Alan Castle - The Southern Upland Way

About the Author

Alan has trekked in over thirty countries within Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australasia, and for seventeen years led organised walking holidays in several European countries. A member of the British Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild, he has written more than a dozen walking guidebooks, several on long-distance mountain routes in France. His longer solo walks include a Grand Traverse of the European Alps between Nice and Vienna (1510 miles), the Pilgrims Trail from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela (960 miles) and a Coast-to-Coast across the French Pyrenees (540 miles). A Munroist and erstwhile National Secretary and Long Distance Path Information Officer of the Long Distance Walkers Association, Alan now lives at the foot of the Moffat Hills in Scotland, in the heart of the Southern Uplands.

Alans first encounter with the Southern Upland Way was in 1995, when he backpacked the full length of the trail. A decade later he repeated the complete route a second time, this time mainly using bed and breakfast and hotel accommodation, in order to research this guidebook. He has travelled extensively on foot in most areas of the Southern Uplands, having climbed all of the Donalds and most of the other hills above 500m in height, and traversed them from south to north in 2003 as part of his walk between Lands End and John oGroats.

Other guidebooks by Alan Castle for Cicerone:

Tour of the Queyras (French & Italian Alps) 1990 (new edition 2008)

The Robert Louis Stevenson Trail (Cvennes, France) 1992 (new edition 2007)

Walks In Volcano Country (Auvergne and Velay, France) 1992

Walking the French Gorges (Provence and the Ardche) 1993

The Brittany Coastal Path 1995

Walking in the Ardennes 1996

The River Rhine Trail 1999

Walking in Bedfordshire 2001

The John Muir Trail 2004

Alan also wrote the first and second editions of The Corsican High Level Route and A Pyrenean Trail (GR 10)

SCOTLANDS COAST TO COAST TRAIL

by
Alan Castle

2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY

www.cicerone.co.uk

First edition 2007

ISBN-13: 978-1-85284-409-7

Alan Castle 2007

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Photographs by the author.

This product includes mapping data licensed from Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of Her Majestys Stationery Office Crown copyright 2002. All rights reserved.

Licence number PU100012932

For my mother (1913 2002)

Where the pools are bright and deep,
Where the grey trout lies asleep,
Up the river and oer the lea,
Thats the way for Billy and me.

Where the blackbird sings the latest,
Where the hawthorn blooms the sweetest,
Where the nestlings chirp and flee,
Thats the way for Billy and me.

James Hogg (17701835)
The Ettrick Shepherd

Over the hill to Away!

Tom Pow, Galloway poet

I am particularly indebted to Andrew Case of southernuplandway.com for help with the accommodation logistics during my research along the Way, and to Richard Mearns, Dumfries & Galloway Council SUW Ranger, who provided much up-dated information on the route, especially on the various changes to the line of the SUW over recent years. I would also like to thank Mike Baker, Scottish Borders Council SUW Ranger, and Jude Allison of Dumfries & Galloway Tourist Board for information and support. Thanks go also to the various owners and staff of the hotels and bed and breakfast establishments who provided me with accommodation and meals, often at reduced prices, whilst I researched the Way, and in particular to the proprietors of the Plantings Inn, Castle Kennedy, the Butchach Bed & Breakfast, New Luce, House o Hill Hotel, Bargrennan, Blackaddie House Hotel, Sanquhar, the Garage Bed & Breakfast, Wanlockhead and the Camping and Caravanning Club. Finally, a thank you to the Stair Estates for help given during my visit to Castle Kennedy Gardens.

I am grateful, as always, to my wife, Beryl Castle, for all her advice, support and encouragement during the planning, research and writing of this guidebook.

Advice to Readers

Readers are advised that while every effort is taken by the authors to ensure the accuracy of this guidebook, changes can occur which may affect the contents. It is advisable to check locally on transport, accommodation, shops, and so on, but even rights of way can be altered.

The publisher would welcome notes of any such changes.

Front cover: Loch of the Lowes and St Marys Loch (Stage 8)

Southern Upland Way Summary of Stages

1 This distance is to/from a point on the SUW at grid reference NX192650 on a minor road ENE of New Luce. New Luce is an additional mile (1.6km) from here off-route of the SUW.

2 This distance is to/from Beattock on the SUW. Moffat is an additional 1.3 miles (2.1km) from Beattock off-route of the SUW.

3 This distance is to/from Traquair on the SUW. Innerleithen is an additional 1.3 miles (2.1km) from Traquair off-route of the SUW.

INTRODUCTION

THE SOUTHERN UPLAND WAY

The best long-distance walking trails have two characteristics that make them great: a succession of dramatic landscapes coupled with a broad selection of interesting places to visit along the way. The Southern Upland Way (SUW), Scotlands Coast to Coast Walk, scores highly on both. As the Way cuts across the grain of the country many different landscapes are unveiled, coastal cliffs, high moorland, rolling hills, remote mountains, forests, lochs, mountain streams, majestic rivers and sylvan valleys abounding in wildlife. The SUW passes through regions that are exceedingly rich in archaeological and historical associations, from prehistoric standing stones to monuments commemorating the Killing Times of the 17th-century Covenanters. There are formal gardens and stately homes to visit en route as well as some of the more elegant towns of Dumfries & Galloway and the Borders, such as Moffat and Melrose, the latter with its famous abbey so many places of interest to stimulate and delight the visitor. Long-distance walking is all about exploring new territory and at a pace where it can be fully savoured. The Southern Uplands of Scotland are probably the least visited area of Britain, and it is likely that most walkers who venture out from Portpatrick on the west coast will be discovering an area that for them was hitherto unknown: they will be pleasantly surprised. The SUW has it all! If you choose this trail for your annual walking holiday then you will certainly not be disappointed.