Maybe The Last Run Of The Year

[agrantg]

It was cold and wet last week in the Scottish borders, but the forecast was dry and sunny yesterday, so I decided to go for a little run to explore some back roads I haven't been on before. From home, I headed towards the A68, down to the Hawick turn off and turned left just before Denholm. This is a single track road, but the surface is good. Apparently, the Wild Woods Campsite at Ruberslaw is to be recommended, but I didn't check it out. I was heading towards Bonchester Bridge, but turned off before there and cut across the moors to the B6399, which is the Newcastleton to Hawick road. I turned left there and was heading towards the Whitrope Tunnel Sidings, a railway heritage place, when I spotted a huge viaduct on the right. This was the Shankland Viaduct and is a throwback to the old Edinburgh to Carlisle railway line which was closed by Doctor Beeching back in the sixties. I don't think I have ever ridden the B6399 north to south, so have never spotted this before. There is a small road and since it wasn't marked as private, I took a chance to go and have a look. I rode under the viaduct and the views of the viaduct and the surrounding countryside are impressive. At this point, I realised that I had left my wallet on the kitchen table, so the planned fuel stop at Hawick was binned, but I did opt for a very scenic run home, bypassing Hawick to go over the moors from Roberton to Ashkirk. This is a stunning single-track road, which I used during lockdown to get my shopping in Hawick. I was only out for a couple of hours, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.