Morebattle to Windy Gyle: E2 Day 52

Today I left St Cuthbert's Way and climbed into the Cheviot mountains on the more famous Pennine Way.

I woke up stiff and tottered to the toilet. Most mornings I am stiff. Some of it is due to the hiking but I experience a similar lack of flexibility getting out of bed at home as well. An effect of age and arthritis I suppose. A few exercises and my mobility gradually improves. At first I can only reach a few inches below my knees with my legs straight, but after gently trying it ten times I can reach the line between lightly tanned and white skin which marks where my socks end. I have always been rather inflexible, maybe as a child I could reach my toes but not since then. I dread to think of a time when I cannot do up my laces or get up off the floor if I fall, so I keep up with my morning exercises whenever possible. 

I went for a lighter continental breakfast this morning. The eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, toast, etc. typical of British hotel and bed & breakfast establishments (quite different from what people eat at home) can be rather heavy on the stomach when walking. 

Leaving Morebattle I climbed into the hills reaching the highest point on St Cuthbert's Way, Wideopen hill. The name is a good description as there should have been extensive views all around, however the weather was not so favourable, wishing to show off cloud formations rather than distant hills. However the Cheviot hills I am about to climb could be seen, topped by cloud. Before that I dropped down into Town Yetholm and posted the Southern Upland Way guidebook back home to (slightly) lighten my load. I am carrying two days food up into the mountains which adds to my weight, as the next few days are through remote areas.

View from St Cuthbert's Way, clouds obscuring distant hills.

A little farther in Kirk Yetholm I looked for a plaque unveiled in 1999, 23 years ago when the E2 was first inaugurated in Britain. Failing to find it I asked a passer-by and the lady at the Border Hotel, without success. Even the E2 waymark on the finger post for the start of the Pennine Way was missing, a waymark I had seen before. By the look of the post it had been recently replaced and presumably that was when the E2 insignia disappeared. 

The Border Hotel is where you can collect your free half pint of beer for finishing the Pennine Way, thanks now to a local brewery. You can also collect a Pennine Way completion certificate or even order a wooden plaque to mark your achievement. Over lunch I looked at the logbook where Pennine Way completers can leave their comments (or at least those walking the route in a northerly direction). Finishing the 435 kilometre Pennine Way, Britain's oldest National Trail, gave many people a lot of justifiable satisfaction at their achievement. I was pleased to see comments by an asthma sufferer and a 70 year old. Age and health need not prevent you finishing a long distance trail, it does not matter if it takes you a little longer.

Leaving Kirk Yetholm on a single track road I was hit by a sudden squall of rain. On putting down my rucksack to don my waterproofs I was shocked when it tumbled down into a ditch hidden by vegetation. Landing upside down my water bottle and Garmin GPS fell out of its pockets. The rucksack and bottle were easily retrieved but my GPS, loaded with my route and digital map were somewhere in the water lying in the bottom of the ditch. While I had navigational back up in the shape of my phone, the GPS was more suitable for lengthy use, especially in poor weather. Feeling around with my hands among the grass, thistles and water I was glad to find it, no worse for its wetting.

Looking back down the Pennine Way on the climb up the Cheviots. Given the blue skies it may be difficult to believe it was photographed on the same day as the others here. It shows how much the weather can change in the same day.

Climbing into the Cheviots I looked back frequently at the ever extending views, right over to the North Sea. Sometimes when plodding up a hill I forget to look around and appreciate the scenery and the height gain I have achieved. A herd of cows blocked my way. Some might have been the Belted Galloway cattle that I had been looking for on my walk on the Southern Upland Way, a breed unique to the area. They are black with a wide white "belt" around their middle. However some of these cattle were all black. Their thick coats were well suited to the harsh weather that can be encountered in these mountains. 

Reaching the first refuge on the Cheviot section of the Pennine Way at about 4:00 pm, I considered stopping the night in this small cabin. However there were still a few hours of daylight and I had not completed the 25 kilometres that I had planned for, delayed by lunch at the Border Inn, so I continued on, mainly in an upward direction. As the wind increased in strength, with intermittent rain, I began to wonder if I had made a wise decision. 

The path was wet, and muddy in parts, with standing water to avoid. Elsewhere, slabs of rock had been laid which made for faster walking. They also meant I could look at my surroundings rather than where I put each foot to avoid tripping or losing my footing in a wet or muddy hole. And the view was dramatic, light and shade, beams of sunlight, moving over hills near and far, under a generally grey overcast sky. Rain periodically attacked me, the wind driving the drops into my side.

A beam of sunlight over the hills.

A trig point painted a brilliant white stood out among the murky surroundings. 

I set up my tent with difficulty at a location I used on my first trip down the Pennine Way. A junction with a cross trail a little before the path climbed up to the summit of aptly named Windy Gyle. There was a rare area of flat grass, large enough for my tent, beside the crossing. Unfortunately as I unrolled my tent it began flapping madly in the wind, immediately anchoring it with a peg I managed to erect it, but am hoping nothing breaks overnight given the battering the thin nylon was taking.

Jedburgh to Morebattle: E2 Day 51

A walk through mixed farmland and ribbons of trees on a sunny but blustery day.

Today a shorter walk stopping in the village of Morebattle. Then in the following two full days I should reach the campsite at Byrness, after a night wild camping on the Cheviot hills. Such is my plan.

I rejoined the St Cuthbert's Way by following the Border Abbey Way out of Jedburgh. On the way, lively, rock music coming from a field made me look and see a couple of men shearing sheep. As it was October rather than spring when sheep need to loose their winter coat I was suprised. Google however explained that shearing in October was common, there was still time to grow a winter coat and it stopped the sheeps wool becoming matted and dirty. Last time I walked this way I recalled flowers on the dog roses, today there were only a few old red rose hips. A wicked thorned branch reached out and scratched the back of my hand, as if to hold me back, although the gusty wind was probably responsible. 

Otherwise the walk today was enjoyable, through fields of grass and stubble from some harvested crop on paths or quiet roads. The fields often bordered by dry stone walls. Occasional cows looked at me as I walked by. There were several stretches of woodland paths among tall pines and mature beeches underlain by ferns. The trees often formed rectangular corridors between fields. They at least provided shelter from the cool breeze although a few succumbed to its force and collapsed to the ground. The roads (and paths) were surprisingly straight with right angle bends.

Straight road among farmland.

Trees above the path of ash, pine and oak, blowing in the wind.

The one tourist site was the ruins of Cessford Castle. Dating from about 1450 it was on the front line in the long running confrontation with the English. Today I searched for shelter from the wind outside the remaining walls so as to enjoy my lunch.

Cessford castle, home of the Kers.

Soon I was in Morebattle, a small village where I am checked into the Templehall hotel. Next door is an old church which a man was restoring when I passed by last year. He was hoping to create a sanctury on the St Cuthbert's Way which could enhance its religious significance for pilgrims. It seemed he failed in his mission as the building has been sold, possibly to be made into someone's home.

Melrose to Jedburgh: E2 Day 50

A morning climb in the Eildon hills, followed by leafy riverside walks and a trip down a Roman road.

Today I started St Cuthbert's Way. He was a saint who was born in Melrose and died and was buried on Holy Island (Lindisfarne). This long distance path traces a route between the two. A pilgrimage trail for some but for me it was how the E2 linked the Southern Upland Way with the Pennine Way which it joins at Kirk Yetholm. 

I have walked today's route before, but in the other direction, which is why I probably forget about a long steep flight of stairs that I had to climb up this morning on leaving Melrose. The climb into the Eildon hills was an early test of any pilgrim. Reaching the flat cleavage between two peaks there was a reassuring view of flatter lands beyond for the rest of today's walk. 

Long flight of steps leaving Melrose.

Walking down the hills, a cocker spaniel carefully placed his ball in front of me and looked up at me with pleading eyes. Of course I threw it for him. Then his owner appeared and said he will let anyone throw his ball for him. I felt demoted from a specially chosen person to just anyone. Later I came across some black sheep. Most sheep run away from people but two of these animals came up for a close look at me. I expect they do it to everyone, hoping for some food (or a ball). In the pretty village of Bowden a lady used some hay to tempt a horse into its box beside an old, stone, octagonal structure once used to supply water. A tiny lizard which scuttled across my path, some ducks and a heron were my other animal sightings today.

A very friendly black sheep.

I was walking through many areas of trees today; oak, beech, pine among others. The leaves were just starting to turn, changing colour to yellow and orange for a last period of beauty before the bare, black, branches of winter.

Leaves turning on a woodland path.

Having walked this way before I was aiming to return to a bookshop café in St Boswell I had thought particularly good. My memory of its location was undimmed, and I indulged in a coffee and a chocolate and orange cake for my elevenses. Looking around I noticed that a number of famous authors had visited to promote their books. Robert Harris was coming this weekend, £30 for two including a copy of his latest book. The write up was good enough for me to download his book onto my kindle. The village was small so I was not sure how the modest bookshop managed to attract the big names. It did have a comforting air, it was hard to say why, but it was difficult to get myself moving again.

The path followed the meanders of the River Tweed which today was fast flowing. In places clusters of bubbles on the muddy brown water shot past me moving at a running speed many times faster than I was walking. Turbulent eddies welled up and the high, water level was advancing into bankside vegetation. No doubt the consequence of recent rain.

River Tweed.

On reaching a junction I met two of the rangers who look after paths in the Borders. They asked after my plans and I thanked them for maintaining the area's paths. Much effort has been spent on St Cuthbert's Way installing stairs, railings and footbridges. Earlier, by Melrose, there was a new, chainsaw carved, memorial bench dedicated to the late John G. Henderson, who helped develop St Cuthbert's Way and other Scottish pilgrimage routes.

Dere Street was once a Roman road, now a straight corridor of lightly wooded land bisecting the surrounding farmland. I followed a path which wound around trees, long grass and willow herb. After crossing the Tweed a final time I passed Jed Water. The river was racing in its struggle to empty its hinterland of water. I hoped no-one suffered flooding. Heavy rain had been forecast today but fortunately little had fallen, maybe it came early, I had heard heavy rain overnight. Due to the forecast I had changed my plans, opting for a hotel rather than a less costly camp site. Now I felt a bit of a fraud. However the Royal Hotel is very comfortable, warm and friendly, so maybe it's worth the extra.