|
| Eskdalemuir Tibetan Retreat |
A day of cycling through rolling moors with no towns and almost no traffic, crossing three passes higher than 1000 feet. These hills are not like the ones we encountered in Cornwall, where steep ups and downs alternated rapidly on narrow bumpy lanes. Here there are long steady ascents (and descents!), often over 5 miles long, on smooth open roads. So the work of climbing is repaid by an easy glide down. The weather was what we were now used to - a mixture of overcast skies, a few sunny patches, and a couple of heavy showers.
Immediately out of Langholm the road begins to climb, eventually reaching 800 feet after about 10 miles. A little further on, we stopped for an unusual morning break: chai and date flapjack at the Tibetan Retreat in Eskdalemuir. The Tibetan temple and prayer flags seemed somewhat incongruous in the middle of the Scottish moors, but I suppose this is the closest to Tibetan geography that is found in the UK. The rest and food were good, in any case. This was the only shop that we encountered all day until we reached our destination.
 |
| Robert Smail Printing Works |
After enjoying the moorish scenery and the fun cycling, by the time we reached Innerleithen it was rainy and cold, and we stopped for tea at the Corner House Hotel. The bad weather now looked set in for the rest of the day, so we decided to stop even though it was only 2pm. We stayed in a very large and pleasant corner room at the Corner House.
Robert Smail's Printing Works is an unusual and fascinating site run by the National Trust for Scotland (for which our Royal Oak cards work too). Unlike most National Trust properties which are stately homes that can seem rather sterile, Robert Smail's Printing Works is a Victorian printing works that is still fully functional, printing wedding invitations, calendars, etc. A docent enthusiastically explained how the printing works contained complete ledgers going all the way back detailing every printing job done - apparently a requirement by law at that time. The historical record is invaluable, and only beginning to be tapped. The tour included a visit to the typesetting room, with racks and racks of letters of all sizes that are assembled, by hand, into the page to be printed. To impress the tourist of the difficulty of this, we were encouraged to typeset our own names to make into a bookmark, using the hand operated mechanical presses still in operation. In the basement are more elaborate machines, of various ages up to the latest one about 50 years old. It was great fun, and informative, to visit!
We had a small dinner, since we had been snacking all day, of smoked haddock soup, chicken salad, and a cheese board at the Traquair Inn just down the street.
Mileage: 43.0 miles
Route and more pictures
Elevation
[Day-by-Day][Previous Day][Next Day]