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St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

This is getting towards the end of our adventure, which is the walk onto the Holy Island where, for a time, St. Cuthbert was buried. I’ll do some posts relating to the history behind this pilgrimage route later on, but best I finish the story of our walk first. There are a lot of photos on this post as the scenery was spectacular in terms of the openness of the environment.

The first part of the walk is along the road onto the island, which is the only way in and out for traffic.

Susanna and Gordon playing by the sign. Looking back on this crossing, we should perhaps have spent a little less time faffing around here.

There is a danger for cars as the water sweeps over the causeway when the tides change and there are some videos on YouTube when drivers ignore these danger signs.

We continued to walk along the road for a little bit and this tower is used as a lookout and safe place to hide for anyone who does get a little bit trapped by the water.

We were then able to walk the rest of the route directly across the sand and here’s Gordon cheering at that thought.

Some walkers took their shoes off, but Gordon and I stood at the back thinking that was a bit decadent for us.

Walking across the sands, which was very easy to do at this stage as the water had entirely receded away.

Steve climbing up a tower. I noticed the missing step and decided that would be a bit too brave for me. I didn’t want to have a falling accident here, partly because it would be a faff for the emergency services and also because Steve and Andy would have a perfect spot to take photos of my little incident and I couldn’t be doing with that.

Steve and Andy up the tower thing.

Here I am about by one of the tall wooden posts that marks the route of the original causeway and is a guide on where walkers can safely cross.

Gordon posing by one of the posts.

We continued across, although the mud was a little slippery in places and so we had to take care. Susanna nearly went flying over on a few occasions and it was noted that I successfully saved her at one point by being in the right place. I quite like some of these photos, the big open skies and the sight of the island that we were walking across to. At this point, it was Susanna, Gordon and I all at the back, whilst we had lost the others somewhere in the distance.

Sarah did send a text saying that we might want to hurry up, but we thought she was just complaining that we were taking too long enjoying our crossing, rather than it being a serious warning we did genuinely need to hurry up.

We had been told by Steve (not that I’m casting blame here) that we were well inside the safe zone time and that the danger zone time was over half an hour away. Susanna and I were a bit muddled up here, as all we could see was the ocean crashing in quickly. For anyone who clicks on the photo above, they’ll see two confused cyclists, one person in the far distance following the poles (Andy) and two people in the water (Steve and Sarah). The cyclists commented that the tides had been coming in exceptionally quickly, which was most certainly true.

This whole situation caused some concern to Susanna and I, because there are Sarah and Steve in the water and we hadn’t quite expected to see that. It’s now clear that there’s no mirage or mysterious way of walking on water, we were a bit blocked by the incoming tide. The cyclists furiously cycled back to the mainland, their route to the island now being blocked, whilst I have to tell Gordon that we need to walk through water. He immediately worried about his blister plaster, but bravely continued on really without many complaints (other than about Steve).

This is the water we plodded through, which was cold, but rather refreshing. It was clearly moving in relatively quickly, but to be fair, there was never much danger here as the water didn’t get that high. However, care does need to be taken on these crossings, but Gordon and I are trained professionals and we never put ourselves in danger. Others should be more careful, as we consider risk in great detail to ensure that we don’t make any mistakes.

Gordon being brave. He commented at one point “Steve will have to take care, he’s quite short”, but I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to cause our walk leader to be annoyed.

After our short walk through the water we were rewarded with the sight of land and safety, which was much appreciated. I did an interview with Gordon to capture the moment forever, I’ll upload on here at some point (since I’ve already posted it widely across social media anyway).

Looking at the scene of “what could have been a murder charge for Steve” as Gordon put it. We stuck together over the danger zone, conscious that our bravery had been exceptional. Andy had been quite adventurous too (or stupid, whichever way you look at it) as he was up to his waist in the water at one point with the route that he had chosen. Certainly not ideal if you ask me, but I think that he rather enjoyed it.

This photo is taken from the road which we safely got onto. The others were up ahead having a rest on the bench and we were all delighted that six started the crossing and six finished it.

The welcome sign. This meant we could then walk just a little further along the road onto the Holy Island, our adventure drawing to a close. Congratulations to everyone for their bravery here, especially Gordon and I.

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

Our final day of walking was to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, a six mile walk from our accommodation in Lowick. This has been a long day, full of more adventure, so I’ll have to split the post. It also adds anticipation…. (well, not much to be fair)

The village of Lowick just over 100 years ago at a time when it had more pubs and churches, including the White Swan Inn.

Breakfast was in the pub where we were staying, the White Swan Inn. It wasn’t an ideal start, my first attempt of getting cereals this week was having Rice Krispies, but they tasted stale. I checked and they were several months of date, so that annoyed me, another great start to the day. We were though distracted by the excitement that Gordon had broken the blind in his bedroom in what Bev called a rock star style tantrum of trashing his room. I’m not sure Gordon is capable of that.

The full English breakfast. The sausages were bloody dreadful, although everything else was fine. This is fast becoming one of the most critical weeks of food comments that I’ve done, I’m sounding ever more like Bev (probably good that I don’t order scrambled egg). Anyway, back to positivity, the staff were friendly, the room was clean and I had an excellent night’s sleep. So, all was well (other than the out of date cereals and the sausages). Incidentally, I tell the staff member that the cereals were out of date, but I think she thought that I was an idiot (and she’s not far wrong to be fair).

We were aware that we had to be careful with time as we had to cross the water to the Holy Island without getting swept away (although more of that debacle later). It meant three miles back along the road that we had walked on the previous evening, but it seemed to go quickly. That was likely because I was having an intellectual discussion with Gordon about life.

This is St. Nicholas’s Church in Kyloe, but it has been deconsecrated and turned into a private residence. Like many churches around here it was reconstructed in the late eighteenth century, extended in the late nineteenth century and shut in the late twentieth century. In fairness though to the Church of England, there really isn’t a very large population in the area to build a congregation from so there’s not much that they could likely have done.

We made out way back into Fenwick, with the rest of the group ahead whilst Gordon and I gossiped at the back. We also started to get our first views of the Holy Island, something that the rain had obscured on the previous evening.

The Fenwick Granary farm buildings which are in a state of considerable decline over just a few years. There’s a planning application here to convert these farm buildings into residential use, but it has so far been rejected.

The walk continued towards the sea.

Here’s Gordon striding along, very keen to see the end of the walk at this stage with his wonky feet.

The big open skies.

Some lovely lambs, with Gordon trying to take a similar photo before realising they had all turned round. He didn’t want to take a photo at that point in case people thought he was strange.

The East Coast Main Line which goes from London to Edinburgh. Before anyone comments, I didn’t stand and faff about taking a photo here, I took it whilst walking across.

I waited for Gordon, like the true gentleman I am, in case he fell over and needed assistance.

It’s not clear whether the signalman actually wants people to keep calling.

If there had of been a bull in the field then I would have gone across to the cut arable headland. Fortunately, there was no bull.

These are military installations to protect the coastline from German attack during the Second World War.

Where the gun would have been located and this marked the start of our walk over to the Holy Island. What could possibly go wrong?

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

The fourth day of our St. Cuthbert’s Way walk took us from Wooler to Lowick, a total distance of around 14 miles. It rained heavily during the day, so we did it at quite a fast pace, primarily it was a bit wet to entirely enjoy the scenery. That also means I have a slight absence of quotes from the day, mostly because it was a bit difficult to talk given the monsoon conditions that we faced.

The breakfast in the hotel, with Susanna eyeing up the cafetieres and wanting to have one of those, instead of the filter coffee that was available. It transpired that they were just for decoration and weren’t in use, which perhaps wasn’t entirely ideal after Susanna had become so excited.

The rooms above had been quite noisy the night before, something that Gordon and I were aware of given our ground floor accommodation. Gordon made some allegations about Susanna being like an elephant, although Steve confirmed that on this occasion she wasn’t to blame.

The hotel wanted the breakfast orders in the evening before, something which I understand for B&Bs, but I’m less convinced is necessary in larger venues. After a rather filling Italian meal on the previous evening (which is likely to be my favourite meal of the week), I didn’t much want the heavy breakfast I’d pre-ordered, I’d have rather switched to the lighter Eggs Benedict, but I was stuck with this (and it is what I said I’d have to be fair). I feel a little guilty to say that most of this went in the bin, the bacon was greasy and cold and I abandoned it. Not ideal, although the sausage was a decent one. I instead had about a gallon of the hotel’s orange juice and three muffins.

Anyway, that matter aside, there was then a question about where Susanna’s breakfast was. It transpired that the staff hadn’t brought it out as Susanna had cleared off to the other end of the room and they thought she wasn’t there. Susanna explained that “I was just doing my stretches”. That’s the problem, she’s too much of an athlete compared to the rest of us.

As Steve said, the hotel likely thought it was very kind of us that we had brought our parents along for a walk.

We were then ready for a walk, or at least, I was, as the others were faffing about taking photos. This is Tower Hill in Wooler, where the town’s castle was once located.

I rushed up to the top of the hill to take a photo, before realising that this was really additional climbing that I didn’t need to do, so I rushed back down. I thought that it’d be a good view from here, and although that was the case, I forgot that we were about to climb much higher anyway.

The morning’s walk was through a lot of this terrain, ferns and the like. I was walking at the front, meaning I got wet knocking all the water off the ferns for the walkers behind. It’s that selfless sort of behaviour that will likely see me winning an award later on this week.

The Fowberry Estate with this interesting display board giving some information about the wildlife hidden within. I always check these boards to ensure that there are no snakes around.

More ferns, although I enjoy walking through this terrain. The rain kept the environment at a colder temperature, which I very much liked.

Steve and I suspected that this wall was old, but we had no idea. I took a photo of it instead, although Steve then mentioned that there was a big cow thing at the back of the field that I hadn’t noticed so I changed my focus to worrying about that.

The quiet River Till, which is a tributary of the River Tweed.

This is Weetwood Bridge, a Grade I listed structure which was built in the sixteenth century. It’s perhaps a shame that there were no signs here giving more information, as it’s where the English army crossed the river the day before the Battle of Flodden.

This gas pipeline was noted in the guidebook as being from the North Sea and I had mentioned to the others that it was coming up. Most of us took photos of it, although without any real reason to do so.

We then joined, although only for a short while, the Devil’s Causeway which is a Roman road that pre-dates Hadrian’s Wall. Slightly annoyingly, it led directly to where our accommodation was at Lowick, but we were walking the St. Cuthbert’s Way and couldn’t just miss a chunk out, even if it got us back home quicker. We were only walking on this for a few minutes, but I liked the Roman connection.

A pillbox from the Second World War, when there was a concern that the Germans would attack this part of the country.

Some photos of St. Cuthbert, this is a wooden statue that was a pleasant sight for us all. Although that meant more faffing about taking photos, although I didn’t say anything.

A photo of Gordon standing next to the statue.

I don’t know the crop, but it looked quite pretty in the landscape.

It was a little bit of a slog to the next point, which was St. Cuthbert’s Cave.

St. Cuthbert’s Cave is said to be the location that the monks of Lindisfarne laid the body of St. Cuthbert whilst they rested. Or at least, I think that’s the story that has been built up over the centuries. They were carrying his body as the Danish kept raiding the Holy Island, so they wanted to protect his remains. There are two caves of the same name, but there’s no reason that the monks couldn’t have stopped at both locations as I’m sure it was very tiring carting this dead body about the place. Also, apologies that the photos are a bit blurry, but there was a torrent of water in front of me and it was hard to keep my phone dry.

Some idiots have been having fires in the cave, which has meant the National Trust have advised that visitors don’t go into the cave itself. We did have a quick look inside, but we decided to have our lunches in rather safer parts of the site. Gordon also had a look at his foot and I can confirm that it was in a bit of a mess. He was being quite brave though and didn’t complain for too long. We didn’t want to linger for too long here as it was getting a bit cold and then Sarah and Andy sneaked off to do something, but I can’t repeat here what Gordon said about that. I didn’t get involved of course in that tittle tattle.

It was then around three miles to get to the end of the walk, which we did quite quickly as the weather was dreadful and it poured with rain for nearly the entire distance. I did enjoy this woodland section and we did do a good pace, although I’m pleased to note that everyone kept up (we really have done very well indeed this week, a great group for keeping up!). I think a few people at the back might have been a little confused about the pace, but Steve is the walk leader and I just do what I’m told.

The others had been considering getting a taxi from Fenwick to our hotel in Lowick, but I was never that keen as I just walk places. However, the planned taxi at 16:00 was scrapped since we got to Fenwick at just before 14:00, so we all walked in the sheet rain to the accommodation. This took an hour and really wasn’t ideal given that we were walking by the side of the road, although I was humoured to hear that a lorry had splashed Gordon. He also said that he was jogging to keep up with Steve and I, although I think that this is entirely fake news. We did see the body of a dead badger which was sad, although at least they’re alive in the area (unless that’s the last one, in which case they’re not). Sarah did mention that she could see us in the distance, but I don’t think she realised how Steve and I were trying to inspire her by our fast walking.

This photo makes more sense if clicked on to make it easier to see, with evidence of Steve not removing the soap powder from his clothes being evident. This also meant that we had safely reached Lowick, which was a considerable relief after nearly an hour of road walking in the pouring rain.

At this point, my phone told me that it had sensed moisture and I was a little annoyed by that, since it should have detected moisture much earlier. That took me some drying out with a hair dryer (on cool setting) which Sarah suggested, as the phone won’t let you charge it if it thinks that there’s moisture in the charging port. I couldn’t have gone out without my phone (obviously), so I was pleased to get it working again.

Our hotel has been closed for a couple of weeks due to a Covid scare, with us staying on the final night before they reopened. They were really rather good about the whole thing, offering refunds and the like, but we decided to stay there. It meant though that we had to move to a different location to get our evening meal.

My room, which I adored because the owner turned the radiators on which meant that I could dry everything out. My room also had a bath and this was a real bonus to me given how moist everything had become. I was pleased that I could entirely dry my boots and clothing out overnight.

My SealSkinz socks had done very well in the rain, although my shoes were sodden and they had failed towards the end to keep the water out. However, they had done marvellously and so my feet were still not that wet and they were fortunately undamaged. I certainly would have been disappointed if they were in the state that Gordon’s feet were in (his socks hadn’t held out at all). Susanna is also writing an angry letter to someone as her shoes aren’t anywhere as waterproof as she’d had been promised. I would say, I wouldn’t want to be on the end of that complaint as she can be quite fierce.

We went to the Black Bull in Lowick for our evening meal, a pub which is listed in the Good Beer Guide which means that I’ll have to write it up separately. Initially they could only offer us two tables, as we were a late booking, but they kindly fixed that on the evening and got us all a table together which was much appreciated.

The others were more generous about their food, although I thought my chicken and leek pie was perhaps just a little mediocre. I feel the need to be slightly critical, because Bev wouldn’t want me to be anything other than to be honest (and she complains a lot, so I am always learning from her). For those who care (likely about three people), I felt that the portion size was inadequate (a complaint I rarely make), the chips lacked any fluffiness inside and the mushy peas were generic and lacking any depth of taste or flavour. The filling of the pie was better and the chicken tender and rich in flavour, but there was little evidence of leek either visually or by taste and the base of the pie was soggy. The extra gravy I asked for was brought out just as I was finishing, although in all fairness, that did have a rich taste and I did enjoy that (the taste I mean, not the delay). The meal was all a bit bland for me and the price point was quite punchy given that.

Anyway, I digress, and I was probably the one who the most critical of the food (which isn’t the first time). And the sharing cheese board (which I nearly ordered to myself, but I thought that would be too decadent) that Sarah and Andy ordered really did look very lovely and the blue cheese they gave me from that was delicious. There we go, a nice balanced review to be fair as I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining (again).

There were no dark beers available on draft, but the pub had made provision to have Black Hag from Cheviot Brewery, which I liked and had a couple of bottles of. The staff struggled a little to engage on the selection of real ales, but at least they had a range available to choose from, so all was well and the quality justified being in the Good Beer Guide. Also, I know these are difficult times for pubs, so I liked they’d made an effort to have some bottles available to widen the options.

A group photo, just before Sarah and I helpfully took a photo of Gordon, which seemed to annoy him as he mentioned that “you two are in cahoots”. It was just photos for Bev though, since she can’t be with us on this trip. We’ve missed her quite a lot, she’s really quite a guiding influence on me in terms of my behaviour. Indeed, she’s something of an inspiration.

The ice cream, which was a suitable way to end the meal and it tasted of a decent quality. Gordon had three scoops of ice cream as he’s very wealthy, something that was commented on at the table. Susanna and I limited ourselves to just two, we didn’t want to go overboard on the decadence.

We then walked back to the accommodation, although I went via St. John the Baptist Church in Lowick and this was of some historic note as the medieval building here was linked to the monastery on Holy Island. It was replaced at the end of the eighteenth century with the current church, which was then extended in the late 1880s.

This meant that our fourth day of walking was over, with just a short stretch on the five and final day which would see us reach the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It had certainly been moist, but the terrain wasn’t too hilly and I liked the woodland areas. The walk into Lowick isn’t really ideal, but we just put our heads down and got on with it (inspired by Steve). All told though, another lovely day and I’m a little sad that this whole thing is drawing to an end.

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

The wi-fi situation has improved (but not the phone signal situation) so I might be able to catch-up now….. This is the second of two parts about the third day of our St. Cuthbert’s Way trip.

Click on this photo and you’ll notice the rest of the group are some way back. On this occasion I hadn’t rushed off, this was a dilemma caused entirely by Susanna (I have to be honest, there’s no way to blame anyone else). She had lost her phone and was devastated as she relies on that for gossip, so it was essential that she found it. I hadn’t realised at the time what was happening, so I remained at the top of the hill. This was partly (well, entirely) selfish as there was Internet signal where I was standing and there were also the cows that had confronted us at the bottom of the hill. Also, I was able to finish my lunch which had been brought to an abrupt halt with the flock of cows.

About half an hour later the walkers come up the hill, with four of them having grimaces and one of them looking very sheepish. Susanna explained “I put my phone in a part of my backpack that wasn’t part of my backpack so I couldn’t find it there”. Steve was overheard saying “I never want to get old”, but the others didn’t say anything. I heard Gordon say “have you ever heard of anything like this?”. It transpired that Gordon also opted out of assisting with the phone searching and he thought that it was a wild goose chase. I won’t grass him up on that though.

It was agreed that we wouldn’t dwell on Susanna’s mistake, as these things happen to us all. Admittedly, some a lot more times than others, but there we go.

The next obstacle was ahead of us, a field of placid cows with their calves. But sometimes placid cows can become galloping devils and so we eased our way across the field delicately, trying not to look at of the giant animals in the eyes for fear of annoying them. I walked with Sarah across this field and she was very calming and mature, although it’s fair to say that a few of us weren’t thrilled about this part of the walk.

I like this kind of landscape and it distracted me from thinking that it was too hot and too hilly.

As Steve said at the time, a signpost for short dogs.

We continued over the hills……. And well done to everyone, some of these walks are a bit of a slog and our entire group has kept going with high spirits.

From afar these looked like military pill boxes, but when up close it appears they’re related to grouse shooting or something similar.

Gordon on the way into Wooler which was our destination for the evening. A little ahead of us were Sarah and Andy, with Gordon commenting “I’m fed up with them holding hands, they think they’re in some Mills & Boon novel. They were kissing the other day as well and I wasn’t included”. He said that I could tell them he’d said that as he thought it’d be a useful contribution.

My room at the No 1 Hotel and Wine Lodge in Wooler, which could have been a little cleaner and it had problems with noise from its creaking cheap feeling extension. Lovely welcome from the staff member at reception though, but the ordering breakfast procedure was a little too complex for my liking.

We then went for a little meander around Wooler. The bench in the first photo above is a talking bench, where anyone can sit and people know they might be willing to have a chat. The other is more for sitting and thinking.

St. Mary’s Church in Wooler, which dates to 1765 and replacing a twelfth century structure. I was pleased to see that this was open, giving us a chance to pop inside.

Never a fan of gravestones being used like this, but more on this church in another post (which I’ll hopefully actually get to write at some point).

Our evening meal was at the Milan Italian restaurant located opposite the hotel and this was, to be honest, really rather lovely. The service from the owner was personable and welcoming, with the environment feeling laid-back and informal. There was an attempt by the restaurant to source some local beers and I enjoyed the bottle of Hare Raiser beer from the nearby Hetton Law brewery. Of interest to nearly no-one is that this beer was my 500th unique beer that I’ve listed on Untappd, a milestone that I celebrated quietly (very quietly actually, I didn’t realise until writing this).

It was just after this moment that Steve dropped all of the cutlery on the floor, which wasn’t ideal. We also started to talk about the awards of the week, an essential and childish component to any trip away. I started this stupid and irrelevant idea a couple of years ago and have now decided to stick with it. Andy and Sarah had some really rather wonderful ideas on the theme though and I’m still in a very good mood with both of them, so they’ll be winning some of the awards.

Gordon decided that he wanted a starter and so we ultimately all ended up with one. I’m not greedy so limited myself to a bread basket, which was perfectly delicious, whilst Gordon complained that his prawns had cost £3 each. He also commented six times that the restaurant should have green beans, before dropping a revelation about his private life. I’m very discreet though, so won’t put the details here. I’ve told Bev though, so perhaps I might as well of done. He also told us of a faux pas he made in Hike Norfolk, which is something else I’d better keep secret.

I’m disappointed that this photo doesn’t really show how big this calzone was, but it was a struggle to get through given the amount of food. It was perfectly cooked, the fillings were moist and delicious, the exterior had a crunch to it and it was one of the best that I’ve had. The others thought that their food was equally good, other than Gordon who said he’d had better pasta. He was being a bit challenging during the evening to be honest, I think it was the several pints at the pub before.

I had wanted tiramisu, but I saw this Limoncello sorbet with a shot of Limoncello, so I was sold on that. It might not be what is traditionally seen as a masculine dessert (if food can even be described of in that manner), but it reminded me of Amalfi and Bev’s antics, so it felt very appropriate.

And with that, we crossed back over the road to the hotel and sleep. With the trauma for me that the Internet signal wasn’t very good and so I couldn’t upload photos for this blog. That was at least two people disappointed….. Anyway, another really lovely day and everyone is great company, and surprisingly to me they’re not very annoying.

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

Before my engaged and excited readers get saddened that this is just a short post, that’s because I’m back in England and the phone signal has suddenly stopped, with the B&B having hopeless Internet. That means several shorter posts and we’ll see what happens… Today was the walk from Town Yetholm to Wooler, a distance of around 13 miles.

It was a pleasant night at the Plough, it was good to get seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. The morning started with another cooked breakfast, although I’m starting to crave continental breakfasts now as these are quite stodgy. Good energy for the day though and the bacon was delicious. Gordon had caused confusion the night before with his fiddling about with the breakfast order, but fortunately the staff had worked it all out.

This was Gordon at the breakfast table, where he kept asking for extra food items and then had a great idea to make himself a jam sandwich for lunch. Steve and I watched this little arrangement, but we were surprised to see Gordon then immediately gollop the sandwich down. He had forgotten that he was saving it for his lunch….. I didn’t say anything of course.

One of the conversations at the breakfast table was about how Gordon looks a bit chubby in walking shirts. He was right though, they’re really not flattering, in his words, “the shirts don’t follow my well-toned six pack, they just hang”.

I walked over to the village shop and noticed that they had numerous sandwiches, pastries and random items that wouldn’t fit into my bag without getting squished. So, I decided to just get the above for my lunch, all very squish proof. The packaging for the chocolate in the middle said that they were decadent, and they most certainly were.

A little bridge in the village of Kirk Yetholm and just past this there was a sign to the gypsies who came here in the eighteenth century, some of the earliest to come to Scotland. Soon after this there was chat about standing stones, relating to a previous trip where Susanna had got muddled up. I heard her say to Andy, “all of your misdemeanours are remembered in this group”.

The border collies had just jumped off the back ready for their day chasing sheep. They really are adorable dogs. Living in a city and being away a lot unfortunately makes having a border collie impossible. I’m hoping though that maybe Dylan and Leon want a selection of border collies and then my friend Liam can have them and I can take them out on walks occasionally (I meant the dogs, the children I take out on trains).

At first this looks like a group shot, but click on this image and Susanna’s secret hobby is revealed…. She’s a real handful to control and without Bev, it’s been left to poor Steve to keep her under control.

Gordon was brave and courageous on the hills, looking quite stoical and calm here.

This is the English / Scottish border and the rest of the group were here for just over an hour and a half taking photos of each other excitedly. It’s almost as though they’ve never gone to a foreign country before…. I let them get on with it, preening themselves and getting each other in the best light. I walked ahead, I think as Sarah said that I was in a slight mood I was back in England and my Scottish holiday had come to an end.

The real disaster that happened nearly the moment that we crossed the border though was that my mobile phone signal disappeared. This annoyed me greatly and for the first time in memory, I wanted to climb a hill in the hope of recovering my mobile signal. I ignored Steve when he said something about walking trips like this were about getting away from it all.

It was at this point that Steve commented that Gordon was “dysfunctional” and we all agreed later on in the day that this was a fair comment. More on this quote throughout the week though no doubt.

Walking across the fields, which was really what took up most of the day’s walking. It’s peaceful, although quite far from civilisation and there’s a lot to be said for civilisation….. The weather conditions were favourable, sometimes a bit hot and humid, but mostly OK. Although there were too many hills, some of which I think were substantial mountains. The Cheviots are quite beautiful and we again had a variety of terrain today.

Two horses not talking to each other (or that’s what it looked like at the time).

Crossing the bridge and someone came to us asking for directions to the waterfall. More on this separately as I need to extract some video…..

You can see the legal training here, Gordon’s mind is alert and functional, ready to work out the best way across the swamp. He caused a pile-up soon after this when he nearly fell in the mud and held up those behind him. I didn’t say anything obviously, I’m being careful not to cause offence this week.

And then it was lunch, something I had been hinting at and I was pleased to hear Steve was willing to deliver. We found what looked like a nice spot and I began to treat myself to my Irn-Bru and chocolates. I had to drink all of the Irn-Bru quickly as last time Gordon got most annoyed when I only let him have a third of my bottle to try and I was concerned that he’d be back for more.

Anyway, I was sitting behind Gordon until I noticed a giant flock of large bulls charging towards us. I decided I had now finished my lunch and was ready to go. It’s fair to say that I moved quickly, efficiently and I had great clarity in my decision making process.

The giant bull sizing Steve up ready to attack him. I was conscious here that they might encircle us, although the others hadn’t thought of that danger. It’s really quite a good job that I’m at these events.

I thought that I should mention the situation to Steve as he was close to the danger zone and was without any shoes on. I wasn’t too concerned about Gordon.

Steve wasn’t though as concerned as I was and seemed to want make friends with the damn thing. I will admit that I wasn’t entirely happy about this situation, but at least they didn’t have their calves with them, but that little treat was yet to come. We also had Gordon walking around sounding like a cow and his drinking flask clatters into the metal on his bag. A few people have complained about this to him, but, fortunately, I haven’t got involved.

The next instalment is coming soon, assuming that I can get enough signal to complete my little summary of day three in the wilds of the north. And this next instalment contains details of Susanna’s latest little debacle. I will say that it’s certainly put the taxi situation into perspective.

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

And here we are on day two of our little walking adventure, along the pilgrimage route of St.Cuthbert’s Way. Today we were walking the thirteen mile stretch from Jedburgh to Kirk Yetholm.

Steve, Gordon and I were in the same location which is quite a modern building with a very over-stated breakfast room. It’s a bold theme, but it did perhaps suit Gordon quite well. I thought he looked like the lord of the manor sitting there.

It was another substantial breakfast, probably more than I needed, but still very welcome. All nicely cooked and we were making good time due to the decision to get a taxi.

We had all agreed to meet outside the B&Bs to get the taxi that Susanna had kindly booked for us. Well, and I’ve been given very careful instructions on how to tell this story as there is some dispute about it. Susanna says it’s a more nuanced story, but in essence, Susanna had managed not to book us a taxi. Gordon questioned her sanity and she used a very rude word indeed back to him (she used it twice). I, of course, stayed out of this debacle. And, a debacle it certainly was, but, fortunately, Susanna’s B&B owner managed to save the day and a taxi was swiftly despatched to save her blushes.

And here’s the taxi safely dropping us off at the start of the walk. The reason for this is that St. Cuthbert’s Way is three miles away from where we were staying in Jedburgh and no-one else could be bothered to walk. And if they weren’t walking, neither was I. The driver was pleasant, although there was some tension in the car when Steve said “and this is exactly why Susanna doesn’t organise trips”.

When we were having breakfast it was pouring with rain, so I spent some time trying to waterproof my bag. I also ceased to be self-supported, as Gordon kindly offered to let me put my computer power lead in his bag that the sherpas move on for him. I was very grateful for that, so I’m being extra kind about him on this post. It didn’t actually rain much during the day, or at least, not until we were nearly at our accommodation.

The start of day two on the trial itself. Susanna was a bit sensitive about the taxi situation at this point (we know this because she told us that she was annoyed), but Gordon reassured her that she mustn’t blame herself. He can be very kind can Gordon, very inclusive.

Signage for the Borders Abbeys Way and St. Cuthbert’s Way. The Borders Abbeys Way is a circular 65 mile long distance path which takes in four twelfth century abbeys and numerous border towns. It sounds a rather lovely path and although it goes from Melrose to Jedburgh, it’s along a different route to the one we were walking. A quick advert for the LDWA page for this long distance trail….

This is a continuation of Dere Street, the former Roman road, that we had been walking on the day before.

At this point we turned off for a walk in a forest area. I love these woodland trails, usually flat and easy to walk along. Gordon made some noises when he nearly slipped over, but we carefully looked after him and his needs. We considered the taxi issue over now, as it’s ridiculous to go on about it, but it was at this point that when Susanna wasn’t looking we agreed not to let her book the taxi again this week.

A rather pointless gate since it was easy to walk around it…..

Then we went through a field of cows, which were actually quite tame looking (even the one with the huge horns). Gordon told Sarah not to do one of her screechy laughs, which I thought was very rude, but he said that he was worried the cows might charge. We noticed at this point that Susanna was right at the back, but we agreed that it was best for her to tackle the cows alone rather than us scaring them by going back.

More lovely forest walk and this was a really pleasant meander, keeping me nice and cool. There were other more exposed areas where I was too hot, as it’s a bit humid at the moment.

Susanna found herself a stick and I thought that she looked like Boudicca strolling through the fields on a mission.

At this point we met a great guy called Craig, who we also walked with a bit later on during the day. He’s doing the same walk as we are, but it’s unsupported and he’s camping whilst carrying everything. He’s an interesting person who I thought was very brave, since he told me that his bag weighted 18kgs. I told him that I walked the 100 a few weeks ago, as I think there are still some people who don’t know, and he agreed that I was very brave too.

Cessford Castle, which was originally constructed in around 1450 under the supervision of Andrew Ker. It was built as a substantial structure with walls that were up to four metres thick in places, but it was also attacked on numerous occasions given its location near to the English and Scottish borders. It was repaired on several occasions, but it was eventually given up on in the early seventeenth century as it was too hard to defend.

Nothing stops you going inside to the inner courtyard of the castle structure, but there are signs saying it’s dangerous and I didn’t want a big bit of stone to fall on my head. I limited myself to just peering in and taking a photograph of the former entrance into the castle. It’s an interesting quirk of history that there isn’t a larger settlement here today that was built up when the castle was in use, but many of the properties were demolished in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

We had been hearing from Gordon that his little toe was a bit sore, so we suggested he had a little look at it. I heard lots of painful remarks as I think that his toe was slightly red, but he seemed to be very brave about his situation (that’s what he claimed anyway). He then managed to break a bit of the castle, but any complaints about that need to be sent to Steve.

And then it was back onto the road and the path followed this all the way into the village of Morebattle. As an aside, this village doesn’t take its name from the battles that took place nearby, but from an old word for ‘dwelling place by the lake’. Near to this village is the ‘lost loch’ of Linton Loch which was drained in the eighteenth century.

I have no idea what’s in this field, but it was rather colourful.

This was the quite quirky community cafe in Morebattle and I’ll write more about this in another post. But, Andy kindly bought everyone a drink, other than Gordon who shunned his generosity and bought his own. The wealthy can do that I suppose. The staff in the community cafe were friendly and helpful, although likely annoyed by Gordon who sent his drink back as “there aren’t enough sprinkles on top”. We didn’t say anything of course. Sarah’s order was delayed as she was “behind a man ordering a three course meal”, which transpired to be Gordon. I would like to point out here that Gordon bought me a bottle of water, so I was in a very good mood with him. The toilet situation here is also interesting, but more on that later.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to walk across this ford.

We then started our ascent into the Cheviots which are uplands (although they were mountains as far as I was concerned) which straddle the old Anglo-Scottish border. I didn’t enjoy this stretch of path, it was full of bloody insects (these were a bit more of a problem today) and the grass was a little high in places. On the bright side, we didn’t see any snakes, although I know that there are adders in the area (I looked it up).

That’s Steve’s bag and it’s not really evident from the photo, but he had around 20 flies on his bag. Gordon had lathered himself in something he got from the Avon company, so the insects didn’t bother him as much.

Some photos of our climb and it felt quite remote. We started to see more walkers than we’d seen on the previous day, not surprising given the beautiful walking terrain around here.

Here’s our hero Gordon having a little sit down. Susanna was a trooper as always, steadily battling her way up the hill, we were all very impressed. I have to say that everyone was really brave, although we had to slow Sarah down as she often flew by and rushed off to the front.

There were some beautiful views during the walk.

Then we reached Wideopen Hill, which is sort of the mid-point of the walk and it’s also the highest point on St. Cuthbert’s Way standing at 368 metres. This is just a little lower than Mount Everest, or at least that’s what it felt like getting up to the damn thing.

Some more photos of the scenery as it felt wrong not to include them. It was at this stage that Andy said that I was at the top of his bravery list this week for completing the 100 (have I mentioned that?) and he mentioned that Gordon was top of the whingeing list. This also put Andy right at the top of my list of favourite people this weeks, so he’ll be winning numerous awards. Some of the others muttered about this, but I ignored them, they were just jealous.

We then dropped down into Town Yetholm, which is where our accommodation for the evening was located. We heard thunder at this point and that’s not really ideal, but the rain didn’t start to pour down until we were just a couple of minutes from our accommodation.

We were also annoyed at a lady who came up to us and seemed to be a little rude, so we didn’t really engage as the thunder and rain was just starting and it didn’t seem an ideal time for a full-length conversation. She seemed quite standoffish and it wasn’t quite clear why she wanted to talk to us, unless she wanted an argument, but she said that she was local. Sarah and Susanna said that she said that Gordon had annoyed her, but on this, I’m going to stand by Gordon, he was a paragon of virtue. Otherwise, the locals are all really quite lovely. BTW, technically Gordon is quite annoying, but she didn’t know that from the conversation, so she annoyed me.

We checked into the Plough and there was a friendly welcome. They took the breakfast order after check-in and we had to listen to Gordon trying to buy another egg again. We didn’t say anything, it felt inappropriate to. Above is a photo of my rather lovely room, with Gordon and Steve staying in the same hotel and they had equally plush rooms. Sarah said that she had a balcony at her hotel, which I was a little jealous of. Although since it’s cold and raining, I’m not sure that I would have gone out onto a balcony if I did have one. Anyway, I digress.

We walked into the neighbouring village of Kirk Yetholm for our evening meal. We walk into this again on the trail tomorrow as it forms part of St Cuthbert’s Way.

We were eating at the Border Hotel, which is best known for being the end point of the Pennine Way. We were at the start point of this a few weeks ago, in Edale. That means we’ve managed to visit the two pubs at either ends of the walk, although just haven’t bothered to do the actual Pennine Way walk. But I saw the videos of Dave Morgan doing it and it looked very moist and hilly.

Gordon then caused a scene in the pub by asking for green beans, which aren’t on the menu. He’s a man who needs vegetables and so he decided to order a dish without vegetables when they told him they had no green beans (we think he was trying to teach the pub a lesson). He’s very picky, but we didn’t say anything….

The table decoration, which I’m not sure I entirely like. Anyway, the pub must like it and that’s the main thing. During the conversation, Gordon revealed that “I don’t really have any unlucky pants” which was a relief to everyone. It was also commented that Gordon might win the “creep of the week” award with his comments about what Sarah was wearing. But it’s OK, he won’t read this blog for ages, so it’s fine for me to write that.

The pub had a few real ales on, although nothing overly exciting for my taste, but at least there was a choice. I noted that they’re using Good Beer Guide signage, but they’re no longer listed in the latest book. I like that anyone who completes the Pennine Way gets a free half pint of beer, which is a nice gesture. I bought half a pint of the Pennine Walker from Hadrian Border Brewery (I think, there was some confusion as to what it actually was) and the Trig Point from Cheviot Brewery. I preferred the latter and it’s sourced locally, although neither beer hugely engaged me. But they were refreshing and well-kept, so went well with the meal. Along with the eight gallons of tap water I must have gone through.

All day I had fancied pie at the pub, but the only one they had was pork, cider and mustard and that didn’t appeal, so I went with the fish and chips. Reasonably priced, the fish itself was lovely, although the batter was too doughy if I’m being a little bit critical (which I always am to be fair). More importantly, to the right of the photo is Gordon’s plate without his vegetables. The service was always polite, pro-active and personable though, so it was a pleasant and comfortable place to be. They also warned us that there would be a delay with our food as another couple of large parties had just arrived (we got behind them because Gordon spent twenty minutes asking about bloody vegetables) but ultimately the delay was minimal.

We then walked back to our accommodation, all told another very lovely day. It’s nice to have a couple of hours to get this blog written up, which can be something of a burden to write, but there has to be an official record of this week otherwise the truth might be lost to history. Tomorrow we’re off to Wooler which is no further distance than today, but it might be just that bit hillier. That doesn’t overly excite me to be fair….

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

This will have to be short and sweet, otherwise it’ll never be done. I’ll have to come back later to fill in the details about the history, I can’t be missing out history……

This was the first day of the walking expedition, 19 miles from Melrose to Jedburgh. Before I begin, I have to say that Steve and I are clearly the bravest, carrying our bags with us rather than paying for sherpas to take them from location to location. I’m also away for a while, so my bag is ludicrously heavy and that pre-annoyed me before we even starting walking. Bear in mind then that whilst the others were having an easy time, Steve and I (especially me) were having a much harder walk. But I didn’t like the mention that to the others, I didn’t want to lessen their efforts. Motivation is the key.

Sarah and Andy had the rather lovely idea of bringing their own version of Bev along, a rock with her name on it. We all agreed this was a much less stressful version of Bev to have coming along. She got quite emotional about this act of kindness, which meant that Sarah and Andy were in her good books. I attacked Gordon with a stick later on during the morning, so I was also in her good books.

The Scottish breakfast (or the full English as Gordon tried to order) with the haggis and black pudding being surprisingly nice. The egg was hard, but Gordon said to the waitress “can I pay for another egg?” and got one, so I also went for a replacement one. That one was perfect. It must be lovely to be so wealthy to be able to pay for extra eggs at every turn (the hotel didn’t charge for an extra egg). It was certainly a very filling start to the day.

Whilst mentioning Gordon, his order got a bit forgotten. Susanna mentioned that “they can’t see you with your rimless glasses on” and we agreed that actually, perhaps these did make him look a little invisible. Either way or he had just annoyed the waitress.

Andy and Sarah were luxuriating in their room, whilst the rest of us waited patiently before we set off. The start of St. Cuthbert’s Way is in a slightly strange place, but we had already reccied that the night before, so we were ready. Gordon complained he was a bit tired, but we ignored him.

The start of the walk was up lots of steps and, frankly, it involved walking up a hill that was far too big.

This is the signage for the trail that we’ve been following.

This was as high as Beeston Bump and was very hilly, although it offered lovely views back down into Melrose. We were doing well at this stage, until we managed to get lost. Steve noticed that the path seemed to be disappearing away quite quickly as we were walking along what was becoming more obviously a cliff edge. Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to retrace our steps. Four different people got blamed for the mistake, but it was ultimately agreed that Gordon was to blame.

I was going to censor this photo, but then I remembered that Bev told me not to do things like that. I don’t think that I’ll be explaining what was going on here though. Individuals can use their own imagination.

Gordon has Bev on this leg here (the stone, not the real one) and he said something like “give me strength”.

Bowden Pant Well, one of only two of these structures remaining in Scotland.

Bowden Kirk which Gordon tried very hard to get into, but it was very firmly locked. It was only a few minutes walk to get there off the trail and well worth it, even though we couldn’t get in.

I like the “free range children” sign, it reminded me of Liam’s perfect boys.

There was no shortage of forest walking today, which gave us some shade, although it wasn’t overly sunny. It was though still too hot, all being quite humid. I mentioned several times during the day that I was too hot.

I didn’t notice the heron until Andy pointed it out. It was really lovely to walk along the river though, it all felt quite remote and we did feel like we were properly away from things. On the very bright side inside, the phone signal around here is excellent, indeed, it’s better than I get in the centre of Norwich. I don’t like being away from things if that means I have no phone signal.

Some tree roots along the Tweed, adding some character to the path.

This was the moment that Gordon was about to sit down to enjoy his ice cream in the little town of St Boswells. It was also the moment that Steve said “right, time to go”. That annoyed Gordon, but I’m not going to grass him up to Steve (although Gordon said some very rude things). We managed to get a few more supplies in a small shop, after Gordon tried to break into the toilets after discovering they were 30p (he could afford the 30p, just he didn’t have 30p on him, but then again, the wealthy never do carry lots of money).

The winding path continues….

A bridge, the name of which I’ve forgotten. Before anyone complains, I’ll work out later on what bridge it was…..

I had to climb up these. The trial itself is in a very good state of repair, the steps are all in solid condition and the signage is excellent.

I had bought lunch at the Co-op in the morning, but was never really hungry with my large breakfast. That meant I was carrying around food all day and was more relieved than anything just to take the weight out of my bag and to feel that there was more space in it.

If you come to Scotland, it’s important to have the local drink. I am a fan of Irn-Bru, it was a delight to have this available to me. I’m sure they’ve reduced the amount of sugar in it though which is always a disappointment.

Gordon paid for a room for two on his first night and decided he’d get excellent value for money. Here we are with evidence of that, he had taken the bag from the hotel room’s bin to use to keep his backpack dry. Although it was commented on that he looked an idiot, it can’t be denied that his strategy worked well and his bag remained dry throughout. We were secretly quite impressed at the whole arrangement.

This is inside a cave near Benrig House where they had installed a pump powered by a mule to get water from the river up to where they needed it, saving on a maid having to carry the water up in buckets. The poor mule though…..

What appears to be a former railway bench in Maxton.

Maxton Kirk and there’s been a church at this location for over 1,000 years.

This started the long stretch of walking along the old Roman road called Dere Street and I was endlessly excited about the history of this. It was constructed around 80AD and the line of the road is still clear in many places. Further back it is part of the current road, meaning its route is still in use nearly 2,000 years later.

The road and near to this point Susanna said “I expect Gordon was quite sexy in his youth”. He was a little annoyed at this, it wasn’t quite the compliment that he wanted. He also asked people later on though if he had quite a feminine gait and he was annoyed when we told him that he did, as if we were meant to lie.

Possibly a milestone, but located by the Roman road. It was around here that it started to rain, but nothing too hard and it was a least a little cooling. As it was too hot.

The Lilliot Cross, where legend says a woman fought bravely in the Battle of Ancrum.

The line of the former Roman road and off to the left we saw the Waterloo Monument (I got a photo of it in the background, but I’ll find a better one on-line and write about that separately).

More trees. I don’t know what type of tree they are and I’m not sure it matters. Unless you’re a tree surgeon or something.

We put Bev on the nature trail.

The wobbly bridge, where some people scared Gordon by shaking it. He accused them of being childish.

We reach the main road not far from the turning into Jedburgh and have to climb over the road’s safety barrier.

Gordon was in a grumpy mood at this point and really, if I’m being honest, complaining far too much. We told him to cheer up, and here he is being cheered up. The walk did seem to drag at the end to be fair, it’s a three mile walk into Jedburgh (pronounced Jeddart by the locals) after we left the trail. We’re getting a taxi back to the start of the trail on day two (not my idea, but the others are doing it and I don’t want them to be lonely).

My room for the evening. We were pleased to be in the accommodation where it’s clean and dry, which only has three rooms, so it’s Steve, Gordon and myself in this little B&B.

I was surprised to get four takers for my exciting history walk around Jedburgh before the evening meal, the highlight was the abbey. This is a border town where there used to be many conflicts between the English and the Scottish, with this abbey being attacked and burned on several occasions.

The remains of a friary in Jedburgh.

Mary Queen of Scots House. More posts to come about the history of this borders town, this will just have to do for the moment.

Belter’s Bar in Jedburgh, with the beers all being from Marston’s Brewery. I decided not to even bother and went for Pepsi. This was where we’d pre-booked for our evening meal. I was pleased that they weren’t showing the football, although somehow I was the person tasked with telling everyone what the score was.

The pub didn’t look much from the outside, but the welcome was authentic and the food was excellent. The waitress told us that she had seen an otter earlier on in the day, which was genuinely interesting, but then Gordon interjected with a really boring story about a beaver that had no relevance to anything. But the waitress was no doubt pleased to hear “let me tell you my beaver story”.

What we hadn’t realised whilst sitting in the pub is that it was now raining very heavily, which led to a rather moist walk (and indeed run) back to the accommodation. We forgot Susanna, although Steve rushed back for her, although Gordon and I thought she’d be fine on her own. It’s quite hard to stay adult though with Susanna saying things like “when we get back to mine I’ll show you my driveway” to Gordon.

And that concluded Day One. I will come back with more posts to fill in the gaps…..

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

Before I start writing this, I accept that it’s quite tame content, but it has gotten going quite a bit today (I’m writing this after finishing the first day’s walk) so bear with me!

I decided to lead Steve, Gordon and Susanna on a little meander around Melrose, including walking by the abbey and over the chain bridge that I’d visited earlier in the day. Susanna is fascinated by history, Steve likes to see the local area and Gordon likes to complain about something. It’s all quite charming really when this little group gets together. We also took the opportunity to see where our St Cuthbert’s Way walk would be starting from as it wasn’t entirely clear to us.

The evening meal was where we were all staying, at Burts hotel. I hadn’t quite worked out what beers they had earlier, but I can now reveal (as if anyone’s interested….) that they were Pale Armadillo from Tempest Brewing, Foxy Blonde from Born in the Borders Brewery and Landlord from Timothy Taylor’s. Nothing particularly exciting for me to be honest, but at least there was a choice being offered.

I tried two more of the beers, as I’d had the Timothy Taylor’s Landlord before we went for the evening meal. Temperature was fine and they were well-kept, with the blonde beer being not too bad.

For anyone interested (I’m not sure who if I’m being honest) the menu. The prices were a little punchy, but the pub was well staffed and so I imagine their overheads are quite high.

I won’t go full food review, but the fish and chips was fine, although the peas were coated in butter or something similar to an excessive degree and the underside of the batter was moist. But I was delighted to see a big pot of tartare sauce and so I was entirely appeased. Service was attentive and the environment was fine, so all sufficiently lovely. The portion size was big and the haddock itself was tender and had a pleasant taste, so I was pleased.

The conversation at the table was excessive in nature I thought (by that I mean on reflection I can’t use nearly all of the quotes I had carefully wrote down), but that happens when Gordon gets going. He gave his thoughts on the ladies and looked quite displeased when Susanna mentioned his habits with women were perhaps not always as they should be. Is that saying too much? It probably is a bit much for this blog though, veering on the complaints territory from Gordon. I would say though that Gordon said “the problem is that she gave me a beetroot”. I urge everyone from Hike Norfolk to listen to this beetroot story. The things Gordon can do with a beetroot are quite amazing.

Private conversation must be kept private of course, although I would mention that Gordon did say “four bedrooms is not a big house”, which I thought was quite decadent of him.

And with that, the day came to a close, quite a long day for everyone to get to the same place, but it all went well with no disasters. We knew that breakfast started at 08:00, so it was a relatively early start as we had to pick up a lunch for the day as well. I’d now better start writing up day one of the walk, otherwise I’ll get permanently behind…..

St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

Before I start this post, I don’t claim this to be particularly engaging stuff yet, I just have to set the scene of what I have to deal with this week….. And to keep Bev informed of how things progress since she can’t be with us in person (although Sarah has painted her name on a rock and brought that instead, which is probably a concept we could use with other people in the future).

Here we are then on the afternoon of Friday, the day before starting to walk St. Cuthbert’s Way, with the final three brave walkers coming to join us. The initial plan was they were going to get a bus or taxi from Tweedbank to Melrose as they had brought too much luggage to carry with them (other than Steve, who packed very professionally rather than bringing enough for a cruise trip). Then, their plan is savagely foiled as the bus has just left and the taxi would take over 30 minutes. I find it very decadent that they even considered a taxi, but then again, Gordon has got the means so I suppose he has a different mindset.

So they decided to walk. And, as the most responsible person in the group (and I am unanimous in that), I thought that I’d walk back from the hotel to meet them to ensure that they received a friendly welcome into Melrose and also to make sure that I got any gossip first before Sarah and Andy heard it. I suggested to Steve, Susanna and Gordon that one of them put their live location on WhatsApp, so that I could see where they were going (experience tells me it’s just easier and avoids anyone going missing). Sarah and Andy helpfully put their live location on, so that I was reassured that they were still at the hotel. But that didn’t entirely assist me. The technology was too much for these group of warriors (and to be fair I told them to click on the paper clip icon, forgetting they didn’t have Android phones which are the only ones that have that), so I set off anyway along the river.

Steve sent this shot, showing they were walking down the main road and not along the river path. I had satisfied myself that the river path was entirely fine for wheeled bags, but Susanna has I think some very precious things and didn’t want to take a chance. Gordon at that stage, I’m reliably informed, was just huffing and puffing after walking 100 metres. I did ponder whether I could get Bear Grylls to do a television show with Gordon and Susanna…..

Views of the river walk that I enjoyed going back.

Finally, the technologically savvy Steve gets live location working after searching on Google how to do it (he’s very good at resolving things like this, very persistent and calm), as does Susanna. Gordon didn’t bother as I think he was at this stage ready to be abandoned by the roadside as he was now nearly one mile into the walk. It was though then clear from the map that I was further away from the hotel than they were at my little spot by the river, so I did a Challenge Anneka attempt (as Sarah put it) to go and find them.

This is the view that the merry band of three opted for on their walk. Nice, you get a really good feel for the road surfaces they use in Scotland picking this route.

I said what a gentleman Gordon was pulling Susanna’s bag. It transpired, I was told, that he just wanted to put his big blue bag on top and wheel it rather than carry his own. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to come across as rude.

Here is the athlete, now carrying his own bag and not far from the hotel. A few minutes later, as Steve was checking in I couldn’t help but notice that Gordon just collapsed into the chair at reception completely exhausted. What a brave soldier we all thought…… At this point, Sarah and Andy appear at the hotel reception, ready to order gin and tonics. Also, there was some confusion at the hotel as Gordon had said that he had two people in his room, which had enough space for three people (I’ve got a small and cheap single room, whereas Gordon seems to have the penthouse floor), so there were some raised eyebrows about what was going on.

But, all was well, and after some confusion about what beers there were at the pub (which I finally resolved later on by just having all of them) we sat in the beer garden and listened to how Gordon was furious at the loud people on the train. Quite rightly so and Gordon revealed that he had complained about the situation to Susanna as he didn’t like to complain directly to the train crew.

Incidentally, the gin and tonics had been ordered by Sarah after checking via message what Susanna, Steve and Gordon wanted. Susanna and Steve selected their gin and tonic, whereas Gordon asked Susanna to ask Sarah saying “what has the pub got?” expecting a long list to be produced. I don’t think there was much engagement on that point, Gordon went for a gin and tonic and had another grumble.

That’s that bit anyway and I accept that this story isn’t that engaging or riveting, but it’s a little reminder to myself that this adventure was now coming together.