29 April 2013: 29km. Started 10:00. Arrived 18:00.
I had a very relaxed start, chatting to Peter and his friends over breakfast and leaving the hotel well after 09:00. I wandered off to Town Yetholm to post home my now superfluous Pennine Way Guidebook and maps and to buy some food. The Post Office was more or less the front room of a house. I even walked past it as I wasn’t sure that it was a Post Office any more. I managed to buy suitable packaging and post everything that I didn’t need. As is usual in village establishments such as this, service was very personal and helpful.
As I left the shop (around 10:00am) I met Tom – he had an amazing tale to tell. He had left Byrness Hotel at 09:00 the previous day, intending to camp near the second hut. However there was no water there so rather than walking to the valley for water and back up to the hut he decided to walk the whole way. He had even been to the Cheviot Summit and walked the high level path at the end. He arrived at Kirk Yetholm at 20:45 as the light was failing and was intercepted by the same woman who had offered me accommodation so he had stayed at the “Singing Donkeys Hostel”. He had climbed to the Cheviot summit and done the high level path, taking an hour less than me overall!
So I started on St. Cuthbert’s Way which was very well marked. The weather was bright and sunny over the high point and I had excellent views. I even saw a deer. There were a couple of rain showers during the day. However after the Pennine Way, it all seemed very straightforward and easy.
Soon I found myself leaving St Cuthbert’s Way to descend into Jedburgh. This is a sizeable border town with an abbey, castle and old buildings. I crossed the river over a foot bridge, reputed to be the oldest bridge in Scotland.
Canongate Bridge 
Jedburgh and Abbey
My B+B was superb and I enjoyed the luxury of a huge bath, the proprietor’s husband was a plumber. There was a group of four walkers occupying two of the other rooms. I wandered round the town before eating at the Carter’s Rest – where the others from the B+B also arrived. On the way back to my B+B I saw a Porsche Boxster being driven erratically – I managed to avoid being run over. Clearly there was a problem as it was stopped by the police just up the road. Having survived all that nature had thrown at me, it would have been ironic to have had my walk ended by a joy-rider.
I spent the rest of the evening booking onward accommodation as far as the night before Milngavie (a week on). I tried to book a Premier Travel Inn there for two nights as I had a rest day planned to meet my husband and swap rucksacks. However my Blackberry (yes they were still a much used although declining smart phone in 2013) went into permanent waiting mode trying to book the nights and I gave up.
Where's Kathryn? 