Saturday was an absolute cracker of a day, no wind, blue skies, nice & cool the perfect conditions, so I had in mind to head just over into the Scottish Borders to head for the idyllic little hamlet of Abbey St Bathans & then link up with a small section of the Dunbar Common moor to then finally join with the wind turbine / pylon maintenance road which takes me pretty much all the way home...
Just what I like at this time of year all the cow's off the fields & into their over wintering barns so I'm safe from them chasing me & cycling through their 'coo pats' or so I thought...
...top picture just my luck, cows still on the land so evasive action was required & jumping into a sheep field to avoid the chase !
Through the hamlet of Oldhamstocks to Ecclaw farm then up & up into the hills we go.
The worst of the hill done but more rollercoaster hills to come, a great workout for the legs.
Passing by loads of little hill farms along this route & this particular farm Nether Monynut was once the home of James Hutton the founder of geology.
The hill to the right on the bottom picture is where a geocache is located & I climbed up to the top of it to retrieve, the hill ironically is called the Laughing law & climbing up it was no laughing matter !
Beautiful scenery up this area with the hard & softwood trees, I could hear jay's & other birds in full song hidden amongst the trees.
Arriving in Abbey St Bathans crossing the bridge with the Whiteadder river running under it.
A popular resting place for Southern Upland Way walkers, I stopped here for a bit of dinner & then...
...to the sound of the Huntsman's horn & barking hounds I stumbled into a fox hunt. The rider with the red tunic on is the Master of the Hunt or Huntsman who leads the hunt. There must of been around 30 to 40 riders & god knows how many hounds. Whatever your view on fox hunting it was quite a sight to witness, the riders in their smart hunting clothes, the well groomed horses all the hounds barking with excitement, the droves of horses & the chilling sound of the Huntsmans horn. I also noticed how big an event it was with all the 4X4's with estate workers or gamekeepers parked up along the road which I'm not sure of their purpose but think that they were spotters looking across the valley to see if there were any foxes on the run ?
The Berwickshire Hunt.
The Berwickshire Hunt covers an area of almost 350 square miles of Berwickshire. The date of the establishment of the Berwickshire Hunt is not known, but is believed to be the oldest hunt in Scotland. The 1st Earl of Home maintained a pack of hounds in Berwickshire at his own expense until his death in 1619 and was succeeded by his sons. Records indicate it's full existence in 1740 with Mr Lumsdaine of Blanerne as the Master.
A nice place for a break off the bike, mesmerized watching the water.
Views along the way with the bottom picture a view of Cockburn Law.
Windshiel farm.
Amazing nature, came across this little pine sapling growing out of a fence post !
Towards Ellemford Bridge.
Ellemford Bridge & the river Whiteadder. My Mrs & I both love that cottage ruin it would make for a stunning place to live although I reckon that it could be on a possible flood plain.
Greylag geese having a wee peck in the grass.
Stopping off in Cranshaws for a look around it's amazing kirk which was first mentioned in 1275, possibly dedicated to St Ninian, the 1739 church was rebuilt in 1899 by architect George Fortune in the Romanesque Revival style. The church contains royal coat-of-arms of 1471-1500, installed opposite the pulpit by James VI (1566-1625) who once attended & the minister omitted prayers for the monarch.
A little empty holiday cottage with an odd little plaque mounted onto the side of it.
After passing by the Bothwell farm & now it's time to get off the tarmac & onto mountain bike terrain :-) to travel for a short section of the Dunbar Common which is a plateau & area of moorland within the north east of the Lammermuir Hills once used for community grazing.It's northern boundary is defined by the Lothian Edge & the Deuchrie Edge. The Common is crossed by the traditional route way of the Herring Road which I am planning on doing again this year taking in a nights camping, so watch this space .
The ruin of Caldercleugh, such a shame that a house like this is left to rot ! I would live here in a second, right in the middle of nowhere with just moorland, the Bothwell burn for company...Oh & wind turbines !
Natures beauty & man's beast.
A wee hop & a skip & it's onto the pylon road for an easy downhill ride back home.
Over the hill & I can now enjoy a high speed blast downhill pretty much all the way back home to Innerwick where a nice reward of a mug of coffee awaits.
A nice cycle today with plenty of leg work on the hills, a little more tarmac than I normally like to do but heyho it was still a great day out & about.
Thanks for looking & hope you enjoyed the post.
Bye for now.
The hill to the right on the bottom picture is where a geocache is located & I climbed up to the top of it to retrieve, the hill ironically is called the Laughing law & climbing up it was no laughing matter !
The Berwickshire Hunt.
The Berwickshire Hunt covers an area of almost 350 square miles of Berwickshire. The date of the establishment of the Berwickshire Hunt is not known, but is believed to be the oldest hunt in Scotland. The 1st Earl of Home maintained a pack of hounds in Berwickshire at his own expense until his death in 1619 and was succeeded by his sons. Records indicate it's full existence in 1740 with Mr Lumsdaine of Blanerne as the Master.
A nice cycle today with plenty of leg work on the hills, a little more tarmac than I normally like to do but heyho it was still a great day out & about.
Thanks for looking & hope you enjoyed the post.
Bye for now.
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