Day 11 Traquair to Melrose

Had a very nice veggie ‘full Scottish’ breakfast at the excellent Traquair Arms (at Innerleithen, not Traquair) and Noelene drove me back the mile and a half to the start of today’s walk to Melrose – from where I’d started the St. Cuthbert’s Way walk a few years ago.

The trail was very uphill for about the first four miles, following the Cross Borders Drove Road. As I walked it got warmer – I should’ve put my shorts on. The track was good and wide with great views as I ascended. Walking mainly along forest trails, uphill and down dale, I came across other walkers from time to time – the first I’d seen, apart from a couple of dog walkers (which aren’t proper walkers in my opinion, though the dogs seemed committed), since Portpatrick. Perhaps it was the good weather or the good trails through woodland with some lovely views.

I stopped and talked to a woman called Linda, walking the other way with her dog.  She told me she is 84, often walks these hills to have her lunch atop one of them and she has chosen that point to have her ashes scattered.  She had done the SUW herself about 20 years ago (as well as the St. Cuthbert’s Way – both in stages) and hates the Lake District because it’s overcrowded with, she said, the ‘wrong sort’ of visitor.  I was very impressed with Linda.

A little further on I met another woman coming towards me and she told me of someone else she had passed nearby who was also walking the SUW. I eventually caught up with him as he was sitting beside the trail having a rest and a drink. His name was Christoph from ‘south of Munich’. He didn’t recommend walking in the Black Forest (too many villages and people) and was wanting to do the Cape Wrath Trail because, like the SUW, it’s much quieter and more isolated. He said that he was part camping, part staying in hotels/B&Bs and didn’t have as planned an itinerary as me (very few people do!). He was heading for Galashiels and staying in a hotel for the night. I bade him good luck and carried on. I didn’t see him again.

I came to the Three Brethren cairns and there was a family picnicking, which was nice.  I said a quick ‘hello’ and carried on up and over Minch Moor in the Tweed Valley Forest Park.  The trail continued across moorland and through more of the forest park (seemed like ordinary forest to me!) before reaching the River Tweed, crossing it and gradually descending to Galashiels, crossing the River Tweed once more and following it to the spectacular Melrose Chain Bridge across the river.

I continued up into the town and met Noelene. We were booked into the George and Abbotsford Hotel but it looked a right dump, so we managed to get a very good room with air-conditioning at Burt’s Hotel just up the street. After the usual post-walk stuff and the weather being so good, we had an excellent meal in their garden. I had two pints of a couple of different Tempest Brewery ales. Well, having passed the brewery on today’s walk, it would have been rude not to, and I try not to be rude in matters of beer.

Click HERE to download the .gpx file of today’s walk

Some Photos From Day 11