Angus – Rowan's Recommended Riding Routes

Redford to Lunan Bay

Route out – Redford to Leysmill to Braehead of Lunan to Lunan Bay. For route map click here.

Route back – Lunan Bay to Inverkeilor to Letham Grange to St Vigeans to Woodville to Guynd to Redford. For route map click here.

See route on Strava here.

Weather – mainly bright and warm with sunny intervals but 1 horrible heavy shower just before we finished the route.
Bike type – road bike
Distance travelled – 29.2 miles
Riding time – 2 hours 2 minutes
Maximum speed – 31.1 mph
Average speed – 14.4 mph
Height climbed – 1257 feet

Annoyingly, I had to go back to school this week after the summer holidays. The school holidays are far too short I think. Never mind, it will soon be Christmas… Anyway, a few weeks ago we went to stay with my Granny and Granda for a few days and we took our bikes with us, hoping that there would be at least one decent day to go cycling and luckily there was…

We left Granny’s house in the village of Redford in Angus just after breakfast on a sunny Saturday morning. First we headed north along the B961 road for a mile or 2. This is a fairly quiet road with a nice surface for cycling on. It’s also downhill for a long straight section, and we flew past farms and fields with the Grampian hills far away in the distance. We also passed by a self-service potato shop/shed thing called the Spud Hut along the way. We didn’t stop to buy any tatties though… Soon we came to a crossroads and turned right on to a quiet narrow road, passing more farms and the no.36 bus, crossing over the busy A933 road before coming to the village of Leysmill. After Leysmill, it was mostly a flat ride for a mile or so to the Chapelton crossroads. Here we turned left onto the B965 for a short distance but instead of following this road into Friockheim, we went straight on up a short hill, over a bridge to the other side of the Lunan Water and then turned right onto another very narrow and deserted back road which took us right past Boysack Quarry.

Shortly after the quarry, we came to a junction with the option of going downhill to rejoin the B965 or to head up a steep hill. We chose the difficult way (obviously) and it was worth it because, after the long slog to the top, we got great views across to our destination Lunan Bay as well as fine views back towards the hills in the west. There is a long flattish section to this road along the top which is fun to cycle on and we actually saw quite a lot of other cyclists heading in the opposite direction to us. Eventually, we came to the junction with the busy A92 road which goes from Montrose to Arbroath. I spotted some wild raspberries so we stopped here to stuff our faces for a wee while before braving the main road. Luckily we only had a few yards on the A92 before turning left into Braehead of Lunan where we got amazing views down the hill to the beach below. It was downhill from here all the way to Lunan Bay and soon we turned off into the beach parking area (the road goes through a farm yard and it is very bumpy and has lots of speed bumps too so watch out here…). We had said to Granny that we’d be there by 10am and they (Granny, Granda, Mum and Isla) could meet us if they liked to have a walk along the beach. It turned out that they had only just arrived seconds before us so that was well timed!

After a quick stop at the cafe for a drink, we chained up the bikes and headed for the beach. Lunan Bay is a brilliant beach with amazing sand dunes and when the tide is out far enough, you can go and explore some caves in the cliffs at the north end of the beach. Today the tide was out so that’s what we did. You can also see the East Coast railway line from the beach and I spotted a Virgin train and several Scotrail trains in the hour or so we spent there.

We said goodbye to everyone and headed back onto the road, going left this time past the ruins of Red Castle, up a steepish hill and then turning right to head mostly downhill along a rather narrow but smooth road to the village of Inverkeilor. Here we came to another junction with the A92 but we managed to cross straight over safely enough to join the B965 for around 5 miles of pleasant and fairly flat cycling along the quiet country road. We passed lots of farms along the way and got a good view of the quarry we’d passed earlier on. Soon enough we arrived back at the Chapelton crossroads again but instead of heading straight on to go back the same way, we turned left onto the Arbroath road. This road seemed relatively busy compared to the other roads we’d been on but after only a short distance, we turned right onto a quieter road that led us around the side of Letham Grange golf course. We didn’t see much of the course from the road but there was a lovely old archway so we stopped to photograph it.

Next we turned left onto yet another nice quiet road in the middle of nowhere. This road was really flat and took us around the back of the Condor army base before we eventually arrived at the outskirts of Arbroath at a place called St Vigeans. Here we turned right and although the road was fairly busy, there was a cycle lane to keep us safe. At the junction with the A933 we had to wait ages before there was a suitable break in the traffic before we could turn right. Luckily we turned left almost immediately off the busy road and onto a more suitable single track road through a tiny place Millfield (which used to a have a bike shop where Dad got a mountain bike when he was about 15) and then right onto a lovely smooth and straight road for a mile or so, up and over a large hump to another tiny place called Woodville. Dad spotted some early brambles so we stopped to forage of course.

A few yards after Woodville, we turned left at the crossroads onto a narrow and very straight road which Granda calls the “diagonal road”. If you look at the map you’ll see why he calls it this… It’s a mile or 2 of gradually uphill cycling past endless field until you come to the Guynd at the junction with the B9127. Annoyingly, it came on a very heavy shower at this point so we got rather wet despite putting our waterproof jackets on. At the Guynd, you go sharply down into a dip and then back up the other side before you are rewarded with another long, straight and flat section. This road goes past a solar energy farm which is something you don’t see very often. Where we live, you see fields full of wind turbines all the time but here, there were fields full of solar panels…

After that, we turned right onto the B961 to head the last mile or so back to Redford. First we had to climb the steep hill that takes you past the old war memorial and then just after that, you can see the very distinctive Carmyllie Hall on the left. We stopped to photograph it before speeding back down the hill into the village to arrive at Granny’s just in time for lunch – home-made minestrone soup and Aberdeen rowies!

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Redford to Carrot Hill

Route out – Redford to Greystone to Carrot Hill. For route map click here.

Route back – Carrot Hill to Inverarity to Whigstreet to West Hills to Redford. For route map click here.

Weather – sunny and warm with a light breeze.
Distance travelled – 22.04 miles
Riding time – 1 hour 55 minutes
Maximum speed – 28.8 mph
Average speed – 11.5 mph

We were up north visiting Granny and Granda last weekend and since the weather was really nice, Dad and I decided to go for a cycle in the Angus countryside. I had spotted an intriguingly named place called Carrot Hill on the map and since it was only around 10 miles from Granny’s house we decided to head for there. To look for carrots obviously…

We left Granny’s house in the village of Redford after lunch and headed along the B961 for a few hundred yards, past the primary school, before turning left to go down the single track “Slade” road. This is really just a farm road and soon we reached the farm where there were mountains of grain piled up next to the road. After the farm, the road turned into a bumpy track for a while but after passing the disused Carmyllie Quarries, we were back on tarmac again on another very quiet road which headed slightly uphill past lots of potato and wheat fields to a high point near Drummygar where we got a nice view over to the hills in the north west (and also found some brambles to eat…).

The roads around here are all quiet and in quite good condition so it was a smooth cycle up to Mains of Carmyllie farm where we stopped to enjoy the views over the Angus countryside. From there it was steeply downhill to Greystone but at the bottom of the hill we had to slow down to avoid some tractors that were parked in the middle of the road. Next we turned left onto the B9128 for a short way before turning right onto the B9127. You get some great views of the Grampiam Mountains far in the distance along this road so we stopped for a photo or 2. Eventually we came to a crossroads and had to check the ancient map that we’d “stolen” from Granda to make sure we went the right way. The right way was actually left onto the B978. This road is a bit busier than the others we were on today because it’s one of the back roads from Forfar to Dundee. One of the cars that overtook us tooted its horn – it was Granny’s car! I thought I knew where they were going…

The B978 goes steeply downhill and then back uphill again for a couple of miles. At the top, we got a good view over to the sea about 10 miles away near Dundee. It seemed to take ages but eventually we turned right onto a quiet narrow, straight road and we could see Carrot Hill in the distance. I couldn’t see any carrots though. At the end of the road we turned right and soon came to the parking area where – surprise surprise – we saw Granny and Granda and Auntie Janis, Mum and Isla. They had come to meet us and were all wearing their Rowan’s Recommended Riding Routes t-shirts too. Well, apart from Mum that is. As a punishment, we made her take a photo of us all at the amazing viewpoint overlooking the Grampian Mountains. It’s one of the most scenic places we’ve ever been to on our bikes I think. The visibility was so good that we could even see Lochnagar, one of the highest mountains in Scotland, around 40 miles away. After the photo, we walked part of the way up Carrot Hill but found no carrots at all – only wild blueberries, and lots of them. I filled my face of course, to give me energy for the journey back…

The next section was extremely fast downhill and was great fun. However, even though it is a quiet road, there are quite a few sharp corners so we had to be careful not to go too fast. It was still the fastest part of the route though. We then cycled through a couple of miles of nice countryside until we came to the village of Inverarity. Here, we turned right onto the B9127 which took us gradually uphill to a small place Whigstreet. Just before we reached the village we finally did find some carrots – growing in a field! At the crossroads in Whigstreet, we turned left onto another narrow road which went slightly uphill for a bit and then though some woods. After a mile or we turned right onto a completely straight and flat road which took us quickly to the B9128 once more, close to a place called Craichie. We didn’t go there though but turned right to head back to Redford. This road is a lot more uphill than it looks but the view from the top across the hills to Forfar is really quite nice. After that, it was mostly downhill (apart from an easy uphill section at West Hills) on yet another single track road the last mile or 2 back to Granny’s House.

Cycling in Angus is really enjoyable. It’s not as hilly as Midlothian or The Borders and there’s an incredible number of quiet country roads to choose from. The scenery is also amazing. I think we’ll be coming back later on to do a Grand Tour of Angus so stay tuned for that…

Redford to Arbroath Circular Route

Route out – Redford to Woodville to Arbroath. For route map click here.

Route back – Arbroath to Guynd to Carmyllie Church to Redford. For route map click here.

Weather – cool, hazy and windy at first. Brighter with sunshine and warm from Arbroath onwards.
Distance travelled – 13.74 miles
Riding time – 1 hour 22 minutes
Maximum speed – 24.9 mph
Average speed – 10.0 mph

My Granny and Granda live in a tiny village called Redford which is about 15 miles north of Dundee in the Angus countryside. I had noticed a while ago that there are lots of nice quiet roads near their house which looked like they would be perfect for cycling on, and when we went to visit them this weekend, I got the chance to try some of them out. Luckily for me, Dad used to cycle around this area when he was at school so he knows lots of good routes that we could try out. This time we decided to do a circular route from Redford to Arbroath and back.

We headed slightly uphill out of the village on the B961 past Carmyllie Primary School, where Dad used to go when he was younger and Granda was also the headteacher. We soon reached a crossroads and turned right at the signpost for Arbroath. Then we headed up a short but steep hill where, at the top, we could even see Arbroath 5 miles away in the distance. After that we zoomed the rest of the way downhill towards the town in only 20 minutes or so. On the way, just after Woodville, Dad spotted a deer in a field of wheat but I was going so fast that I didn’t even see it.

In the outskirts of Arbroath we stopped at a bus stop to have a snack of oatcakes before heading back out of the town along the B9127 towards Guynd, where we discovered a solar energy farm. There seemed to be hundreds of solar panels in the field and Dad explained to me that these solar panels turned sunlight into electricity.

The Guynd road eventually took us back to the B961 but instead of turning right to head back to Redford, we took a detour along a tiny road so that we could see Carmyllie Church. This was a steep uphill section – Dad said he used to have to push his bike up it until he was at least 14 years old – but I thought it was really quite an easy hill, nowhere near as steep as some of the roads we cycle on in Midlothian. Anyway, the church was quite nice I thought. After that we took another back road, mostly downhill this time, speeded passed by some tractors planting potatoes in a field, before arriving back at Granny and Granda’s house just in time for a big drink of juice and a sneaky biscuit or two…