Our recent trip over the Lammermuirs reminded us just how much fun it is to get away from the main roads and explore the quieter tracks running through the countryside. For today’s ride, we decided to investigate a couple of tracks running in and around Lamancha.
On a bright and sunny but cold morning, we set off heading west past Gladhouse and Portmore reservoirs and went south on the A703 for a mile or two before turning right onto the first minor road. A steepish climb that followed took us past Shiplaw Farm, where we paused to look at an old water wheel on the side of the building, Somehow, we’d managed to miss that on all the previous times we’ve gone past. I suppose it’s because we are normally going in the other direction and whizz past going downhill!
Disused waterwheel or just decoration?
Soon after that, we arrived at a crossroads, with the “main” road going right, and another, signposted “Old Post Road to Eddleston”, going left. However, we headed straight on, ignoring the “No Through Road” sign…
First thing to see is a domed observatory, sited close to a house on the right. It’s a fantastic location for astronomy, with no lamp posts for miles around to spoil the darkness at night time. Moving on, we passed a quaint green wooden shack on our right before the road became a rough(ish) forestry track. Predicatably perhaps, this took us into an area of forestry, the Cloich Forest to be precise, which is situated in the Cloich Hills.
After maybe half a mile, we were presented with a choice of roads at a junction. Having seen this on the map, I was ready to take the middle of three options, but I could only see two at first. The pond that lay between them was, on closer inspection, the start of the middle way. Colette and I managed to edge our way past the large section of flooded road then got back on our bikes to carry on. I was slightly concerned that there could well be more of the same lying in wait further on!
One of today’s water hazards
A few hundred yards further however, we came to a gate allowing access to a fenced-off area of forest called Grassfield. The track beyond was of good quality, taking us initially through trees, before coming to an area that had been clear felled. It looked devastated as if nobody cared about what happened to the land after felling the trees. Of course that surely can’t be the case, and I suppose that the mess of stumps and tangle of broken branches that currently blight the landscape will eventually rot away to nothing as newly planted trees grow through and engulf the remains of the old forest in their damp shadows.
Beside the road we also found many hides, presumably for deer shooting. Luckily there were no hunters around this time to chase us off the land. The road continued reasonably gently to a high point, from which it descended quite rapidly, particularly as we approached the gate across the end of the road. I was glad that I’d given Colette’s bike some new brake blocks!
The forest road came to an end at Noblehouse farm on the A701. We turned right onto the main road and cycled past Whitmuir and onwards until we reached Lamancha. There, we paused for tea and scones at Lamancha Hub (for reference, this place is only open Wed-Sat; 10am – 2pm). My fruit scone was lovely and gone all too soon. We then realised it was nearly lunch time and that we should maybe have opted for soup and a sandwich instead. Next time maybe, at least we were fuelled up sufficiently for the next bit of off-roading…
From looking at the map prior to the ride, I knew that we were heading for an outdoor activities place called Don Coyote. What I didn’t realise was the steepness of the road taking us there. It was about 15% gradient and a hard-packed stone / gravel surface. I actually enjoyed the challenge, though I went up at a nice slow pace. Colette chose to push her (heavier) bike up instead. It was a surprisingly long way up, but we were rewarded with some lovely views to the west and east.
Heading east after Don Coyote
From the top, it was downwards in the direction of the Don Coyote place. This turned out to be a large building surrounded by 4WD type vehicles, so I presumed it was an adventure off-road driving sort of place (but actually it’s a shooting range; I just looked it up). We passed through and onto a track that doesn’t appear on some maps but most certainly was there, and took us all the way back to the three road junction that we had first come to an hour or two earlier. Well, it was actually a 4 road junction if you include the one we had arrived on originally. We got onto that same road and headed back in the direction of the observatory.
However, before we got there we paused at a side track, which was signposted “Cloich Forest Loop” (or something similar). There was still time for a bit more exploring, so we started off up that road to find out where it went. We presumed that being a loop, it would bring us back to where we started.
The road into Cloich forest looked like it just kept on and on…
After a mile or two with no sign of the road looping off either to the left or the right, we began to wonder how long this so-called loop was going to be. Clearly longer than just a mile or two. So we decided to play safe and turned around to head for home where an overdue lunch awaited us. I have since investigated and we were wise to give it a miss: it would have taken far too long. So that is something to explore next time…
Great blog – reading it, we can imagine the fun that must have been had. Sounds like a really interesting trip. Hopefully Mum sees these postings: she’d be fascinated to read all of this detail. Perhaps when we’re back we’ll tag along. Though not sure we could keep up!
Hugs,
Justin and Colin xx
Thanks guys, would be great if you could come along some time, we’d love it!!
Alan