High In The Purple Heather

For the last two or three weeks while out & about Iv'e noticed when looking up into the Lammermuir Hills that the heather is out in full flower, so I thought I'd take a wee jaunt up into the Lammy's for a blast on the bike.
Always a great place to go for it's desolate beauty & great views looking down over the Lothian lowlands below.
So after readying my bike & gear I head for the purple covered hills.

It's been a wee while since Iv'e been up through Aikengall & Aikengall wind farm due to all the construction traffic travelling up & down the road for the next phase of wind turbine construction at Wester Dod but I thought I would give it a go anyway & see if I would get turned back.

No sooner had I left the tarmac road & onto the wind farm road which is just a hard packed aggregate surface, a tipper lorry passed me by, luckily the wind was blowing the stoor that the lorry was kicking up away from me, the cattle were not so fortunate though. 

It's quite a long & exposed climb up the hill so even a little wind feels a lot worse than it really is, but it's a good work out for the legs & lungs.
Another tipper lorry, two fuel lorries & a half dozen works vans all passed me by as I climbed up the hill, respecting that it's a work place I always pulled over & stopped while they pass me by & with mutual hand waves of acknowledgement all was well & no-one seemed to mind me cycling up here.

After reaching the top of the hill I have a little rat run that I use to get me back onto the small hill road.

After a few hundred yards along the road I soon turn off into the White Cleugh woods along a forestry fire road which takes me up then out onto the Crystal Rig wind farm.

I remember when a good majority of this landscape was pine forest, but now mostly all gone to create the wind farm.

Looking down onto Friardykes, a one time small sheep farm & now where the offices are for the wind farm along with a couple of left over relics the horse box & rail box van.
The shepherds house is looking a bit worse for wear now & it's only a matter of time before the roof caves in.

A nice enjoyable ride as I meandered along the road listening to the wind turbines mechanical parts creaking & groaning as they turned.

The hard packed road soon gave way onto a more difficult spongy grass right of way track along the Dunbar Common towards Deuchrie.

Quite hard going riding along here the ground up here really holds the water, but no-one ever said hard work was easy.

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In the thick of the beautiful Scottish purple heather in full bloom, the photo's really don't do the rich vivid colour the justice it deserves.

Dunbar down there through the late morning haze.

Before going at warp speed down over the Deuchrie Edge I like to stop & survey all that I can take in below, today spying a couple of combines cutting the last of the seasons wheat.

Before I went down the hill I checked the field I was wanting to go through for my friends the cows & from this vantage point I could see the coast was clear, so off I went as fast as I could down the slopes of Deuchrie Edge the downhill reward for the climb.

Cautiously making my way through the grass field keeping an eagle eye out for cows that were maybe hiding somewhere that I couldn't see from up the hill, but only sheep shared the field with me. I then went through a gate following a farm track with Deuchrie wood on the hill to my left & Rammer wood on the hill to my right watching buzzards soaring above as I rode along. I soon spotted my bovine nemesis up on the hill but I was safe in the knowledge that thy were in another field.

I love this custom built B-B-Q hut, probably used during the pheasant shoots.

Onwards along a little gamekeepers trail which ends at a gate to another livestock field. I would have to run the gauntlet through here as there are normally cows occupying this field which is a valley field weaving it's way between hills & cliffs, so you never know what's around the corner & believe me my heart was pumping harder than it does cycling up steep hills.

Looking for the tell tale signs of fresh cow dung dotted around the field of which I saw none, so my confidence grew the further I went that I was alone here in the field & safe passage was all mine !

Back onto a small hill road I head up hill for the Halls farm as I could hear the rumble of a combine working & sure enough there was not just one but two working the same field.

After watching the combines at work for a while I head off through the farmyard towards a short cut that I know of taking me to Woodhall Dean nature reserve.

No need for me to look at this sign twice, I'd rather go through a field with a bull than a field with cows & calves ! Luckily I wasn't going that way anyhow.

The early afternoon was turning out to be a real scorcher & the mealy smell in the atmosphere from the harvesting was making it feel like a proper summer.

Riding through Woodhall Dean which is always a pleasure & I was really hoping to see an adder on the pathway basking in the sun, but none to see today.

Nearly home now but I couldn't resist stopping to watch the farmer bailing up the straw, I always think that farming at this time of year is idyllic although it's a very busy time, but it must be great to be out in the middle of a golden field with the sun blazing down.

The last little bit is a road cycle back to my home base, soaking up the sights & smells of late summer along the way & that's hard to beat, soon the fields will be all ploughed up & sewn with next seasons crops, the wind & rain will be here bringing with it the biting cold winter & the cycle of life starts all over again.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the ride...
...until the next adventure, cheers for now.