I went down for breakfast and mistakenly asked for an English
breakfast. I was corrected (in good humour) and enjoyed my
first Scottish breakfast of the trip, which was indistinguishable
from most of the English breakfasts to date.
I was walking by 9am and expected a relatively easy day to
Melrose, my target. Early on, I took a shorter country lane
along Jed Water rather than the guidebook footpath which didn't seem
to have anything particular to recommend it. It was rural,
undulating and pretty, rather than spectacular. There was a
low overcast, and rain was forecast, though it was still dry.
Soon I joined the guidebook path which was to follow St Cuthbert's
Way, a long distance walking path across the country, for the
remainder of the day.
The path now wended its way through some woods and along field
edges adjacent to the River Teviot before crossing the river on a
long shaky suspension bridge. Then it was back into the woods,
which I really enjoyed. A soft path, lots of big old trees,
and scatterings of wildflowers. Very pretty. A couple of
runners passed me going in the opposite direction on their Sunday
morning run. St Cuthbert's Way then rejoined Dere Street, the
old Roman road, and for a while it was straight line walking along a
fairly overgrown and rutted path between green fields. It
began to drizzle a little and I put my raincover on my pack, but
resisted putting on my raincoat yet. I was stung by a few
nettles and found some ticks crawling up my legs when I stopped for
a break, but generally the walking was easy and I was making good
time. It was going to be a short day.
I reached the village of St Boswell's in steady light drizzle
around 1pm, still raincoatless, and spotted some signs that looked
like they had been put out for a running race. Later, I walked
past the St Boswell's Gala Day set up on the village common.
On the schedule of events was a running race at 4pm. I felt
sorry for the Gala Day volunteers in the steady but light drizzle,
as they started to get a smattering of kids sorted out for the
obstacle race.
In half an hour I was in the neighbouring village of Newtown St
Boswells and found a pub to get some soup for lunch. While
eating, I chatted to a mother and daughter who were on a week's walk
in the opposite direction along St Cuthbert's Way. They had
lived in Australia at one point.
After lunch, my path followed Bowden Burn before crossing it and
beginning the steady ascent to a saddle between the Eildon Hills
which had been prominent on the horizon for much of the day.
The ascent was pleasant, passing through more woods and then some
heather covered slopes providing excellent views across the rural
Scottish borders countryside. The drizzle had stopped and the
sun even came out briefly. The forecast for the next few days
is good.
I descended from the Eildon Hills into the small town of Melrose
and soon found the Youth Hostel where I had booked a room.
It's big and old and I don't think there are going to be many people
staying. After showering and washing my stuff out, I walked
the few hundred metres into town and got my dinner at a pub. I
was finished in time to get back to the hostel, which had a TV room
to watch the Australia v Germany World Cup game. I was joined
by a German, who knew nothing about soccer (football), and a
Dutchman who knew a lot. Australia got killed.
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