Scotland - Route Development

This dramatic coastal route gives youglorious views of the Moray Firth. Asmuch of the route is on the line of the oldMoray Firth Coast Railway, you can takeadvantage of the lack of motor traffic toenjoy the spectacular coastline and thefishing villages which seem to clingprecariously to it. Keep an eye out fordolphins, which are often spotted on thisstretch of coast. If that isn’t enough, thisride gives you the ideal opportunity tojudge the rival merits of two seriouscontenders for the title of Scotland’s bestice cream-makers – the Ice Cream Cabinin West Church Street, Buckie, and the IceCream Shop in Seafield Street, Cullen.

Your ride begins in the fishing village ofPortgordon, founded at the end of theeighteenth century by the 4th Duke ofGordon, and you follow the old railwayand a short stretch of the A990 into the

fishing port of Buckie. The public library inthe town houses an important collection ofwatercolours by marine artist Peter Anson,and is well worth a visit. Anyone with aninterest in the history of the fishing industryin this area is also advised to visit theBuckie Drifter Maritime Heritage Centre.Once in Buckie, National Route 1 followsquiet roads through the town beforerejoining the route of the dismantledrailway. The next village along the route isFindochty, a characterful former fishingvillage around a harbour known asCrooked Haven. Here the route leaves theold railway again, returning to it afterfollowing minor roads through the village.Just beyond Portknockie, the wave-cutarch of Bow Fiddle Rock provides an idealroost for sea birds. This marks the turninto Cullen Bay, where the attractions ofthe sandy beach may tempt you off yourbike. You enter Cullen itself over a

dramatic viaduct. Seatown, a uniquecluster of about 200 fisherman’s cottages,is well worth exploring. And surely afterriding all this way, you owe it to yourself totest the wares of the Ice Cream Shop!

Because the railway line fell victim to theBeeching cuts, this ride is not easilyaccessible by public transport. Elginstation is just under 14 miles west ofPortgordon along National Route 1 (mainlyon-road); Keith station is just under 13miles south of Cullen along the busyB9018. You can get most of the way fromCullen to Keith with a slightly longer ridealong minor roads by continuing alongNational Route 1 to Fordyce and thenturning south, but this will leave you totackle about 4.5 miles of the A95.

Active Travel

Sustrans is promoting active travel innorth-east Edinburgh by combining routeinformation and health promotionmessages in a new leaflet ‘Get activegetting there', which has been distributedto 21,000 households. At the same time,new signs to shops, workplaces, parksand schools on the traffic-free pathnetwork in the area will help people to usethe paths more for everyday trips.

We are also developing walking to workthough our Active Commuting Project, inpartnership with Paths to Health andScotland's Health at Work. The projectaims to promote the Walk in to Work Outpack, an existing resource which wasevaluated as effective in increasing walkingto work, and to pilot the use ofpedometers as a motivational tool foractive commuting.

With NHS Health Scotland, we are aboutto publish new guidance for organisations.The aim is to help them produce activetravel directions to their premises forvisitors and staff, encouraging people towalk, cycle and use public transport.

Art & the Travelling Landscape

Artistic proposals are complete for the‘taking the sTrain’ art project for theDunfermline to Alloa railway path, but theproject is unlikely to start untilwell into 2006, subject to fundingapproval.

Rangers

We have received a grant from aCharitable Trust of £5,000 a year for atleast three years towards the Rangerprogramme in Scotland. A training daywas held in April for Rangers from all overScotland at Markinch, Fife.

Events

September’s ride in the Great Glen fromFort William to Inverness to celebrate10,000 miles of the National CycleNetwork will be reported in the springnewsletter.

Over the summer, Sustrans participated ina series of events in Edinburgh called 'Try

Cycling in Edinburgh' organised bySpokes, the local cycle campaign group.This included having stands at festivalsand leading local rides. Sustrans Scotlandwas also represented at the HighlandCycle Fest, Newhailes Fair, the HopetounSummer Fair and the Perth and KinrossSummer Festival of Cycling.

New director designate for Scotland

John Lauder, director designate forSustrans Scotland, joined us in July. Hewill spend some time working alongsideTony Grant, the outgoing director.

thehubAutumn 2005 Scotland

The route through Cullen

Portgordon to Cullen

The Route

National Route: 1Distance: 9.5 milesTerrain: undulating coastalcontours but no major climbs - a mix of traffic-free paths andminor roadsPublic transport: stations at Elginand Keith, but see belowOS maps: Explorer 424/5,Landranger 28/9 Tourist information: Elgin TIC -01343 542666Places to search for onSustrans website mapping:Portgordon, Cullen, Buckie

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News

www.sustrans.org.uk

Developments in Scotland

Sustrans16a Randolph Crescent

EdinburghEH3 7TT

Information line0845 113 00 65

info@sustrans.org.ukwww.sustrans.org.uk

Registerd Charity No. 326550Printed on environmentally friendly paper

The Salmon Run – one of the twonew maps in the Discover series forScotland covering National Route 77from Pitlochry to Dundee. The other

Discover map for Scotland in thisseries covers Campbeltown to Oban

on National Routes 73 and 78.