Day 18 (Byrness - Cocklaw Foot)

The climb out of Byrness proved to be a steep climb, described by our host as "Up a bit, Down a bit, over a forest track, and up onto the moors." We made it, however, in the end, and stood with a wonderful view of Byrness and the wonderful wooded valley.

It was cloudy throughout the morning, with the occasional shower. We made it to a mountain refuge hut in time for lunch just as a particularly bad shower passed over. The sun came out as we ate, and we continued on happily until the next shower...

and the next one...

and the next one...

There were clear outlines of an old roman fort which we passed during the morning, with a wonderful set of ramparts. John was very enthusiastic, as ever, about this. Most of the day was spent going in and out of rain, cloud, and sunshine. In the sun, we had spectacular views into Scotland to the North, and England to the South.


The view coming down to Cocklaw Foot was also, very nice. We turned down there, off the Pennine Way, in order to split the Cheviot Hills into two sixteen mile days, rather than one twenty-seven miles day. We were picked up by Jean Asher, my granny, and driven to Kirk Yetholm, where we will be spending two nights, before driving home on Friday morning.