#40 Berwickshire - Glorious St Abb's and an impromptu dunking in the Langton Burn

The historic county of Berwickshire is something of an anomaly, a Scottish county with the town bearing it’s name not only in a different county but a different country!

For that reason Berwickshire bent my 92 county rules a little and for a few km’s the route bounced back and forth over the Anglo-Scottish border straggling the counties of Berwickshire and Northumberland so as to take in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed which gave the county it’s name and was the county town and administrative centre until 1482.

Berwickshire is currently holding a competition to design a county flag, this option depicts a bear in front of a Wych elm, playing on the name Ber’wick = “bear wych”

Berwickshire is not close to Birmingham but with 37 Scottish counties still to tackle it was definitely one of the easier to get to on a Friday night after work.

Having told Rocky my plan to drive up on a Friday evening, ride 100 miles on the Saturday and drive back on the same evening he played a blinder by offering to do the driving. Driving and riding wouldn’t have worried me but I didn’t need to be asked twice!

The Norham Bike Yard B&B was an absolute gem of a find on Booking.com although situated in Northumberland in the two-pub village of Norham it was just a bridge across the river Tweed away from the Scottish border and Berwickshire.

Arriving at 10:01pm the dimly lit and decorated bike on the side of the road was just visible enough for us to not go sailing by and we crept up the pitch dark farm track looking for a sign of life indicating where our stop for the night was.

The sign confirmed we were in the right place and as we parked up next to the well maintained, busy and characterful garden Jim the owner greeted us with “bit late aren’t you?” I replied “only a minute” initially a little put out that we had been pulled up on our tardiness for being just a minute late compared to the time I had indicated via Booking.com, then I caught sight of the glint in Jim’s eye and the straight face giving way to a mischievous little grin.

With a further welcome from Mary-Rose we were shown to our room and given the lowdown on all of the cycle friendly services the Norham Bike Yard offers. Tag line for the B&B is “for cyclists, by cyclists” the welcome Jim and Mary-Rose gave us, the facilities and services they offer, the immaculate cleanliness and the attention to detail with every nook and cranny offering a little touch of cycling interest, ranks this B&B number one out of all of the stops I’ve done on this challenge so far, just perfect.

Before retiring to bed Rock and I wandered into the village and had a quick pint in the Mason’s Arms. A traditional pub with fly fishing rods on the ceiling and a few locals sat at the bar and in cosy little alcoves looking all the world like this was home from home. Having plumped for a pint of the Hadrians Borders Brewery Tyneside Blonde Ale I still have a Berwickshire pint to discover but hey Northumberland is ticked off the craft beer challenge list.

If this short stop had been featured on Channel 4’s Four-in-a-bed game show it would have been 10’s across the board for almost everything from me including the superb breakfast that had everything a cyclist could want to fuel a day’s riding, including the overnight oats that other reviews extolled the virtues of, delicious. Unfortunately I could only give a 1 out of 10 for the sleep quality but I cannot fault the comfort of the bed or the serenity of the location for my broken sleep, just ask Rock why he woke to find me buried under the duvet a pillow and a cushion!

Would I go back – absolutely, this will be my base for a triple header long weekend taking in Northumberland, Roxburghshire and East Lothian in the not too distant future.

With the sun shining and storm Betty having rattled through during the night Rock decided to ride the first 25 mile loop heading out to Berwick-upon-Tweed and back criss-crossing the Scottish border along the way. Having told him it was essentially a flat route we had no sooner left the B&B and we were climbing up a fairly stiff little climb to Norham castle. Rather than stopping half-way up he left me to do the photo duties and waited around the corner once the climbing was over, he should know better by now what I mean by “essentially flat”!

The standing water on the roads betrayed the heavy rain we had slept through and at first with the wind behind us we hadn’t noticed just how strong the gusts were, however, as we changed direction and headed SE momentarily I commented to Rock that I would be cursing the wind later in the day.

We crossed the river Tweed and left England at the Union Chain Bridge near Horncliffe

The Union Chain Bridge was the longest wrought Iron suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1820 and the first of it’s type in the UK winning the battle with the Menai Suspension Bridge to open first despite being started later. It also still holds the crown of being the oldest vehicular bridge of this type to still be carrying traffic.

Virtually traffic free roads greeted us on the other side of the Tweed where we pedalled steadily towards Berwick-upon-Tweed passing nothing more than a few hamlets on the way.

The river crossings both rail and road, dominated the town, the town centre was simple to navigate on two wheels with no crowds but enough passers-by going about their Saturday morning business to add a little bit of energy to the scene.

We took our photos and headed inland to the Fouldens, a collection of tiny villages, Foulden Newton, Foulden East Newton, Foulden Deans etc. Turning south after the villages we crossed the Whiteadder River, where Rock nearly came a cropper. Flying round the steep hairpin approaching the bridge he held it well and stayed upright on the deteriorating road surface, but he was breathing just that little bit heavier when I got to him as he slowed to a halt.

The quiet lanes led us back to Norham where I left Rocky to grab a shower and to complete the checkout from the B&B whilst I crossed back over the Tweed and retraced steps back to the coast and onwards to Eyemouth where we would meet back up for lunch.

Eyemouth, with it’s harbour lined with fishing and leisure boats was one of those places that makes this 92 County Cycling Challenge such fun to tackle. Not somewhere I would plan a long weekend or holiday to, but when your there, sat in the sun outside the Waterfront café, watching fishing nets being repaired, tourists preparing for a RIB ride out into the North Sea and locals chatting alongside the quay it is impossible not to relax and realise just how many great places there are to be discovered on this little island of ours.

Refuelled thanks to a bacon, Brie and cranberry toastie and an extra coffee courtesy of Rock’s black americano arriving disguised as a cappuccino we made plans to meet further up the coast at St Abbs.

The wind and particularly the gusts were gaining strength and the crosswinds at times were bordering on hazardous with me yawing the bike into the wind to stay upright as the shelter from hedgerows was broken.

The viewpoint over St Abb’s with it’s bronze sculpture commemorating the lives of children lost at sea in an 1881 disaster was a wonderfully picturesque spot that gave me a bird’s eye view of the steep road down to the quay and with the wind blowing so strongly I could barely stand the bike up to take photos it confirmed that I really didn’t need to drop down to quayside. As I turned to head back up the hill and out towards St Abb’s head, Rock drove past and leaning out the window advised that the car had been rocking in the wind on the way down!

Briefly turning SE as I left St Abb’s the pummelling headwind and gradient had me grovelling up the road at single digit speeds contemplating just how hard the return leg of the ride would be. I met Rock further up the road sat in the car alongside locked gates leading on to the road to St Abb’s Head, he was unable to follow the route to the lighthouse as the road was closed to traffic, unfortunately for him this meant he missed out on the most spectacular scenery of the day.

Traffic free roads were a blessing as the seriously steep roads and powerful winds drew concerned glances from ramblers I passed as I struggled to keep the bike on the tarmac with every howling gust threatening to dislodge me. At one stage I decided to stop pedalling as I descended a fairly steep section directly into the headwind, I nearly came to a halt! Never have I pushed so so hard on the pedals to go 20km/h downhill!

St Abb’s head will be the lasting memory from this ride, traffic free roads and sublime views combined with really challenging riding, unforgettable.

The hard work was now in front of me, the next 60km would all be into a block headwind, thankfully midway in this section lay the town of Duns, it was here I had arranged to meet up again with Rock and thus my target slice of cake was only 30km’s away.

I truly earned the slice of ginger cake in the cafe at Duns, probably as well I did, as Rock paid a small fortune for it! Putting the bike on the rack at the rear of Rock’s car in the market square at Duns for security whilst we had a coffee, I unshipped the chain. A stranger exiting the shop opposite saw my oily toils and, without hesitation, delved into his shopping bag, pulled out some baby wipes opened the packet and handed me a couple. This challenge continually reaffirms my belief that there are far more good people than bad in this world.

Duns was the former county town of Berwickshire and was a wealthy border settlement in years gone by mainly thanks to it’s livestock market. The town’s castle was built around a 14th-century peel tower given by Robert the Bruce to Randolph, Earl of Moray. Twinned with Zagan, Wojtek the Soldier Bear was a gift from their Western Polish twin town.

A Syrian brown bear, Wojtek was rescued as a cub by soldiers from the Free Polish Army as they made their way through the Middle East.

The 6ft animal quickly became the platoon’s unlikely mascot, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer with the troops – and even helping the men carry live rounds during battle!

Just a couple of km’s after leaving Duns the Lanton Burn streamed across the road and I pulled up short of the cobbled ford to take stock of the water hazard. It was fairly shallow but fast flowing and the cobbles under the water had a worrying greeny-black shine to them. I made a quick call to Rock and asked whether he was far away. When he replied no just a mile or so away I warned him to prepare to backtrack to deliver dry clothes to me if I needed them. Now in hindsight if I was that concerned the sensible option would have been to check the route for an alternative avoiding the ford, but that would be dull and boring wouldn’t it! I took a few pedal strokes away from the ford, turned and headed straight for the section that looked the shallowest, no sooner had my two wheels entered the burn I was swept instantly downstream as my tyres delivered zero grip on the slimy cobbles against the fast flowing current aided by the crosswind. I splashed down, popped myself back up seemingly unhurt and as modern life priority demands I checked my iphone was still working ok before checking myself then giving the bike a once over. The only witness to this act of stupidity was a mildly amused pony who I like to think came over to check I was ok but probably came for a chuckle and on the off chance I had a spare apple!

Rock returned and in a matter of minutes I had changed into a dry base layer and jersey and was ready for 20 more km’s battling with the headwind before turning Northwest back towards Norham for what promised to be an easy, wind assisted, gently downhill last 30km.

Hulme Castle and the Hirsel estate were the standout landmarks in the final kilometres but conscious that Rock had a five and a half hour drive ahead of him I only fleetingly stopped at each to take a quick photo.

I had agreed with Rock that I would pull over before the planned route finish in Norham as soon as the 100 miles were completed to allow us to get away a little earlier as the tough conditions had put us behind the planned 5pm finish time and we were now looking at a midnight return home at best.

Rock had been snatching a cat nap in preparation for the long drive just outside Coldstream in the car park for the Coldstream business park which bizarrely appeared to be a car park attached only to a field! I told him I needed to squeeze in a couple more miles to complete the century. Five minutes later I was treating myself to a traditional Scottish recovery drink and we were on our way.

Fuelled by Irn Bru and jelly tots to fend off weariness the journey home proved uneventful and we pulled up just before midnight to complete a fantastic round trip in just under 32 hours.

Berwickshire had been a blast but also served notice that the remaining 36 Scottish counties would be logistically and financially challenging alongside the physical challenge posed by routes in the highlands and islands, no doubt accompanied by midges and the glorious Scottish climate along the way!

Thanks Rock – your definitely a support driver number 1 in the making!

Strava

The ride in numbers

162.79km Distance

Elevation Gain 1879m

8hrs 15 min moving time (19.7 km/h)

2 coffee stop

No punctures

6 categorised climbs

Note to self:

I got lucky with only minor injuries from my foolhardy ford crossing – not to be repeated!!