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.

RogueRunners '25 - Day Three

 Route D – SWC300 Top Half

Day three & the first time we had to choose a route. Normally on the RogueRunners trips we look at the weather & select the route where the sun shines - or the rain is intermittent, but this morning there wasn't so much as a cloud forecast right across the region, so what to do? The only criteria that affected our choice was some of the cafes were not open Monday or Tuesday, this being a Sunday, it seemed wise to try one of those routes. In the end someone mentioned that they fancied seeing the seaside, so that's what decided it.

This trip took in the northern half of the new “South West Coast 300” route, it stuck to the route until Girvan when we had to head east to keep the mileage manageable in a day. We left Ecclefeckan going west on the B road parallel to the A74(M), this was a fast wide road & all the traffic was on the motorway - brilliant.

At Elvanfoot we picked up the Leadhills road, which is a wonderfully serpentine strip of tarmac, then south to Wanlockhead – which when I was writing the route had a note on google maps saying “highest village in Scotland”. When I was reviewing the route, the note said “One of the two highest villages in Scotland”, so presumably it’s sunk a bit?

We travelled through the Mennock Pass, over Beer Burn & met the A76, which was a bit frustrating, it's a long straight A road with a lot of lorries heading presumably for Stranrear, but they are restricted to 40mph & there was too much traffic coming the other way to get past. But when we got to the A77 & crossed the River Doon, where we turned aside to visit “The Coo Shed” for coffee. We carried on west, but bent round to the south because the land ran out out, so we ran parallel to the coast down - or possibly up - the “Electric Brea” a staple feature of “The One Show” type programmes in the ‘70s, it’s not electric, it’s not a local aberration in the earth’s gravitational field, it’s just an optical illusion that makes you think you’re going uphill when you’re going down & vise-versa.

Next, we didn't see Culzean Castle (pronounced Cullane) as it's too far from the road. Trump Turnberry just looked like a horribly corporate "resort" shipped in from somewhere else & just down the coast was Dipple & then Girvan, south of which the route moved away from the coast & starts winding along beside the River Cree.

Heading east again & just after Talnotry there was a “wild goat park”, for the sake of our upholstery, we didn't stop there! The A712 was possibly the best road all day, as we headed east back to the hotel, where we found that Brian had arrived. Now then, when we arrived the day before there had been a conversation on WhatsApp about the food & Brian - still in England at this stage - said he fancied the cheese & onion tart, so as we knew he would be arriving, we ordered it for him in the morning when we all ordered our tea. However - when Brian arrived, the good folk at the Ecclefeckan Hotel asked what he wanted for his evening meal & Brian by this time fancied something else. Oh how we laughed when both of Brian's meals arrived.

RogueRunners '25 - Day Two

On to day two then. We packed our bags & headed out of Snaith in a northerly direction, but we hadn't had breakfast, because I had arranged for us to call in at "The Motorist" where there was an Italian car day going on.

After a certain amount of confusion we got our pre-paid baps & wandered round the shop & then the parking area outside.

Our cars attracted some attention in spite of not being Italian in any way, there were some interesting things in the car park - & there were some supercars. Sorry, I just don't see the point in them.

As my girlfriend was getting out of her car she was pounced upon by someone saying he was building a formula 27 se7en with 350bhp. Good luck with that sir. Maybe don't take it out in the rain?

After an hour or so wandering we vacated our allocated parking area - to the relief of the man trying to get more supercars parked up on tarmac rather than grass. We were soon up on the moors with little traffic to impede our progress, we dropped into a town called Blubberhouses & up the other side of the valley & we drove (OK some of us did) into "MacKenzies Farm Shop & Cafe" which was closed.

Boarded up closed.

So off we went again & found refreshment in the very nice Toft Gate Barn farm shop. We called in here last year when it was LASHING WITH RAIN.

Today we had better weather, with views for miles. After a coffee & excellent cake we set off in the blazing sunshine for a fair distance before calling in for another culinary stop-over. This time in the Brymor Ice Cream Parlour, which was lovely, my girlfriend couldn't resist the Black Sheep Beer ice cream & gave very favourable reports. As I parked up a guy appeared, pointed at my car & said "what's this underneath then?" I was a little insulted by this, but when he walked off & got in a Ferrari I realised I'd missed the opportunity to ask him what bodykit he had on his MR2.

Refreshed (again) we headed off across some of the highest moorland in England, the weather was sublime, the roads were excellent & the traffic was sparse. After another hour or so we called into "The Nook" for a natural break & a coffee, we passed through Slaggyford, skirted Carlisle & arrived in Annan for the final fuel stop of the day. At this point I called the Ecclefeckan Hotel as the proprietor had asked if he could film us arriving for a facebook post & then just ten minutes later we rolled into the bustling metropolis that is Ecclefechan.

Having got the cars parked, unloaded & covered over, we repaired to the bar for beer, an excellent meal & then went upstairs to avoid the karaoke. Unfortunately this was easier for some of us than for others & Roger - who always seems to get the rough end of the hotel stick - had the room directly above. It seems the karaoke is something of a tradition (there's not a lot else to do in Ecclefeckan), but the hotelier had it canned by 11:15, so it wasn't too bad & Roger's sleep wasn't interrupted from then on.

RogueRunners '25 - Day One

 Off we go then.

As is often the case, everyone arrived at the breakfast stop more or less together. Everyone that is except Richard. A late mechanical problem unfortunately put him out of the tour, but I was able to cancel all the booking at no cost, so disappointing, but not costly.

We saw this early on the motorway, that's the back of a VW Caddy van made into a trailer for a Type 2

We headed north, but this year spent very little time on the A1 because we were only travelling about 100 miles to the first hotel at Snaith. Obviously those that had come up from the south coast had already done quite a few miles before breakfast. 

We stayed on minor roads, passing through a few villages & also Belvior Castle – it’s apparently pronounced “Beever”. Having skirted Newark & crossed the A1, we took the A1133 due north past Weecar & pulled into “The Courtyard Tearooms” coffee stop, where I was informed that the Stylus' brake lights weren't working. After that we had to cross a toll bridge, I had been rather shocked to discover that the toll was only 50p & had that princely sum in a pot ready, but obviously I couldn't reach it as I rolled up to the toll booth, so unclipped the harness, then dropped the two 20p & two 5p coins into my crotch. I managed to retrieve it & didn't feel the need to tell the lady in the booth where they had recently been. Then we took some quiet roads to the A620 at Welham.

Next there was an “unfortunately urban” bit as we cut through the midlands, but soon we were going through countryside again heading for the A1(M) & A162 after which we passed an impressively large sewage farm.

Next on the agenda was Birkin Fisheries tea room - which was closed. Somehow we had lost Mark in the Alpine, but he didn't seem to mind, we had messages saying he was looking for ice cream.

Eventually we arrived at the Downe Arms & it's very long, very thin car park, where I looked at the video from the front camera, only to find that it had recorded 5,500 still photos after the first coffee stop.

RogueRunners 25 - Was Was It Like?

 ....... It was quite quite brilliant.

We took two days to get to our base, two days to get back, leaving six days for touring.

It started with a disappointment though, one of our number had car trouble & set off a day late, but had the car fail & had to pull out. The rest of us met at our usual place - The Stamford Garden Centre for breakfast a little later as we were only going 100 miles north from that point, but those from the south coast had already done 130ish miles when they arrived.

The first hotel in Snaith - The Downe Arms - was nice, with each of us getting a self contained "out house" in the car park. We had a pleasant meal, sat around in the sunshine, watched a Michel Bolton look alike park his Porsche within 3ft of his table, then went off to bed. One slight shadow over the proceedings was a cock-up on the camera front meant that instead of front-facing video, I had five thousand, five hundred stills taken a few seconds apart.

On day two we left the hotel breakfastless & travelled a dozen or so miles to "The Motorist" where we had baps booked. By happenstance, it was "Italian Car Day", so there were a few interesting cars to look at. Once we'd eaten, drunk & looked, we headed north with the roads getting better all the time. We crossed the moors & called into the excellent Toft Barn cafe, where we stopped in the bucketing rain last year. This year it was bright sun & the moors around the place looked spectacular. 

Back on the move we called into Brymor ice cream parlour where one of us tried the beer flavoured ice cream.

Pretty much spot on time we rolled into Annan for the last refuel & called the hotel as the owner wanted to film our arrival. And so we arrived at The Ecclefechan Hotel & unloaded.

After a quick refresh & a drink in the bar, we had the first of many excellent meals & retired to bed.

Day 3 dawned bright & clear again, so after an excellent breakfast (choice of full English or full Scottish), we had to decide which route to do. Often we choose a route based on the weather, but today it was forecast to be good all over, so it came down to someone fancying going to the seaside.

So we did the route that was effectively the northern half of the new South West Coast 300. To begin with it was a little frustrating on the A road, but once we got to the coast it improved dramatically & the run back was very good indeed.

After another very good meal (with some beer) & a sleep we gathered for breakfast & the inevitable "what route today?" question. 

Again the weather forecast didn't help, so we went out towards Selkirk. More excellent weather, more excellent roads, including the road past the Meggit reservoir, which isn't fast, but it's entertaining & very very scenic. Equally there were some dire road surfaces over short distances, but we managed.

Day 5 - well into the routine now, the people at The Ecclefechan Hotel presented the menu in the morning as well as any "specials" & we selected ready for the evening. Today we did the southern half of the SWC300 - it was of necessity the longest route, so some chose to cut a bit - which was anticipated & built into the route.

At the extreme far end we stopped in Sandhead, where the lovely people in the Tigh Na Mara got very excited at the sudden arrival of a bunch of brightly coloured cars, as did the rest of the inhabitants & as we left, just about everyone in the village had their phones out.

Day 6 was a bit of a washout as my girlfriend's car refused to start due to a dead battery. So we had a quiet one & prepared the jump start pack ready for the following day. But everyone else did a route that went south to Hartside Pass & they returned extolling the roads which were of course "the best ever" (it's a Rogues tradition that the best routes are the ones someone misses).

On to day 7 & a route which took in the best "local" parts of many of the other routes, which was brilliant. Again the sun shone & we had another fantastic day's motoring. On this day we lost the Alpine who's driver headed north to pick up his wife & tour northern Scotland, but he was replaced by another Elise, who's owner lives in Scotland & came south to join in.

Day 8 & the final route, which was mostly in Cumbria & Northumberland. The roads were pretty epic, we did the wonderful Kielder road unimpeded by traffic, which is always good & even found a new place to stop. Then back to the hotel to have our final evening meal at the Ecclefechan & pack our bags.

Day 9 & we had to bid farewell to the the good people at the Ecclefechan Hotel. Our stay had been fantastic, it was in the perfect place, with good road connections to get us quickly into the areas we wanted to get to, a good car park with the cars away from public view, a comfy bar, nice rooms & excellent food. But it was time to head for the "Fox & Hounds" in Willingham-by-Stow - ish.

Two of the Rogues headed north to do more driving, one headed directly home. The rest of us took in Tan hill & several other EPIC roads, but the further south we went, the worse the roads got & if planning the same thing again I'd take to the A1 around Goole, but we had another good day & avoided the rain AGAIN.

So all in all one of the best Rogues trip ever. The bookings were complex, but all worked out well in the end. I shall write about each day in more detail, but for now - I'd like to have a sleep.

RogueRunners 25 - Prologue

It's that time of year again - ROAD TRIP! - It might not seem that exciting to someone who dreams of two weeks on the beach in Benidorm, but to the RogueRunners it's one of the highlights of the year.

The idea hatched some time ago when one of our number reported that a new named route had been invented in Scotland. After the success of the NC500 (North Coast - 500 miles), there was now a SWC300 (South West Coast - 300 miles), this was all the excuse I needed & I set to work, initially basing the routes around Dumfries, which begat the tour it's name - the Dummy Fries Tour, as you can see, we have another superb decal featuring a crash test dummy with fries.

However, these things don't always go to plan & I could find no suitable hotels in Dumfries (or at least none cheap enough) so we are based a few miles away in Ecclefechan - so the crash test Dummy gained an Ecclefechan tart - a local delicacy. The hotel I've found was bought recently by a couple who have been refurbishing it over the winter. He is a biker & car enthusiast, so it's boding well.

Also not in the plan was arriving at my girlfriend's house to find while removing a front wheel for a tyre change, that one of the bolts holding the near side cycle wing was missing altogether, another was completely unscrewed, leaving only one still holding the wing on the car 😱. There was some fevered re-working & I initially made it roadworthy with another bolt & a stack of washers, then after the delivery man had called - an M8 standoff with locktite & a spring washer which was a much better solution. when I have access to some proper tooling I shall wire-lock it all, but in the short term it will be frequently checked.

Meanwhile, back at RR25, I've split the SWC300 into two so we'll do most of that over two days & the rest of our time will be taken up with tours in the direction of Selkirk, Northumberland, Cumbria & the North York Moors, we take two days to get to what has inevitably become known as "EkkyFekky" & two days to get back, in previous years we might have done it in a day, but we've been doing this for 11 years now & we're not as young as we were.

So - will the weather hold? Will all the cars last? Will I remember to take everything this time? Will the hotel be finished? (it may be more like the traditional Benidorm holiday than we anticipated).

Check back over the next few days to find out.

All Change

 Yes I've had a re-decorate.

In true bloke style it's taken just 15 years to get around to it, but I felt it was time the Fury was laid to rest & the Stylus - representing my new life - took it's place. The photo was taken on the RogueRunners Devon trip recently by Brian. I cropped it a little & added the orange text. It only took me 1 1/2 hours to work out the Blogger settings!