Day 13: Castle Eden to High Leven (Yarm) : 27 miles, overcast, wet, cold

The main achievement for me today was getting the back wheel sorted - travelling less than 30 miles will simply mean I have more to do tomorrow in order to get to York. Hopefully the weather will improve a little as it was desperately dreary today. 
The street lights were still on in Blackhall Colliery on the Durham coast at 10.00 this morning as I travelled to an industrial estate alongside Peterlee. Unfortunately the bright lights and sounds of Strawberry Cycles here weren't able to help - they specialise in MTB (mountain bikes) with either much longer or shorter spokes than mine.
After limping down to Stockton on Tees, I eventually managed to get the bike back to normally with the input of Doug at Halfords; Doug was also a great source of knowledge on cycling in the North Yorkshire Moors. At least getting to Stockton enabled me to have a look at the Infinity Bridge that I saw win the Supreme Award at the Structural Awards (designed by Expedition Engineering - I love the graphics for the people on their website- led team) in the National History Museum last year.
On the positive side of things in Stockton the cycle routes were well marked and plentiful - it is a little unfortunate that the northern end of the bridge approach paths are incomplete and some of the light fittings are already corroding.

Infinity Bridge in Stockton-on-Tees opened 2009 and cost £15m to build. It is for pedestrian and cycling use. The bridge is a dual, tied arch bridge or bowstring bridge. It has a pair of continuous, differently-sized structural steel arches with suspended precast concrete decking and one asymmetrically placed river pier. The tapering arches are fabricated from weathering steel plate box sections. The arches both bifurcate within the spans to form a double rib over the river pier. A reflex piece between the two arches holds them together making the two arches one continuous curve. No other bridge is known to have quite the same design. 

From Wikipedia... There were more than 1,000 entries to the competition but this was slimmed down to a shortlist of five. The successful competition design was by Expedition Engineering and Spence Associates.

The subsequent design was led by Expedition Engineering assisted by Arup Materials, Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, Black and Veatch, Bridon, Cambridge University,Cleveland Bridge UK, Dorman Long Technology, Flint & Neill (checkers), Formfab, GCG, GERB, Imperial College, RWDI, Spence Associates, Speirs & Major, Stainton, and William Cook while White Young Green were project managers.

 Apparently the Old Mill B&B that I'm staying at tonight has a hot tub outside - I'm going to pass on that!

Day 9 : Aberdour to Tweedsmuir : 57 miles, overcast with 2 hours rain

This morning I set off a little later than I have previously - to see if the rain would ease off at all and was fortunate to have a short hour or so of heavy rain.

Stewart Fairley, Winchburgh

Overnight I had received some free advice, from my sister and niece, that I should be wearing a cycle helmet on this trip and also told of some examples of where people had suffered from not doing so. Although I have a helmet in Kent, I had decided I could do without. So it was a little to my surprise when, not ten hours later, Stewart Fairley approached me in  Inverkeithing High Street and told me his story about how he believes his helmet saved his life a few weeks ago. I was so struck by this that I did say that I would buy a helmet at the next cycle store I passed by. 'That's great' said Stewart, 'as there is one not 200 yards down the road.'  I am now the proud owner of a £30 helmet which I bought from that Sandy Wallace Cycles and very grateful to Stewart and others for getting me see some sense. Thank you.


Crossing the Firth of Forth was always going to have to mention the bridges. These, despite the dull weather, looked elegant and dramatic.

First view of the Forth rail and road bridges from the cycle route along the northern coastline near Dalgety Bay

Cycle path - maximum speed 15 mph! - along the western side of the Forth road bridge; the bridge construction started in September 1958 and it opened in September 1964. It is 2,512m long and carries circa 32,000 vehicles daily (2004).

The actual cycle route is presently only on the western side of the road bridge (thank you Stewart again) and after a short steep section affords good views up to the estuary to the west towards amongst other place Longannet coal fired power station. This was the largest coal fired station in Europe when it was fully operational and it began generating in 1970  and is now capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in Scotland. and is now the third largest, after Bełchatów in Poland and Drax in England. The reason I have written about it is because ScottishPower, and others, are seeking to prove Carbon Capture and Storage technology at this site supported by the UK government by 2014. 


Looking the other way the Forth Bridge can be seen - still being painted!

The Forth Bridge, opened on 4 March 1890, was until 1917, when the Quebec Bridge was completed, the longest cantilever bridge in the world; the Forth Bridge remains the second longest. The bridge was built in steel alone, the first bridge in Britain to use that material. It was the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel. Its contemporary, the Eiffel Tower was built of wrought iron. Construction started in 1883 and over 4,500 people were employed at the peak; over 450 workers were injured and 98 lost their lives.

There is a great cycle route (NCN1) that goes into the heart of Edinburgh following along the coast. I followed this as far as the A902. From there I decided to follow the signed green 'RR' route which guides cyclists around the city to the eastwards exiting on the Biggar Road (A702). This route took me within a mile of Rosslyn Chapel that was a major feature in the last part of Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code.
Further up the road, I joined the upper tweed valley after Broughton just short of my final destination. I was very happy to arrive, somewhat cold, at 18.30. A fairly long ride for only 57 miles I feel.

The Tweed valley upstream from Broughton. The temporary railway used in the  construction of Megget and Talla dams can be seen in the foreground at the base of the A701 embankment.

I have written about this previously.

Day 8 : Pitlochry to nr Aberdour : 60 miles, heavy rain and overcast

Another very wet day, I have to confess that I didn't stop very much, nor did I look at much of the countryside around me as I followed the River Tummel and then the Tay, after their confluence at Balmacneil, down towards Perth. Arriving at my destination at 17.30 meant I was averaging only circa 8mph; this perhaps reflected the fairly steep climbs in central and southern Fife and my general tiredness.

Angus Anderson Fulton

Pitlochry is a lovely little town and has many attractions including a repertory in the form of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. My favourite though, from my childhood, is the hydro dam and fish ladder. I recall my maternal grandfather, Angus Fulton, being particularly proud of the design and solution for this last link in Tummel Valley hydro scheme and its associated fish ladder.  
Angus Anderson Fulton (1900-1983) was the General Manager of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board and actively involved in most of the hydro schemes in Scotland. He was the 105th President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1969-70).

The Pitlochry dam with fish ladder in foreground. The 310m long fish ladder was constructed as a result of a 1943 Act of Parliament which laid a duty of care on the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to preserve fish stocks in the waterways encompassing its power schemes. The fish ladder consists of 34 separate pools, each 1.6 feet (50 cm) higher than the last and covering a distance of 339 yards (310 m).[2] Each pool has a 3.3 feet (1 m) opening below the water level to allow the fish to pass to the next pool; a continuous flow of water maintains the water level in the pools. The power rating of this station is only 15MW but it is part of the wider scheme from Loch Ericht, Garry and Rannoch.

To cross over from the main town to the dam and festival site by foot or bicycle there is an beautiful nearly 100 year old suspension bridge. 

The Clunie suspension footbridge was built at a cost of £850; was funded by public subscription as well as a grant of £250 from the council of the day. It opened on Empire Day, 1913 and can be extremely wobbly. It was a very wet day when I walked over this.

 Although I did get a glimpse of the sun I saw it some way off streaming through the clouds.

Loch Leven with a glimpse of sunshine through the clouds!

Day 5 : Lairg to Inverness : 67 miles, overcast heavy drizzle cold

A largely gentile downhill trek today but the temperature certainly dropped a fair bit as I could see my breath in the early afternoon. 

The early part of my route followed along the Shin and railway line; comes from Inverness to Lairg and onwards to Thurso. 

Footpath and cyle access alongside Oykell Viaduct at Invershin (1867 by the Sutherland Railway Company) over Kyle of Sutherland - the slippery metal steps at the far end were not much fun carrying a 37kg loaded bicycle up!

Having having joined and followed the southern edge of Dornoch Firth I came to Tain - the A9(T) was fairly busy at this point but there was an alternative route over the top, called the Sturie (B9176) and just below peak of Beinn Tharsuinn, which apparently involves very steep climbs but the views are good from the top. Given that the cloud level was low I decided to give that a miss but may try it if I come back this way. 

Tain, which is near to the Glenmorangie Distillery, viewed towards Tollbooth which was built in 1730.
Tain is Scotland's oldest royal burgh; granted charter status in 1066 and burgh status in 1457. It felt to me somewhat hemmed in by its A9 bypass but I expect people generally are glad that traffic no longer passes through the burgh centre.

There is then normally an option of a summer route  that uses the Nigg-Cromarty ferry, the normal summer service in each direction is every 15 minutes. - unfortunately due to there being no ferry at present this was not an option for me. My personal thanks to Mik Malster (an amazingly hard-core cycle adventurer in the UK and overseas and frequenter of the Goddard Arms in Clyffe Pypard) who I met at Tongue SYHA for letting me know that there ferry was probably not operating and to check first! 
A new Cromarty Queen ferry is being delivered this month but alas too late for me to use - it was  originally expected to in use May 2010. However, the concept of a turntable to enable four cars to go in and out the same is quite neat. The new vessel replaces the Cromarty Rose which only took 2 cars. 

Innovative small ferry for Cromarty Firth

maritimejournal.com

Southampton Marine Services Ltd (SMS) has completed ‘Cromarty Queen’, a new small car and passenger ferry for Scotland’s Cromarty Ferry Company Ltd

I then chose to travel along the northern shore of the Cromarty Firth via Invergordon - a relatively quiet route with a good view of the Firth.

The Isleburn  facility of Global Energy Group who recently completed the gravity base structure and system assembly for currently the world largely tidal flow turbine, the AK1000™. The Atlantis Resources Corporation's AK1000™ was successfully installed on the seabed in August 2010. The nacelle was fabricated by Soil Marine Dynamics in Newcastle.

As I approached Inverness there were more dedicated traffic rides. These must be great for commuters and in fact I passed by several fairly contented looking people using them in the by now heavy drizzle.

Kessock Bridge across the Beauly Firth at Inverness (the football stadium lies behind bridge and the cycle route follows water around to right into the heart of Inverness). Started to 1976 the bridge was completed in 1982. The completion of this bridge and also those providing links across the Cromarty and Dornoch have transformed road transport in the Highlands. It has also proved a key factor in the growth of the city of Inverness. (WIkipedia).

Personally, I found Inverness a very pleasant place to cycle into and it clearly has done a great deal to improve the main thoroughfares to be pedestrian friendly.

Day 4 : Tongue to Lairg : 40 miles, still with sunny intervals

A brilliant day - what a difference 12 hours can make. Calm enough for the midges to fly and dry.

Above Tongue looking down on the Kyle of Tongue

A kind local guy, who helps take care of abused animals in a local croft (has 35 at present), offered to take this and wanted to make sure Tongue Post Office was visible in the picture.

Enjoyed a pint at the the Crask Inn after a 27 miles of mainly climbing and is great as it very close to the summit from north and south.

The sheer value and utility of bridges for opening up and enabling access can be so visibly seen on the largely single track A836. 

Now replaced by two lane bridge but most of the bridges are still single track. 

Down the road at Lairg, little Loch Shin is in front of Loch Shin hydro station (32MW - enough for 4,900 households which consume 3,300 kWh/annum) in background. According to Scottish and Southern Energy, the water level in Loch Shin was raised about 11 metres by the construction of Lairg Dam and Power Station. This concrete and embankment dam, which is 427 metres long and 12 metres high, was built where the natural loch narrowed

Day 3 : Kirkwall to Tongue : 75 miles, strong north-westerly gale

That wind was still going strong when I got up at 05.30, saddled my bags and put on the lights.
Whilst I received benefit during my 15 mile 'sprint' to catch the Pentland Ferries's 08.00 crossing (need to be there by 07.30) from St Margaret's Hope to Gill's Bay (5 miles west of John O'Groats), it really made the rest of the 60 miles extremely difficult and cold. In fact the joy of getting to the top of many arduous summits battling against the wind was eliminated by the fact that I needed to cycle hard down hill to get anywhere.
Selected engineering highlights of the day for me were:
1. Churchill Barriers

Churchill barriers 1942-45; the roads were diverted to link to the barriers, which were located at the shortest distance between the islands. Presumably these were built to secure Scapa Flow following the early loss of 833 lives on HMS Royal Oak - poignantly commemorated in Kirkwall's Magnus Cathedral I noticed the day before.

Castlehill Harbour - a home of export of sandstone flagstone

2.       Castlehill harbour adjacent to Castletown

The 19th century saw boom years for Caithness as a source of flagstone. Much of the stone was processed in the harbour area of the village of Castletown, and many of the streets of London, Sydney, Edinburgh & the financial district of New York City are paved with it. The harbour was built by James Bremner.

3. Dounreay

Home to the UK's research and development into fast breeder reactor technology, materials etc.
Not a lot to see here except the scale of the place is significantly greater than I had expected. 
I hadn't recognised before there is also a MoD Royal Navy Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE) - it looks like is still very much operational.  

Information sources - Panel of Historical Engineering Works (PHEW)

These books, from a series that covers the whole of the British Isles, are an invaluable source of useful and informative information. 'The visionary projects that created opportunities for trade and wealth creation' mainly over 30 years old are recorded.