Scotland - Chatelherault Country Park

-

 Vicky had agreed to an extra, early, shift due to lack of volunteers ( here I am!) so poor Ian got up extra early to take her to the station. I had decided unilaterally that driving was much more trouble. After a nice breakfast of porridge we decided on a bike ride down National Cycle Route 74. If you keep straight on, NCR 74 takes you all the way to Gretna, but we decided on the short hop to Chatelherault country park. Alex had done his run to here yesterday and pronounced it lovely. Eventually, after much faffing, we departed the site and headed to the lake. Passing by the Roman Fort (site of) ((still no sight of)) we exited the park at the bottom and crossed the Clyde. Now we were on NCR 74 alongside the M74. Not nice, you may think. You would think wrong. It was a lovely ride through trees, even when the M74 met another big road. Here we split from the Clyde to join the Avon (not that one, or that one, the Scottish one). We passed a large group of ramblers coming the other way before coming to a lovely cobbled bridge where a large sign said ‘cyclists dismount’ which we duly did. Team Norway did not, and came across about 100mph. 




Lovely bridge




Here we entered chatelherault country park. Alex was right, it’s lovely. We passed a big mansion, which turned out to be the visitor centre and cafe, before taking a ride around a wooded gorge. We decided to drop down by the river about half way along, but there were loads of steps to negotiate. Ian rode down them all then came back and pushed my bike down.


Cycling down steps



By the River Avon


Back at the cafe we enjoyed coffee in beautiful cups and macaroons, before returning the same way to prepare for the velodrome. 



Nice coffee


Alex had gone into The city again to watch the cycling, this time from the famous Montrose street, a fiendish climb. Ian and I parked the car at Blantyre and took the train a few stops to Dalmarnock. The velodrome is about 15mins walk from here. Once through the bag searches we found Vicky and Alex esconced on the front row. Brilliant


Front row in the parents section

We had a amazing night. Being on the front row is great. Track cycling live is great. Turns out that we were sat next to the parents of Lotte Kopecki, who won a race and who is one of the worlds top cyclists. They were going wild. We were also in front of the parents of a Belgian who won, and the family of a Dutch man who won the Madison. We were in parents corner! 


Preparing for the Madison 


Us watching them



World championship cycling


He won!


Afterwards we walked back to the station to see a huge queue. ‘Glasgow, join the superqueue, Motherwell, go straight to the platform and join your train’ yelled a policeman outside. Go Motherwell! 

As we rolled back into the campsite we noticed a huge lake. Apparently a sewer had ruptured spewing its contents all over the road. Luckily it hadn’t reached Dame Shirley or Vicky and Alex’s tent. There were people all over stood watching, and kids running and shrieking. We batoned down the hatches and went to bed.


OS Watch


Neighbour watch

We were not over impressed by the small and medium children, fuelled by the excitement of the sewage spill, running and screaming till midnight. 

Comments

  1. Heather9 August 2023 at 06:39

    What a busy and exciting day. Thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David9 August 2023 at 06:40

    You can see the Roman Bathhouse on satellite view, but no sign of Fort. Looks a lovely cycle ride. Thank heavens the sewage didn’t reach Vicky’s tent!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carsington Water - Saint Monty

-
Image
 If you recall, we closed the door on Monty’s confused face and went off to bed. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock soon after and it was 8am! I had heard nothing during the night or early morning. No children, no birds, no Ian going to the loo, and most importantly no Monty. Ian got up to make coffee, and there he was, his lovely confused face looking back at us. Ian fed him and took him out while I made coffee and battened down the hatches in the bedroom. I had fetched a big blankie to cover the bed so he could jump up. But sadly (happily in Ian’s eyes) he cannot manoeuvre enough to leap up. So there he lay at the bottom of the bed just being good. After a lovely long pfaff I made the first day Full English, Monty didn’t even get under my feet (much). Full English We then pfaffed a bit more before setting off on another walk, this time to the visitor centre down the other end of the lake. The weather was a bit cool for the hot spell, so I dithered about what to wear, finall...
Read more

Baltic Wharf - The Run

-
Image
 No more car alarms in the night but I did manage to knock over my water. Only my magazine got wet though. My turn for Misty so I fed her and put the kettle on before we walked over to the dog postage stamp. As it’s near the gate I was able to see that there were already stewards and cones I place. The run will go right past the site on the opposite side to the wharf. No exit or entry here till 3pm. Chris and Ian were in full race mode from moment one. All stretching and porridge. Tape, bandages, gel and sun cream were all applied with vigour. There was more stretching and lots of trips to the loo, until about 10am they were ready to depart.  Good luck boys They would be meeting Vicky at the start, if she is real and not mythical. Chris,  being quick, would be in the first wave. Vicky and Ian, being slow, in the last. This has been a real bone of contention as Ian feels he must have put down the wrong expected time and should be in wave one too! Not that Chris has been ma...
Read more

Abbey Wood - A New year in Dame Shirl

-
Image
 Sadly for us, it was early April before Dame Shirley saw her first outing. Happily for us, the reason was our Ruby wedding cruise. Over the winter Ian had prepared a new shelf to go by the sink. It looks very nice. The heating had  broken, but Ian was able to mend it with the help of Olaf on utube. And Chris had got me a lovely new light for Christmas. Gorgeous new shelf The reason for the trip to London was that Ian was running the London Landmarks Half Marathon in aid of Alzheimer’s Research, and also to check out The Caravan and Motorhome Club Abbey Wood site. This is the nearest site to central London and very popular. Ready to run Although we were all locked and loaded, our plan to leave around eleven was scuppered because Ian had to take his mum to the doctor. She had a chest infection and, he reported, was in a prickly mood. Still, with her all treated and settled back home, we were able to leave around midday.  It was great to be out on the road again. It was red...
Read more