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| Long Meg under Black Cloud |
The drizzle at breakfast time stopped just in time for us to leave in the dry to climb 400 feet over Crosby Ravensworth Fell. After that it was down into the valley to follow a lovely smooth, wide and flat road following Lyvennet Beck, with few cars and blue patches of sky. We passed through sleepy villages with almost no-one around and had good views of the Pennine mountains. After Temple Sowerby, a mile on the nasty busy A66 reminded us how pleasant our back-road route was! A steep climb took us up to Culgaith, where we sheltered from a heavy shower under a tall tree, much to the distress of two yappy dogs in the house. When the rain had reduced to a drizzle we rode on to Langwathby, where we dried out in the Ostrich Center tea room - but didn't go to see the ostriches.
A friend who comes from these parts had suggested we visit the church of Edenhall, and a Druid stone circle nearby called Long Meg and Her Daughters. We had some trouble finding the church, since it wasn't in the center of the village as usual. Apparently the church used to be in the center of the village, but over the centuries the village has drifted away. Just when we were about to give up we noticed a small sign pointing out of the village to the church (along Church Road - we had missed that the first time!). The church dates from Saxon and Norman times and is quite small and charming, with interesting stained glass and brass (as in rubbings). We later learned that my friend's mother, who still lives in the village, had noticed us on our way through. We took a side road up the hill to Long Meg. As you can see from the picture, the stones were impressive under towering black clouds.
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| Brampton |
We bought lunch from the post office/general store in Kirkoswald, and ate it on a roadside pub table under spotty sun and cloud. A friendly man we chatted to while we waited for the store to open after the lunch break advised us to expect hills on the next part of the route to Croglin, then a flat road to Brampton: this turned out to be an accurate description. The weather was improving, but there were still quite strong north winds. There were great views of the distant Lake District.
We reached Brampton at about 4pm, and over tea decided to take the A6071 and then A7 to Langholm 20 miles away, rather than the CTC recommended side roads which looked much more hilly. This meant we could go faster and reach Scotland that day. The wind made the first stretch hard, but the sun was still bright and so it was not unpleasant. The A7 was boring - wide featureless roads are not fun for cycling - but it was now evening and the traffic was light, and it was fast cycling.
The Border House bed and breakfast in Langholm was especially welcoming - the proprietor understood just what touring cyclists might need (much to our delight, she offered to wash and dry our clothes overnight!). We had a nice dinner comprised of a collection of the delicious starters (goat cheese, squash and nuts, smoked salmon) at the Douglas Hotel she recommended to us. An excellent day all round!
Mileage: 68.5 miles
Route and more pictures
Elevation
(I forgot to save the last part of the GPS track, so the two points at the end of the elevation profile and route (Longton and Langholm) were put in by hand.)
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