Pennine Way 2000 : Day 15 : Byrness to Kirk Yetholm

The Home Straight

In a bothy.

Well, this is it, the last day and also the longest, some twenty-five miles by our reckoning, but time is running out and it's Kirk Yetholm or bust.  We set off before 7am and start off with a long, steep climb up a muddy woodland path, and it's no surprise at all to find bog waiting for us at the top, and indeed most of the day is through bog.

However for once it isn't so bad as a real effort has been made to lay artificial surfaces on this section, and we make good time along the flagstones, marvelling at the effort involved to lay them in this desolate place.  The weather makes a last effort against us, but with our waterproofs on it's only our boots that get wet - and they are wet enough from the bog anyway.  It is a little unpleasant to stop for lunch in the rain, on an exposed ridge, but we have no choice really - we must look very strange, sat with our boots off and plastic bags over our feet, eating cheese and pickle sandwiches in the rain.

Last crossing into Scotland.

There is little to tell of these twenty odd miles on the border ridge - the time wears on, and so do the miles, and we just keep going.  There is no way we could have done this two weeks before, but now, with the finishing line in sight there is no stopping us.  To be sure, there is little in the way of scenery, and the first photo I take is in a mountain rescue hut (P1) with around seven miles to go - it may not look like much, but sitting there smoking a cigarette some kind soul had left seems like one of the best half-hours of my life.

The last pub!

We then have to traverse the Cheviots, indeed the guide suggests we take a three mile detour to walk up the Cheviot itself... yeah, right.  For me the Schil is entirely adequate as a 'last big hill'.  From here it's downhill all the way, firstly passing over the border (P2), and then down a grassy track into Scotland.  The rain has cleared up, the late afternoon sun beats down and the going is genuinely pleasant.  As for the arrival in Kirk Yetholm (P3 & P4)?  Well, if you want to know what that feels like, you'll just have to do the Pennine Way yourself...

We paid for a room at the inn.  I think we earned it...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

Pennine Way 2000 : Day 14 : Bellingham to Byrness

The Bog Strikes Back

The tent that smelled of death.

We wake in Bellingham, which oddly has the same name as my part of London, although pronounced differently ('Bellinjum' rather than 'Bellingum').  After the trials of the previous day we are tired, but determined - while our feet are increasingly showing the strain, we are sure they can last the little time remaining.

It is with a strange mixture of sadness and great relief that I realise that there are now only two days to go.  Today at least is a short day, only fourteen miles or so, and after I've recorded the state of the tent for posterity (P1) we set off early, hoping to reach Byrness while the shops are still open so that we can get some lunch for the long last day.  But while the day is short, it isn't going to be easy, and very soon we are in bog again (P2).

Lovely bog.

Today it has some new surprises to throw at us - while midges seem fewer, countless flies descend on us whenever we halt - Alex reckons this is a fair indication of how we smell after thirteen days of walking.  On top of that, the stretches through the border forest are, if anything, worse.  The bog actually continues along each path through the trees, but here we also have to deal with waist high clumps of bracken and nettles.

Thankfully the last few miles are along a gravelled forest road, so although our boots don't fully dry out they at least don't get any wetter - even so it is only the Ibuprofen that keeps us going on our painful feet.  It turns out that Byrness doesn't have any shops, however the campsite owners make us some sandwiches, and we head for the Byrness Hotel (P3) for a pleasant evening meal, made more interesting by the arrival of the family that have been keeping pace with us.  They are amused by the fact that there are now only two of us, and we in our turn can't help but laugh as they drink one grapefruit and lemonade each then go to bed. We hang around for seven pints or so, then get back to the tent...

The Byrness Hotel.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.