Biggar to Broughton

Location: South Lanarkshire

Map: OS Landranger 72

Distance: 12 miles (19km)

Time: 1.5 hours

Terrain: flat, undulating; grassy track, minor roads

THE attractive market town of Biggar marks the start of this short but entertaining cycle. It is also where the excellent Tweed Cycle Way – a 95-mile (153km) on-road route – begins.

Turn down John Street by the Corn Exchange building, keeping straight to enter a park. Follow the path along to see two bridges by a golf course. Cross the second bridge to join an old railway path and go left.

This grassy track follows the course of the Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway. It doesn’t offer the speediest route between the old Biggar and Broughton stations any more but it does give you a nice perspective, running parallel to the Biggar Water. Pedal on to arrive at the back of the Broughton Ales brewery. Detour left to see the village of Broughton, a quiet place with a ruined church dedicated to the seventh-century bishop and hermit St Llolan, who had a cell here.

Turn right at the A701 and first right, signed for Hartree. From here the return follows the Tweed Cycle Way back to Biggar. The route is indicated with a blue cycle sign and a circled T.

This section might whet your appetite to cycle it all the way to the finish in Berwick-upon-Tweed. A good option for a two-day ride is to start from Carstairs train station.