It was a cool grey day today, but the only one this week forecast to be dry, so I had to take advantage and get out on the bike this afternoon. Across to Dalbeattie, up to Haugh of Urr, and northwards to Corsock, turning westwards on to the A712.
A few miles further along, I passed a moody-looking Clatteringshaws Loch.
A bit further still, I spotted an interesting looking side road which I had never noticed before, although I must have passed it hundreds of times.
However, it got steadily tighter, narrower and worse-surfaced, so I decided to explore it properly another day on my Guzzi V50, which is smaller and lighter than the Triumph.
At Newton Stewart, I turned eastwards on to the A75 as far as Creetown. Opposite the former Ellangowan Hotel, which was filmed as the Green Man pub in The Wickerman, I found the obscure turning for the Corse of Slakes road, which was my main goal for the day. A VERY minor road, it can be found on large-scale maps. In my copy of John Mactaggartâs wonderful Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopaedia, published in 1824, he says âIn Galloway there are no roads so wild as the one which leads over the celebrated pass of the above name, between Cairnsmoor and Cairnhattie; it is a perfect Alpine passâŚâ
From Creetown, the single track Corse of Slakes road climbs and climbs for miles, eventually levelling out at the top on Glenquicken Moor, a most desolate place where you most certainly wouldnât want to break down. (I didnât see a single other vehicle.)
You almost feel a sense of relief when the road eventually begins to drop down again and the moorland starts to give way to pasture.
Eventually it leads down to the sea at Skyreburn, where I rejoined the A75 and headed home via Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. 110 miles in total, and certainly a visit to a place where few people ever go, or have heard of.
