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lost lanes scotland. jack thurston. wild things publishing softback. 151pp illus. £18.99
in my early twenties, i lived in troon, on scotland's west coast, while employed at prestwick airport's flight catering. with a daily start time of 7am, i was usually up and about before 6am to cycle to my place of work, then as now, in almost all weathers. difference was that the commute between troon and prestwick was considerably less fraught with winds, than are the hebrides. once out of troon, past a couple of golf courses, i turned right onto the road past southwoods, an area populated with a number of large, very, very expensive houses, some with driveways which almost demanded a petrol station midway. however, it was a particularly quiet road, which i think would possibly fit with jack thurston's definition of a lane, edged as it was by tall hedges and trees, many of which formed a canopy many metres above my head.
islay is many things, but a repository of lanes such as mr thurston might recognise, it probably isn't, very much at the behest of the aforementioned winds.
in those days of my morning and early evening commutes to and from the airport, my apprehension of velocipedinal life was not as it is today, having mysteriously bypassed any recognition of the possibilities of speed. yes, i was in awe of robert millar, and studiously watched channel four's daily coverage of the tour de france, but the connection between the latter and my daily travels, would not be regrettably learned until many years later.
if, like me, you would hardly associate scotland with the notion of a country populated by quiet lanes, the latest in jack thurston's enduring quest, since 2013, to explore the lanes of great britain, should put us all to shame. subtitled '40 glorious bike rides on quiet lanes and gravel trails', stretching from kirkcudbright and stranraer in the south west to altnaharra and lochinver in the north, the often delightfully named rides ('ring of dark water', 'the mountains are calling', and 'trails of the unexpected', to name but three) should help disavow us of the errors of our ways.
these are conveniently categorised into five scottish regions, followed by a table displaying the rides at a glance, should you need some tentative guidance before diving deeper. gpx files are available for all.
the author's introduction provides an appreciation of scotland for those quite possibly unused to its reality from the saddle, though, anecdotally, quite probably more than aware of what they might experience. mr thurston is 100% correct when he states, "On a bicycle you notice the clues. The weathered milestone half-hidden in bracken. The bridge that's just wide enough for a train of packhorses. This is time travel at a human pace." you would be correct in pointing out that this is applicable to almost any location you care to mention, but i am proud enough of my country to conceitedly insist that it is particularly true of scotland. consider this, if you will: the population of england is approximately 59 million. scotland is home to less than a tenth of that number. by extrapolation, that would surely suggest that scottish lanes are proportionally quieter.
parochially, i hide my disappointment that the chapter entitled, best for whisky concentrates almost entirely on areas that are not islay or jura. but in truth, despite those forty catalogued bike rides, the author never left the scottish mainland (perhaps leaving the way open for a lost lanes; scottish islands?). however, the luxury of this book (and by extent, the entire series), is not only the author's skills as a writer, but his companion ability to take inspiring photographs. though not all contained within lost lanes scotland originated from mr thurston's camera, he is credited with the majority. and while guide-book reviews often result in searches for quotes that might best illustrate the authors' way with words, the task with lost lanes revolved more around what not to choose.
"There's no hunt for parking. In Scotland bikes are welcome almost everywhere - because cycling is a gentle way to travel. But ease and efficiency don't fully explain the bicycle's appeal. It's when rider and bicycle are working together that cycling really sings."
or...
"The eroded stumps of ancient volcanoes that once erupted across the landscape are the crags on which Edinburgh, Stirling and Dumbarton castles now stand. Today, the Midland Valley, drained by the Rivers Clyde and the Forth, is where 70 per cent of the population lives. It is bounded to the south by the Southern Uplands, rounded hills that extend from coast to coast, covered by moorland, forest and farms."
in a chapter headed, The Fabric of Scotland, thurston provides a concise geological and social history of the country "Take a look at a topographical or relief map of the British Isles and you'll see that all the exciting stuff happens at the top. The superlatives come thick and fast." why take the time to ride through any or all forty lost lanes, without being aware of that which surrounds you? mr thurston's perceptiveness and illustrative excellence has added benefit for the armchair traveller, allowing a curated tour of some of the country's more arcane corners, with no danger of a puncture.
that authorial perspective is greatly enhanced by salient advice on the practicalities of slowly and quietly riding north of the border. prior to entering the kernel of the book, there are sections dealing with routes and maps, gps navigation, travelling by train or bus, the most suitable type of bicycle ("The rides in this book can be ridden on any bike that's in good mechanical order and the right size for the rider. A touring bike or a gravel bike is ideal."), and if you're less than mechanically adept, 'when things go wrong' might be worth reading more than once.
"Big skies. Distant horizons. Empty roads. In this vastness, mundane concerns fade into the background. The mental to-do list of everyday life dissolves. You are free to ride away from that restless, hyperactive mind."
the only part on which i would make additional comment is mr thurston's contention that "The estate road ...thanks to Scotland's 'right to roam', is now open to anyone on foot or bike." in actual fact, that 'right to roam' is more specifically defined as the 'right of responsible access'. islay is comprised of several estates, as are many parts of the highlands, and i can think of a few local 'estate roads' along which roaming might not be advisable, particularly those which serve as access to the owners' private abodes. think how you'd feel if folks regularly rode their bicycles through your front garden.
that minor point aside, this is a highly desirable gem of a book, in every sense: visually and literary. i want to be jack thurston when i grow up.
thursday 28 may 2026
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