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Travel StoriesCamping In Scotland 2006 - By Ren Withnell
Camping In Scotland 2006 - St Andrews to Langholm
Of course I’m awake again early. It’s almost becoming comfortingly familiar now, listen to the birds, sleep a little more and then get up. We decide to leave the campsite, it’s a shame because we were hoping to perhaps catch a bus into St Andrews and spend an afternoon looking around the town without helmets and jackets to carry. The weather is quite pleasant today, dry, warm and the sunshine is trying to clear the light cloud cover. By the time we are packed and ready to go putting on the bike gear makes us quite warm and it’s a relief to get moving.
We ride into St Andrews. Whilst we are here we may as well have at least a look around. I slowly ride round the town and take in the sights. The colleges that teach our future doctors and consultants are mostly out of town it seems, but some stone built buildings announce their educational credentials. Older stone ruins mix in here and there to hint at a long history and young students looking suitably scruffy walk between tourists and golfers alike.
I park the bike near a harbour wall and the gf takes a short walk up to the ruins of the castle whilst I rest a while and consult the maps. We are heading for a site in Jedburgh. It promises little other than the basic facilities but it is close to the town apparently. The map tells me to go over the Forth Bridge and follow the Edinburgh ring road to the A68. I’m quite looking forward to seeing the Forth Bridge. The gf returns and we depart St Andrews.
The ruins at St Andrews.
The roads lead us through more rolling hills and farmland. As we approach the Forth Bridge and Edinburgh, it becomes obvious we are getting close to a city. The traffic is slower and heavier, the towns are more cramped and grey and industrial estates mix with bland housing. Along a dual carriageway I catch the first glimpse of the Bridge. It is big, no doubt, but not as big as I seem to remember it when I saw it on a school trip some 25 years ago. None the less I still pull off the main roads and find a suitable place to take pictures after my crossing. It makes a nice rest, shame the rail bridge is partially covered in scaffolding.
The Forth Road Bridge. It's very big, but not as big as I seem to remember it.
The Forth Rail Bridge. Takes a bit of looking after apparently...
Back onto the roads and back out of Edinburgh and back into more rolling countryside. A short stop for a brew at a posh restaurant and then soon enough we are in Jedburgh. The campsite is easy to find on the main road. But it is not easy to swallow the price, £18 for the night. We are not members of the right club hence the high charges. The lady in reception kindly points us to another site out of town, but this one proves to be full of noisy kids, has few facilities and no-one manning the wooden reception shed. We decide to carry on towards Hawick.
As we ride to Hawick the scenery becomes more mountainous. Not like the highlands but we are in sheep country as opposed to arable land. The A7 takes us through Hawick but offers up no campsites. We stop at one but it just does not seem right, another sign takes us into a deserted and overgrown site that has not been in use for quite some time. As we carry on down the A7 towards Carlisle I begin to fear we may end up in a costly B and B. It’s getting late, about 6.30 by the watch strapped to my handlebars. We are approaching a town called Langholm and I’m ready to give up when I spot a campsite sign.
As I pull off the road I’m somewhat disappointed. A rickety old bridge covered in wooden planks rumbles loudly as we ride across and into what is obviously a local rugby club with a motley collection of caravans on a spare piece of ground next to the rugby pitch. As I roll up toward the clubhouse I spot a grey-haired chap walking towards me. I’m not sure this is where we want to stop and I consider dropping the clutch and riding quickly away. Courtesy stops me and I ask the chap “How much is a pitch for the night?” He tells me a pitch is £6, about one-tenth of what I would expect a B and B to cost! It also transpires it’s about 10 minutes walk into the town which has plenty of places to eat. Stuff it, I’m tired and this will do.
As we pitch the grey haired chap talks to us in his strong Scottish accent. We learn the site is used for some motorcycle rallies, the town of Langholm is nice and several other things of no relevance. He’s nice enough but is obviously bored. We also learn the toilets and showers are in a small block under the stands and need a code to get in. The toilets are very basic and uninviting, but spotlessly clean and perfectly functional. There is also a transport café just over the bridge, shops and pubs in town and everything we should need.
We take a walk into the town. It is really very nice, old stone cottages and shops nestled in a valley with a small pretty river running through it. In town we find a pub doing meals and order our supper. It is good to be sat comfortably here, sipping cola, eating good food and watching the TV on the wall. The only thing that spoils this is the local Rotary Club members, having finished their meeting, filling up the bar and talking noisily.
Langholm is a pretty town, and has everything we need tonight.
We leave filled with food and the gf wants to take a short walk. We climb a steep footpath for perhaps 500 yards and this gets us out of breath and our hearts racing. At the top there are more cottages and bungalows. As we walk back down the road 2 people we pass smile and say hello, and one chap talks briefly to us about our trip and the clement weather. As we walk away the gf notes how friendly people are here, how friendly people have been in all the small places we’ve been to. She’d like to live in a place where people say hello, not scurry past you in fear like the cities in which we live. This is a surprise, the gf herself admits she can be quite antisocial, especially with strangers.
Back at the site we make our visits to the basic toilets. I talk for a short while to a family from the Newcastle area and learn there was a rally here last weekend, the Goldwing Owners Club. They are sited here permanently because the site fees are very very cheap. We retire to our tent and talk about how what initially appeared to be the worst site on our trip, has turned out to be the one of the best.
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Bolton to Dumfries
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Dumfries to Fort William
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Mallaig And Strontian
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Fort William to St Andrews
Join the BAT team as the saunter across Scotland from Fort William to St Andrews.
Camping In Scotland 2006 - St Andrews to Langholm
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Langholm to Windermere
Camping In Scotland 2006 - Homeward Bound
Reader's Comments
john said :-
try a run up to findhorn ,up the a9,turn off at aviemore,stop off granton on spey,forres then findhorn,take a coastal run to fochabers,turn for rothes and the whisky trail.come back thru glenshee,braemar,balmoral estate,perth and yer back to the a9,nice trip over 5 days coming from bolton.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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Travel StoriesCamping In Scotland 2006 - By Ren Withnell