Day 13 Lauder to Longformacus

I woke very early – just after 5 o’clock following a restless night due to the heat. Noelene was up early too and we ‘prepared ourselves’, loaded the car, etc. and had an excellent breakfast at the Black Bull.

So I set off walking just before 9 o’clock in lovely, though rather warm, weather. But I wasn’t complaining! I walked along the Main Street and through the grounds of Thirlestane Castle (privately owned!) and up onto the moors along mostly good and wide paths for the first few miles.

To begin with the path was through woodland but wide vistas soon opened up as I walked across well-cropped, grassy fields along moorland and forest tracks and paths.

As I continued and it became warmer I was very glad of the factor 50 sun cream I’d put on before setting off – and my wide brimmed hat, of course!  I reached the Twin Law Cairns, very much like Smithills Moor’s Two Lads Cairns – but bigger! At the second was a sealed box with a book and pens but since I was in ‘full flight’ I tarried not but just scribbled my name and a comment about being on the penultimate day of the SUW and carried on.

I walked around Watch Water Reservoir with the water sparkling wonderfully in the bright sunlight.  The paths and tracks were easy going but rocky underfoot which, even in my heavy duty Altberg boots, didn’t help the Morton’s Neuroma in the right foot at all.

I sat on a stile for a while and had my lunch, admiring the views of the Lammermuir Hills (of which, I have to admit, I’d never heard, though they were very lovely). I continued and the farm tracks gave way to tarmac trails and a road reaching a stream called Dye Water. It looked clean, clear and pretty but I could imagine what it must have been like in times past.

Then I was at the cluster of houses called Longformacus where Noelene was waiting to drive me to nearby Duns and our very nice Airbnb.  There Carol, the host, let me use the washing machine and dried a few of my clothes because I was running out of tee shirts and undies, which is when civilisation begins to look very attractive. We called at the Coop almost next door for a few things to accompany tonight’s pizzas from the even closer takeaway and then walked into the nearby town square where activities of the town’s Reivers Festival (or Duns Summer Festival) were taking place.

We watched a very brutal game of street rugby – married men vs. unmarried men, with no apparent rules. Then back to the gaff and our pizzas, washed down with beer/wine and an earlyish night in another very warm room and ‘bouncy’ bed with Arctic duvet.

Just as we were dropping off there was a procession of bagpipers followed by local people carrying flaming candles. It was all very wonderful. We liked Duns a lot.

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

Some Photos From Day 13