – we didn’t have to cross them), we picked up the B273 through Boreland to Eskdalemuir where we turned onto the B709 past the Bhuddist monastery.

We passed very close to Foulbog where there's a shepherd’s hut for rent (how's that business doing?). At Crosslee we went straight on, but the road changed from the B709 to the B7009 (not confusing at all obviously) & there was a possible coffee stop at “The Tushielaw Inn”, I had hoped it was open, as there appeared to be NOTHING else for miles. Not only was it not open, but is looked like it last closed some time ago.

We followed the route, discovering (again) that if you want to find the fastest way of hustling a small sports car along a Scottish B road, you need to try to keep up with a local, driving a pick-up, pulling a three axle trailer, full of tractor tyres.

However, we were not to go thirsty, there are a number of villages along this road & Etterickbridge seemed strangely familiar. A few years ago three of us had got separated from the others along this very road, we were very thirsty then as well, so when we saw a pub in the village, we called in & were all in turn quite surprised to see a badger in the entry porch - it was stuffed, but just sitting there under a table. We asked if we could have coffee - they served us, so this year when our hostelry of choice was closed, you can imagine what happened when we again rolled into the same village "IT'S THE BADGER PUB!" we cried over the radio.

The Cross Keys - when was the last time you
saw an ad for Watney's Double Diamond??

The young lady behind the bar of "The Cross Keys Inn" was quite taken aback by our arrival, all the chairs were on the tables & she was mopping the floor, but she rallied magnificently & said we could have coffee if we didn't mind sitting outside. 

We were quite close to SELKIRK at this point, but we spurned it by taking the B7039 & crossing Yarrow Water (it’s a river) to join the A708 past Newark Castle – only slightly less derelict than the other castles we’d past so far. Past St Mary’s Loch & Cappercleugh where we took the little road past the Megget reservoir, just past which there’s a mark on the map saying “Megget stone – ancient stone” – to be honest, most stones are, it’s nothing to shout about. Next we dropped down to the Talla reservior where the “Devil Sheep” are! But this year we were travelling the opposite way, so they weren't expecting us & weren't there!

After passing under the dam at the northern end of the reservoir, we join the A701 at Tweedsmuir & climbed up the Tweed valley until we went over the top at something called “The Devil’s Beeftub” & descend into the Annan valley. After a complex series of roundabouts over the A74(M), we took the B7076 which runs parallel with both the motorway and the railway, crossing both at intervals. At the far end of this roller-coaster was another junction complex at which we needed to find the A702, but only for a mile or so. Before Elvanfoot, we took the B7040 up the Elvan Valley to Leadhills & on along the B797 up to Wanlockhead “the highest village in Scotland”. by now we needed fuel & called into a VERY rural garage in Moniaive, which seemed to have a cold war relic, apparently it's a 1952 GAZ M20 from the USSR. The garage did offer toilet facilities, but after the first rogue returned looking a little green around the gills, we decided we weren't that urgent after all

The Mennock Pass was next on the itinerary, past the promising sounding “Beer Burn” & when we were almost at Mennock we headed south east on the A76 alongside the River Nith where we passed “Boghouse Burn” the Drumlanrig Roman Fort (& you thought they stopped at Hadrian’s Wall), also “Boggle Dyke Cottage”. Just before Thornhill we took the B732 keeping to the bank of the Nith. The next stop was the Kenbridge Hotel, by the Ken Bridge, over the Water of Ken. I had e-mailed in the weeks before the trip asking if they'd be open for coffee & had had an answer saying they would. But the door was locked. After a while a lady appeared & did indeed make us a drink while I went round taking a few pictures.

Then we were heading for the hotel along the B794 to pass through Haugh Of Urr (no really – that’s what the place is called), then the A711, trying not to be confused by “Kirkgunzeon Lane” – it’s a river, after that, we refuelled in Lockerbie making a couple of young cashiers very happy indeed & headed straight back to Ecclefechan.