[Closed] New off-road route linking Innerleithen, Glentress and Peebles

As somebody who lives in Peebles this is really great news. My only concern is, and if anybody knows different I'd be delighted, but they really need to find some way of building a bridge from the south side of the river into Glentress from the new path. I have ridden down the path loads of time with my kids and it is great, away from the road etc etc it just all goes a bit frogger when you have to cross the 72 to get into Glentress.

does anyone know how/why they seem to cost a shed load of money to do these things? i'm sure if they asked, local MTB groups would love to volunteer to do create tracks like these, and perhaps local MTB business groups too, who could sell a map for a quid or something to non-locals....

I'd imagine a large lump of the money will be spent on the bridge required at cardrona over the tweed.

Should be really handy when its done.

You can still ride from GT to IL using the quiet back roads and the path down by the river. It's not great but you can avoid the main road. Done it on several occasions. One of our training rides for the Kielder 100 is GT black, Innerleithen, GT red. 50 miles of awesome riding.

Part of me wonders if they are doing this to encourage people to park and use the facilities at GT and then ride to Innerleithen.

The is a bridge over the tweed at cardrona already

>Part of me wonders if they are doing this to encourage people to park and use the facilities at GT and then ride to Innerleithen.<

They dont have a safe green corridor at present and they dont really have flat trails for families. I should imagine the 1000 acres they purchased (East of GT) would also figure in resolving this problem somewhere down the line.

"TandemJeremy - Member
The is a bridge over the tweed at cardrona already"
There are 2 bridges there, one is a bit of a done in old railway bridge but it is still there I think...

Not complaining OK, all walking cycling paths are superb excellent, keep it coming etc.

But, it has always struck me as odd that the path is on that side of the A72 from Peebles - I run along the river from the old bridge in the town there is a good path there past the rugby club and across some fields. However it is blocked by a resident who has gated off the path at the bottom of his garden. Then it re-appears by the recycling depot, about where the tunnel that has been built under the road.

This would be a much better route, starting in the public park in town and already on the right side of the road.

So it seems all it takes is one local crazy ??

However it is blocked by a resident who has gated off the path at the bottom of his garden.

If it's a ROW then this must* be illegal...speak to local ROW officer?

*I am not a ROW lawyer.

I honestly don't see the point unless it's going to be an interesting trail rather than just a boring cycle path.

Linking Innerleithen, Glentress and Peebles is an ace idea IMO.

You can ride into Glentress from Peebles up Janet's Brae but it's not a flat route, likewise you can get to Cardrona from GT offroad then Innerleithen by the back road, but it's neither obvious nor traffic free.

It will be a good link for "serious" MTBers, and should give a nice loop for families and recreational cyclists by going out the new path, back on the B road on the south side of the Tweed from either Cardrona or Innerleithen.

The plan was talked about years ago - looked to refurbish the old railway bridge at Cardrona rather than build an entirely new one but we'll see what transpires.

Yes I might do that Al, will go for a reccie at the weekend and see what the signs say. It's a ROW on the map IIRC with a gate across and some home made signs but not been along that way since last summer.

If a ROW has been blocked, get in touch with Scotways http://www.scotways.com/ or the local cooncil access officer.

It will be a good link for "serious" MTBers

see, I don't really get this statement.
There's easily enough trails/singletrack to keep "serious mtbers" happy all day long at either Glentress, Traquair or Caberston so I'm not sure why many "serious mtbers" would want to add an utterly boring flat half hour(ish) cycle path ride onto their day when surrounded by great hills for riding in. Seeing as the public transport system is so poor to the borders they'll most likely have driven to the area in the first place, and if they wanted to ride between the two the road should be quicker.. I can see the benefit for families and less "serious" cyclists far more.

GW - Don't agree.

Say I am staying in Peebles for a weekend - do you drive to Glentress, pay £3 to park or pedal out on a flat path for 10 minutes? I know what I would do.

Janet's Brae is OK going from Peebles to Glentress as you get a decent descent out of it, but the other direction not so good.

A lot to be said for having a flat linking trail running down the valley - the great climbs and descents don't all start in the same points so having an offroad trail to ship between them is a good thing IMO.

Thinking routes like Innerleithen - Traquair - Southern Upland Way - Blackwater Farm - Pikestone Hill - Peebles Ridge - Peebles, for example; the return would make good use of the new path.

Janet's Brae is OK going from Peebles to Glentress as you get a decent descent out of it, but the other direction not so good

Exact opposite surely? 😕

Course, it's not just for people using the trails, a safer cycle link from peebles to innerleithen is going to be a good thing for locals as well, it's not the best road.

Anything that adds to the area as a general cycling facility must be positive.

There are already great ways to link GT and Inners (ie trail from bottom of Deliverance), but a traffic free spin along the valley would be a great addition. (imho)

dazzlingboy - Member

Janet's Brae is OK going from Peebles to Glentress as you get a decent descent out of it, but the other direction not so good

Was thinking Peebles - Hydro - up Janet's Brae forest road to Buzzard's Nest then down to Hub via blue/ Falla Brae

Starting from the Hub you climb up to Buzzard's Nest then down the forest road. I know there are a few wee trails down Janet's Brae, or you can drop into Soonhope, but I'd be reluctant to haul my ass up to Buzzard's Nest for that at the end of a day.

Will be good for families - just hope they don't spoil the nice bits of singletrack that's there already

does anyone know how/why they seem to cost a shed load of money to do these things? i'm sure if they asked, local MTB groups would love to volunteer to do create tracks like these,

There's already the Trailfairies at Glentress, about 10-20 folks every second Saturday morning. When you think of the numbers going to Glentress there are actually very few people prepared to give up their time to volounteer so I can't see that you are going to get any more. Tends on the whole to be the same guys that turn up most weeks anyway and a lot of them are involved in organising races etc. So you'd be looking at the same people to do even more work. It took the Trailfairies the best part of a year to build the Pie Run and they currently spend a lot of time just repairing the existing trails. But if you can find more bodies to help, go for it.

There are plenty routes into GT from both Peebles and Innerleithen that go nowhere near the A72. They also include decent riding too.

Is a link to the new proposed cafe at inners? 😉

[img] [/img]

Sneak preview of the Innerleithen cafe.