I had particular enthusiasm for this as one of the earliest books I remember reading was "The Wind Eye" by Robert Westall, which centres around St Cuthbert.
As previously noted, planning is something I do with some reluctance so I'd left it a bit until the last minute. Claire had got me the guidebook by Ron Turnbull earlier in the year, and the route website is really useful. A couple of weeks before our week off I had a frantic afternoon of booking accommodation (a fretful business for an OCDer - the fear of getting the days wrong is absolutely crippling) and we were set.
Oh, except I hadn't figured out how to get to Melrose. Oops.
So a couple of days before we were due to set off, I worked out the trains. There are hints online that there is a bus to Melrose from Newcastle. This seems not to be true any more, so it's either bus from Berwick, or Edinburgh and the Tweedbank railway option. The latter seems to be much quicker, so bank holiday Monday saw us catching a succession of trains from home to Preston, then Edinburgh, then finally Galashiels. All of the trains ran to time, it was a weirdly relaxing journey.
Since it was only a few days we had quite small bags - 20l and only about 4kg each with all our clothes etc. I've included a kit list below, including comments on what was useful and what wasn't.
At Galashiels we walked along the cycleway picking up turf zones until we got to Melrose. Scotland being the home of Turf, there were lots of zones to be taken (but we didn't keep them for long). Found our hotel (the George and Abbotsford), left our bags and went for a wander around the abbey. It was gloriously sunny if a little breezy and cold.
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| Sunshine in Melrose |
Melrose Abbey is of course ruinous. It has some interesting features (including a bagpipe playing pig) and a museum with monastic piss pots and a fragment of medieval glasses frame. Well worth a visit. We chatted briefly to an Irish tour guide from a Christian tour company who was guiding a party of American pilgrims. All the talk of pilgrimage gave me an earworm: "To be a pilgrim" - a hymn from school days. It stuck with me for days.
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| monastic piss pots |
Back to the hotel for dinner, and a drunk man in the bar was talking extensively about French pop music. The George and Abbotsford was nice. Decent pub food, friendly and helpful, clean and with a good shower.
Tuesday morning and we were ready for the off. An extensive breakfast with lots of vegetarian haggis and we headed out to the abbey for the start. I had thought for years I was allergic to oats. Apparently not, which is useful news, especially in Scotland.
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| Eildon middle & south from north |
From the abbey we headed up into the Eildon hills. We saw a group of 3 walkers as we climbed up to Eildon north to take the Turf zone & look out at the hill fort/hut circles. Coming back down onto the route we met a couple we were to see frequently over the next few days (we eventually learned they were Vera and Paul) and their husky (we were introduced, and I forgot her name. Unusual - I usually remember pets names and forget the humans).
Shortly after we encountered the other three - from Newcastle by their accents. Both these groups were doing the route on a similar schedule to us. We were surprised by how many people we saw (but apparently there was a TV program about the SCW recently, which might explain it).
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| Bowden well |
Day one from Melrose to Jedburgh was a longish one for us, with lots of lovely riverside paths and pleasant villages. We stopped for a delicious lunch at Mainstreet Trading Company in St Boswells and resisted the temptation to buy books. Approaching the A68 we debated the unofficial route avoiding the main road, but discovered that the main route is actually set quite a bit back from the road and is pleasant. We passed along Dere St, which was more varied than a Roman road has any right to be, then through the very pretty Monteviot estate woodlands to Harestanes.
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| Bowden church organ |
From there it was a fairly short walk to the turn off for Jedburgh.
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| Bouncy. Near Drybergh |
We opted to overshoot the lane through Jedfoot and follow the Abbeys Way, which turned out to be a good move as it followed field paths rather than tarmac. The walk through Jedburgh itself to our hotel (the Royal) was long and roady, but we picked up a couple of Turf zones on the way. There is a nicer route along the river, but we didn't discover it until the morning. Jedburgh is a nice little place with a decent co-op, and we were able to pick up a few bits of food (plus some wine), including plenty for our evening meal the following night as we were staying in an out of the way B&B.
The Royal was pretty average. The water pressure was terrible and there was a loud hum from possibly air conditioning that went on all night, and in spite of the sign outside they weren't doing food. They did have a drying room for boots/shoes, and there was an excellent restaurant round the corner - the Capon Tree Town House. Booking recommended, although they did fit us in (alongside another group doing the Way - 5 women who we'd see from time to time, including right at the end).
Next morning we took the footpath along the river out of Jedburgh, then through the woods on the way up the Abbeys Way. We had a pretty easy day planned, only about 20km finishing at Linton, not far from Morebattle.
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| Cessford Castle |
The route continued along valley and river, passing ruined Cessford castle with a bit of a road walk into Morebattle. At Morebattle we stopped at the village shop for a coffee, encountering various other SCWers. Getting coffee from the machine in the shop (bean to cup - decent machine coffee) I noticed Club biscuits out of the corner of my eye.
I'd booked us into a B&B at Linton - while there were rooms available at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, having stayed there before I wasn't prepared to pay 180 quid a night. It's OK, but it's a bit basic.
From Morebattle we left the SCW and followed the Kelso road out to Linton. I now had "if you like a lot of chocolate" added to my earworms. The combination became "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit be a pilgrim".
Passing motorists on the minor road gave us lots of space, it was a nice afternoon and generally it was a pleasant walk, for tarmac. At the Old School House B&B we were welcomed by Annie and spent the remaining part of the afternoon playing Struggle for Catan in the very cosy and pleasant rooms there. We'd brought three packets of roasted veg couscous, some dried parmesan, some dried mushrooms and some cashews from Jedburgh Co-op. Plus wine of course. The combination of ingredients made for a hearty and filling dinner, made with nothing more than a kettle of boiling water. A look at the visitors book showed that Annie can provide a meal for those on foot if requested, and if her breakfasts are anything to go by you'd be well advised to ring ahead and ask.
After a delicious breakfast of very rich scrambled egg on toast (Claire went for porridge), yoghurt etc. we set out on a much longer day ("how far are you going today?", "Wooler", "Bloody hell!"). We've been to the Cheviots a couple of times now and got to know the area a fair bit. We were on familiar paths over the high point at Wideopen Hill and down into Town Yetholm. The path along the river is nice, with lots of bird life. We stopped for something to eat at Kirk Yetholm village green, then set off towards Wooler. This leg was another 17 miles on top of the 5 we'd already done, with 2 big climbs out of the Bowmont and College valleys. It was chilly up on the tops but still fairly bright and clear, we had good views out towards the coast and the company of curlews and larks.
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| The border - close gate SECURELY |
We passed the group of 3 (we only ever caught one of their names) at the top of the climb past Yeavering Bell. There were just two of them, struggling with blisters and wrecked toenails. The third, Tony, had gone off ahead and we passed him not long before we reached Wooler. We dropped down into Wooler at 6pm and, after booking at the very good Italian restaurant on the High St, checked into the Arlington (some self-check in rooms in the town centre). We've stayed there before and know the routine, but I'd forgotten to buy milk so popped out to the coop. We're fond of Wooler (although our first experience there was the spectacularly appalling Tankerville Arms).
A delicious meal (seafood risotto for me, pizza for Claire) and a good night's sleep, and we were ready for an easier day out to Beal. Before that though, we had some breakfast in one of the cafes, then popped up to the Wooler hostel to meet Tim of Trail Outlaws. Tim and I have been talking about open source timing software, and I'd mentioned we'd be passing so we stopped off for a brew and a chat.
At 10.30 we got on, heading out towards Weetwood Moor. Deep in conversation we (I) missed the most obvious way marker on the entire route and had to backtrack. This was a tarmac heavy day, with a lot of quiet country roads. The weather started to threaten and, while we were stopped getting waterproofs out, a fighter jet came roaring straight towards us then banked directly overhead. I did wonder if they were using my APRS radio as a convenient pretend target.
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| St Cuthbert's Cave |
Waterproofs on, we plodded through the rain to St Cuthbert's Cave. By the time we reached it the rain had stopped, but we sat in the cave anyway to eat last night's pizza and drink tea from flasks.
After that we climbed to the top of the ridge and started to work our way down through the woods towards Fenwick. We passed Vera & Paul, then shortly after found a slow worm basking in the middle of the path and chivvied it into the long grass where their dog hopefully wouldn't find it.
At Fenwick we were just in time to have a coffee and some cake at the lovely little coffee shop. Then we crossed over the A1 (which took some time as there was quite a bit of traffic) and started through the lanes. Almost immediately we passed a farm with what looked like quite a large medieval hamlet attached to it - all ruined and surrounded by Heras fencing.
At the railway crossing we stopped and phoned the signal box, gave a needlessly pessimistic estimate of how long it'd take to cross, and crossed over.
At last we reached the tank traps and the shore, and we were looking across at Lindisfarne. Tomorrow we'd do the last little bit, across the sands.
It turned out to be further than I thought along the road to the Lindisfarne Inn - it's right up at the side of the A1 rather than at Beal as I thought. Ne'er mind, it's all training.
We had a nice enough pub meal at the Lindisfarne. Rooms are a bit pricey for what it is, but the food is hearty and the service is excellent.
But.
7am, we were woken by a large party of cycling lejog-ers on an organised trip. Banging on each others doors, shouting and clomping around in cleats. I'm a heavy sleeper and it took a long time to wake me up, but by the time I did wake I wasn't at all happy. Judging by the angry shouting I heard shortly after the lejog-ers had made no friends at all. I went out to have a word with the organisers - while I wouldn't have to share a hotel with them again, maybe they could be encouraged to behave better at their next stop. Big organised groups like that are often a nightmare, and there was audibly one bloke who never stopped talking at the top of his voice.
So, we had our breakfast and packed up for our final leg. Just after we left the hotel it started to rain and got very cold. May on the Northumbrian coast. We got to the causeway about 1045 and the matrix signs said the first causeway crossing was 1020. According to Ron Turnbull's guidebook we shouldn't set out across the Pilgrim's Way until 1120. It was far too cold to stand around for half an hour. A small group of runners from the Holy Island Marathon were sheltering behind a marshals car waiting for the crossing. We opted to walk out on the main causeway.
About halfway across we could see the Pilgrims Way was clear, and the runners had set off. So we cut across the sands to join the line of posts. Apart from one place where it was above my knees it was fine, and definitely the right way to reach the island at the end of the walk. It was bloody cold to be knee deep in north sea water though!
We found a table in the nearest cafe and drank some coffee to warm up, then went for a walk around the abbey and museum. The bus back to Berwick wasn't until 4pm so we had an easy afternoon of pottering around, and another spell warming up in the cafe. There was a huge queue for the bus, but we just about all fitted on.
Trains back from Berwick worked out OK, and we were home with a very happy cat by half eight.
The St Cuthbert's Way is a lovely route. A bit tarmac heavy in places, but with some beautiful scenery and a really strong feeling of connection to the past. At 60 miles it's a pretty short long distance path and approachable by anyone. The Cheviot section includes a couple of climbs and more of a feeling of isolation. As a trip it's best planned well in advance as accommodation can be limited in some places, and will probably be fairly costly regardless. Last minute meant limited accommodation options and hence a couple of 22 mile days. The start point at Melrose is far easier to reach by train than it looks.
Monastic Christianity, Pilgrimage and History
While I'm very much no longer religious, I have a fondness for the idea of pilgrimage and the simplicity and asceticism of that and monastic life. Walking St Cuthbert's Way gave me a sense of closeness to the history of Northern England and St Cuthbert's own closeness to nature. One of the books I was carrying (on my phone) was Stephen Graham's "The Gentle Art of Tramping" which complemented the walk nicely.
Kit list
- UD Fastpack 20
- yellow merino t shirt
- grey merino hoodie
- grid fleece
- Montane fireball
- paramo windproof
- wallet
- primaloft gilet
- patagonia shorts
- patagonia leggings
- 3 walking t shirts
- waterproof coat and trousers
- powerbank
- phone
- book (Les Huit Coups de l'Horloge by Maurice LeBlanc) [plus 'The Gentle Art of Tramping' on my phone)
- watch charger & usb C cable
- APRS radio transceiver
- soft water bottle
- ti flask
- 1 pair waterproof socks (worn on Lindisfarne after my shoes got wet)
- 1 pair warm evening socks (not worn)
- 2 pairs merino walking socks
- altra lone peak shoes
- socks for evening
- cap
- mittens (Montane prism mittens. Not very good unfortunately)
- underwear *5
- toothbrush/paste/shower gel
- antihistamines
- guidebook
- compass
- monocular
- light walking trousers for the evening (should have taken shorts)
- small first aid kit & leatherman micra
- buffs
- travel game (Struggle for Catan)
- spare drybag for laundry
Lessons learned
I forgot to take boil-bags and sporks for food when we didn't eat out.
Arguably I didn't need both the primaloft and a merino hoody for the evening - given the forecast was OK I only ended up wearing the primaloft on the last day, and that was to warm up while sitting in the cafe/walking around Lindisfarne.
I could have done away with 3 synthetic t shirts and taken another merino to wear during the day (if I'd remembered to do the woollen washing a week earlier).
I didn't use my windproof at all. It's a comfortable thing in the right conditions but probably too niche to bother with for multi-day.
A notepad and pen would have been nice.
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