Day 46

The weather forecast looked good but what we got instead was persistent rain which began about an hour into the walk as we were crossing the Pentland Hills on a track and lasted until about half an hour after we arrived at our b&b in Broxburn. As a result we walked 18 miles with only 2 stops and arrived at the b&b cold and tired.
The total number of miles walked since Lands End now stands at 704.
The last few miles of today's walk were along the Union Canal. We survived a collision with a cyclist who suddenly appeared around a corner under a bridge. He first hit my shoulder, bounced off into Andrew, ran over Steve's foot and ended up sprawled on the towpath. Fortunately nobody was hurt. He claimed brake failure because of the rain and we speculated that if it hadn't been for us he might have ridden straight into the canal.

Day 45 - TWO THIRDS DONE

Yes - we have now completed two thirds of the 1036 mile journey from one end of the UK to the other.
Today was an easy 12 mile journey on an old drove road from Peebles to West Linton (about 15 miles south of Edinburgh). Some heavy showers and strong winds to contend with, however.
Steve has arrived to walk with us for the weekend.

Day 44A

A folk evening at a local pub. Eight musicians, sometimes one or two more, sat round a table. No introductions, no explanations, simply playing music they liked. Timeless. Priceless. Magic.

Day 44

A rest day in Peebles and a chance to catch up on washing (clothes, that is), a haircut and about two and a half hours logged into my computer at home curtesey of Peebles public library. I'd been looking forward to getting to Peebles but disappointed to find it a bit run down. The last large Scottish town we stayed at aslo had that run down feeling. The people around here seem friendly though. (Note that I don't intend to be too unkind or rude about the Scots on this blog. Too many of them know where I live.)

Day 43

We set off from Ettrickbridge in fine weather but had persistent light rain after a couple of hours which lasted the rest of the day.
From Ettrickbridge we headed over the hills to the Gordon Arms Hotel and found once again that the tracks shown with confidence on the OS map probably haven't actually existed for the last 50 years or more. This made it very hard going so after reaching the Gordon Arms Hotel (closed) we elected to do the remaining two thirds of the journey on roads which was about 2 miles longer but much quicker.
In total, we've walked over 20 miles today - the third time in the last 4 days that we've walked that far.
Tomorrow is a rest day (the 5th of the journey) in Peebles.

Day 42

Six weeks into it and still going strong. Fourteen miles today, mainly on hill tracks, some rain. We did lose the track at one point for about half a mile and had to blunder around in a boggy marsh. Not our fault - we have gps, a map and compass - the track shown on the OS map simply does not exist.
Now at an inn - in a place in the middle of nowhere but there is a bridge and the River Ettrick so they named it Ettrickbrige.
No phone signal, no internet at the inn, but by standing at the window I've found an unsecured wireless network!

Day 41

Today is the first time we've set off in the rain. We had wet weather gear on all the way to Hawick although it did stop raining for about an hour at one stage. We set off from Newcastleton on a little used path along a disused railway. For some reason the sight of Andrew and me hunched and with our hoods up and looking like Artic explorers spooked all the cattle and sheep. We provoked, unintentionally, a full blown stampede of young cows at one point.
We were provided with an excellent packed lunch by the landlord of last night's b&b (Woodside) which kept our spirits up over the 22 miles we covered today. The total covered now stands at 628 . Best mobile phone signal for 5 days. Last night's blog was done using Newcastleton's only WIFI network.

Day 40

We've reached Scotland! We arrived at the border just before 4.00. With minimal formalties we were able to cross without undue delay. Shortly after a farmer said hello and I uderstood him! Let's see what happens as we go further into Scotland. We're staying in Newcastleton and have now walked 616 miles since leaving Lands End . Last night at the Samson Inn in Gilsland I met, by chance, Colin Redman one of my Oxford business associates. Colin was with a group from Stratford Upon Avon exploring Hadrians Wall walks over the weekend. The group made a very generous donation to my Prince's Trust collecting tin - which was great. Tomorrow is another 20 mile day..