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Scotland! Day 61: Byrness to Towford (10.4 miles)

Today I left England and the Pennine Way behind!

Leaving Forest View at 9, it took around 45 minutes for me to climb steadily over Byrness Hill with a nice scramble at the top, before entering the start of the openness of the Cheviot range and Otterburn Training Area.

I reached Ravens Knowe/Pike at 11:05 - at 526m the highest I would go on the Cheviots and the sun started to break through the clouds at Ogres Hill. I stopped for elevenses at 11:30 and being over a third of the way there knew I could take my time. It felt quite indulgent!

I was enjoying the wind in my hair, a bit of warmth from the sun at last and the bleak vastness of the Cheviots in front of me while looking over into Scotland and the next stage of my journey. I could see the three hills  which I believed would feature more as I walked into Jedburgh tomorrow, ready for my first rest day the following day.

I was fascinated by Chew Green Roman camp - much bigger than I remembered although it had been misty and raining when we had walked this stretch to Windy Gyle in 2020. Following Dere Street off the Pennine way felt appropriate and I was feeling little regret about doing so.

I stopped for lunch at 13:30 where I would leave the Pennine Way and it was here that I felt a little sorrow to finish this part of my journey. It had been amusing to be entering and leaving Scotland several times before finally having my last lunch in England and on the Pennine Way before turning my head towards Scotland and the next phase.

There was a certain amount of trepidation however. Having walked every step of the Pennine Way before I had known what to expect. Now I was entering new territory and wouldn’t be able to anticipate the ground conditions or re-call the directions. I was back to intense map-reading and hoping I ended on the right side of a walk/fence.

It was an exhilarating walk along the face of Blackhall Hill with stunning views down the deep valleys. A great climax to leaving the Cheviots. It felt good to be map reading again reading the contours to figure out which path to take - I loved it. I saw a wheatear as I contoured beneath the upper scree slopes. It felt awhile since I’d seen one.

The walk down to the meeting place with Chris was straightforward and I looked forward to following Dere Street to Jedburgh tomorrow. I had a good hour or so to kill (meeting time was 5-5:30pm) as I got here at 3:20pm. I checked in with Chris who said he’d try to get here earlier. He had used what3words to pinpoint the location - amazing to remember when it was first being developed and promoted when I was on AGI Council - it has been hugely successful since. The team must be immensely proud.

Arriving at my little apartment was such a relief - a base for 3 nights meaning I wouldn’t have to carry the full backpack tomorrow, and a relaxing rest day following. Chris would pick me up and take me back to today’s endpoint tomorrow morning around 9:30 so I also had a slow start tomorrow. With a washing machine here I was able to get a wash on and then go out to the shops to get provisions for the next couple of days. With a bath here as well I'm looking forward to a long soak and a quiet evening reading my kindle (or rather the kindle app on my phone - kindle would be far too heavy for my weight limit!!!).











Location: Jedburgh TD8 6NH, UK

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