Day 4 - Glentrool Village to St John's Town of Dalry
Day 5 - St John's Town of Dalry to Smitton's Bridge
Day 6 - Smitton's Bridge to Sanquhar
Day 7 - Sanquhar to Wanlockhead
Day 8 - Wanlockhead to Beattock
Day 9 - Beattock to St. Mary's Loch
Day 10 - St. Mary's Loch to Traquair
Day 11 - Traquair to Darnick (near Melrose)
Day 12 - Melrose to Lauder
Day 13 - Lauder to Longformacus
Day 14 - Longformacus to Cockburnspath
Day 15 - Cockburnspath to Home via Dunbar
After Thoughts
Photos and other comments (2023)
About the Walk
Price comparison - multiply by 2.14 for 2023 equivalent
The Southern Upland Way is a 212 mile National Trail across Scotland from Portpatrick near Stranraer on the western coast to Cockburnspath, SE of Edinburgh on the eastern coast. It is a walk that I have had a mind to do for some time but I have been put off by the fact there are some very long sections with no apparent accommodation and it has always seemed to be a walk that was more suited to backpacking than to B&Bs. However, although the walk does go through some very remote country, having read one or two accounts of the walk on the Internet, I realised that it is possible to find accommodation along the route. If the worst comes to the worst, there are B&Bs who will pick up walkers from pre-arranged points and drop them off again the next day, and it is also possible to find some very limited accommodation even in the most remote areas. With this reassurance in mind, I decided that it may be worth giving it a try, and put the guidebook on my Christmas present list.
The guidebook I chose was an Ordnance Survey Recreational Path Guide of The Southern Upland Way by Anthony Burton (ISBN 1 85410 455 1) complete with 1:25,000 OS map sections and with the whole 212 mile route included in the one volume. This makes a change from some National Trails which need two volumes to cover routes of lesser distance due to the inclusion of too much unnecessary material such as circular walks around various parts of the route and large amounts of historical and environmental information. This is all well and good in the right place, but is not ideally suited to a guidebook to be used primarily for route finding.
When the guidebook arrived and I started browsing through, I almost threw it away in disgust. Page after page of the map sections showed mile upon mile of forest walking, which is far from what I was looking for in the walk. However, on reading through the guide it claimed that this was not as bad as it looked, as many of these forests have been either newly planted or have been felled, whilst others still manage to afford some views through clearings or across lochs. Somewhat, but not altogether pacified by this, and still being attracted by some of the wild, open country further on, I decided that I would, after all, give it a try.
Planning and Preparation
The next thing was to try and plan my stops along the route, and work out how to break up some of the excessively long sections of 27 miles or more shown in the guidebook. The first thing that came to light was that there were some discrepancies in the distances quoted in the book. The 'Distance Checklist' near the front of the book shows Bargrennan to St John's Town of Dalry as 27.5 miles or 36 km, whereas the relevant chapter of the book shows it as 22.5 miles or 31 km. This does not inspire confidence and one would expect better of the Ordnance Survey. I eventually worked out that 22.5 miles or 36 km was what should have been printed, but it made me wonder if I could trust the rest of the mileages. I would hope that later editions of the book will have this corrected or, at least have an errata sheet included. Having sorted out this confusion, the next thing to do was to find an accommodation list. The main guide appears to be The Southern Upland Way Accommodation Guide, a free publication available from Tourist Information Centres along the way and also through the Ramblers' Association. I also found a copy of this in pdf format on the Internet at www.southernuplandway.com and downloaded the cumbersome 1.3 Mb file. Why anyone puts pdf files on the Internet is beyond me, as they are generally totally unsuitable for web browsing, being about ten times as large as an equivalent html file, but they seem to be much loved by government departments and academic institutions alike. They may be fine for desktop publishing and may be OK with broadband, but with a dial-up modem they are a pain.
However, at least I obtained an accommodation list and was able to start planning suitable overnight stops. The main causes for concern were the sections from Castle Kennedy to Bargrennan (26.5 miles), Bargrennan to St John's Town of Dalry (22.5 miles), St John's Town of Dalry to Sanquhar (25 miles) and Melrose to Longformacus (25 miles). Some of these sections were quite easy to split, albeit not into equal halves, by diverting a little off the route, but the one presenting most difficulty was the section from St John's Town of Dalry to Sanquhar, which has little habitation along the way. There is, however, a farmhouse close to the route about 7 miles from St John's Town of Dalry, and I managed to book accommodation there to break up that section. I didn't have too many problems booking most of the accommodation, except for the area around Melrose, which has plenty of B&Bs all of which were full. After a considerable amount of phoning around, I eventually managed to find a place in nearby Darnick, which had a room for me.
The final schedule still left me with very unevenly spaced stops with four days going between 20 and 22 miles including diversions to accommodation, but also with some days of only 7, 8 and 10 miles. This was far from ideal, but the best I could do in the circumstances through such remote areas. On my journey to the start, I decided not to head right to Portpatrick, but to stay overnight at Stranraer, travel to Portpatrick in the morning and walk back to Stranraer again for a second night in the same B&B. This meant that if my train was late arriving, I would not be stuck trying to get to my B&B and also that I could do the first day's walk with a lighter pack.
Travel to the start and from the finish was only feasible by rail, and even that was with two changes on each journey, making each of them take most of a day. I booked tickets on-line, enabling to get a Saver ticket on the outward journey, but not coming back. Apex tickets, although a price was quoted, for some reason were not available on either journey, so I had to make do with higher priced fares.
I normally manage to do quite a bit of regular walking and fit in a mountain walk around Snowdonia or the Clwydian Range every week or two, so I didn't need to worry about training for the walk. I had bought a new pair of boots just before Christmas and these were nicely broken in and quite comfortable, so everything seemed to be going fine until I went for a walk less than three weeks from when I was due to start the Southern Upland Way and found that one foot quickly became soaking wet. What had happened was, on a previous walk in dry conditions, I had stepped on something sharp with the arch of my foot and this had punctured the sole of my boot where it was weakened by the makers name tag recessed into the rubber. It looked as if it might be possible to repair in some way but I didn't want to risk setting off on a long walk unsure as to whether the repair would work. This meant that I had to rush out and buy a new pair of boots with very little time to break them in. I have rather awkwardly shaped feet but, fortunately, I managed to find a pair of Montrail boots that fitted quite well and felt comfortable right from the start. They are of similar construction to fabric boots I have had with GoreTex lining and plenty of padding, but with a more substantial leather outer which, I hoped would keep out the water more than fabric would. A few walks in the boots proved them to be as comfortable as I had first thought, so I felt quite relieved about starting the walk. The only thing I needed to do was to provide them with some sort of arch support for my high instep, otherwise I knew I would start getting my usual problems of pains in the balls of my feet after a few days of walking. Rather than just stuffing something under the insole, as I have sometimes done in the past, I decided to make something more substantial using car body filler which I put into small polythene bags inside my boots so that it would be moulded to the shape of my instep whilst it set. This seemed to work quite well and, after a bit of trimming here and there to get the best fit, I inserted these supports underneath some Sorbothane insoles, hoping that this would give me the best possible comfort for the walk.
Having checked out all the things I needed, and a few more that I didn't need, in my rucksack, it weighed about 20 lbs. Without food or water for the day. This is rather more than I would have liked, but comes about from adding extra little items from walk to walk and thinking "Oh, another half pound won't make too much difference." I had packed a few more items for cold weather than I normally carry, with the walk being further north, and I had also added insect repellent in case of problems with midges.
Day 0 - Tuesday 27th May 2003 - Home to Stranraer
After saying my farewells, I had a lift to the station and commenced my journey to Stranraer. All went smoothly with my connections and the weather was fine as I travelled on the final leg of the journey from Carlisle. The train takes a roundabout route that approaches Stranraer from the north east, having crossed the Southern Upland Way at Sanquhar, which I would reach six days into the walk. The train was not very full until it reached Ayr, where there was a mass influx of people, many of them foreign, although I couldn't quite make out what nationality they were. Many were carrying large rucksacks and I wondered if they were heading for the Southern Upland Way. Ayr is the nearest station to Prestwick airport, so that is obviously from where they had arrived.
On the way down the coast, I was able to get a feel for the landscape with wide sweeping hills and forests, although the higher hills were shrouded in mist. Out from the coast the rocky island of Ailsa Craig could be seen in places. Further down towards Stranraer, the land was considerably lower and largely grazed by cattle. Having travelled a considerably way with the coast on my right, Luce Bay on the southern coast came into sight on my left as the train made its final approach to Stranraer. As everyone disgorged from the train, I found that I was the only one headed towards the town; everyone else made for the ferry terminal and the boat to Belfast. So much for me thinking that they were Southern Upland Way walkers.
After finding my B&B opposite Safeways and watching the weather forecast, I went down to the bus stop to find out the times of busses to Portpatrick in the morning. There was roughly a two hourly service with one conveniently timed at 8.58, just right for breakfast at 8.00. Looking around Stranraer for something to eat, I chanced on the Arkhouse Inn where they were serving bar meals, so I had a home made steak pie and some McEwans 80/- beer; not real ale, as there tends to be less of that around in Scotland, but nevertheless quite palatable.
Day 1 - Wednesday 28th May 2003 - Portpatrick to Stranraer
Distance: 12.2 miles + 2 miles to B&B, Ascent: 850 ft
Accommodation: Ivy House B&B
I woke up to a rather dreary morning with mist and some light rain. My plan was to take the bus to the start at Portpatrick, walk along the route, skirting around Stranraer to within a mile of Castle Kennedy and then walk the two miles back to my B&B along an old military road shown on the map. The next day I could rejoin the route by retracing my steps. This would mean that I would have a fairly easy day, as I could leave a lot of my rucksack contents behind and have a walk of a little over 14 miles. I had a full Scottish breakfast of bacon, egg, two sausages, tomato, mushrooms and fried soda bread, which was more than enough to set me up for the day.
After calling at Safeways for a few things for my packed lunch, I got to the bus stop in good time, only to find a bus there with two mechanics unsuccessfully trying to repair it. Not knowing whether this was the bus I was supposed to catch, I was quite relieved when another bus came along destined for Portpatrick and transported me there through the mist and rain.
Start of the walk at Portpatrick in the rain
Killantringan Lighthouse, where SUW departs from the coast
Portpatrick is a pleasant little town with its harbour, lighthouse and rugged coastal scenery. It was raining sufficiently for me to put on my waterproofs as I wandered around the harbour and set off past the Southern Upland Way notice board towards the cliffs. The coastal scenery was interesting, despite the poor weather, although any chance of seeing Northern Ireland was completely out of the question. Red campions, bluebells and other wild flowers lined the way to add a touch of colour and brightened up the scene.
After a mile or so, the rain had eased to light drizzle and I was already feeling hot and stuffy in my waterproofs and the clothes in which I had travelled from Stranraer, so I stopped to change into shorts. Past the fine looking Killantringan lighthouse, the way turns away from the coast to follow minor roads for a few miles with not a great deal to see, especially in the dreary, misty conditions. However, I did come across a roe deer, which came across a field and into the road, about 100 yards ahead before turning around and running back down the field.
At Mullock Hill, there is quite a nice view of Knockquhassen Reservoir but there was no possibility of seeing the peaks of Arran and Ailsa Craig, which are visible on a clear day. I stopped for lunch by the reservoir, where it was still misty with a little drizzle that started to turn to showers of rain after a while, forcing me to put on my waterproof jacket. With the clearing of the mist, the views opened up more with a visibility of about 10 miles. It was not long before the way reverted to minor roads for most of the remaining walk. There were views, after a while, over Stranraer with its ferries for Northern Ireland, and views of some low hills to the east, in the direction of tomorrow's walk. However, the road walking became very tedious, relieved only by a few limited views round about and some interesting flora on the verges and in the hedgerows. Traffic was not a problem, there being only a few cars that I encountered all day, apart from those on the very short stretch of the walk along the main A77 road, which was quite busy. The main problem with the road walking was that much of it was along straight stretches of road with little change of scenery, and this tends to make a walk drag.
A little way before I reached the point where I was to double back into Stranraer, I stopped by a small loch in the forest to take advantage of the shelter from the trees while I had a short rest at 3pm I took this opportunity to look at some of the leaflets I had picked up earlier. At various points along the way, there are leaflet boxes with information on the geology, wildlife, place names, accommodation and the route as well as one about 'waymerks'. A number of local artists have created 'kists' out of a variety of materials and partially hidden them along the way. In each kist is a large number of merks, minted from lead or copper and the size of a coin with a different design for each of 13 locations. The idea is to collect one from each kist that you find along the way.
The rain was a little heavier as I made my way to meet up with one of the old military roads leading back towards Stranraer, but it was not enough to get me particularly wet. The minor road met up with the busy A75 for the rest of the way, but at least there was a footpath most of the way. I was the cause of some intrigue to a young lad, who was finishing his paper round on his bike. He followed me along for quite a way, querying whether I was cold in shorts and asking why I should want to be in Scotland and why I should want to walk to the opposite coast. Eventually, he went on his way, and I continued on, arriving at my B&B by 4.30pm after a fairly easy, but uninspiring day's walk.
After a shower and cup of tea, I watched the news and weather on TV before heading back to the Arkhouse Inn for a few pints of McEwans 80/- and a meal of enchiladas, which was very good and filling. Even after a day's walking, I couldn't manage all the chips and coleslaw that went with it.
Day 2 - Thursday 29th May 2003 - Stranraer to New Luce
Distance: 11 miles + 3.5 miles to/from B&Bs, Ascent: 800 ft
Accommodation: Ivy House B&B
I had another good Scottish breakfast at 8am, then called into Safeways for some things for lunch and at the cash point, as it would be quite a few days before I would reach a town of any reasonable size. To return to the Southern Upland Way, I decided to walk along the seafront on the A77 Ayr road, which runs nearly parallel with the A75 that I had come back on for the last mile yesterday. It was much more pleasant being able to look across the bay as I walked along, even though the road was gradually diverging from the route. On the beach there were an incredible number of shells, almost covering it in some places, and I was quite surprised to find swans and other wildfowl that I would only have expected to see on freshwater.
The forecast was not very good for the early part of the day, but it was not raining and was already starting to brighten up a little, which made a welcome change from yesterday. The maps in the guidebook did not extend to where I was now, so it was a matter of guesswork finding the way to where I wanted to be. As I started to come out of the town, I took a small road to the right and followed that until it eventually emerged onto the A75. About half a mile along the main road, which, at least, had a good pavement, I took another small road to the right and got back to quite near where I had left the route yesterday. I think that I covered about 3 miles getting there, rather than the 2 miles of the direct route, but I enjoyed the walk far more and I did not have a particularly long day ahead of me, so I didn't mind at all.
By this time there were a few patches of blue sky and it was getting quite hot, which was bringing out a few of the dreaded midges, but not enough to cause me much of a problem. The route soon entered a strip of mixed woodland next to the railway line and this made a pleasant change from walking along roads. The sunlight was streaming down through the trees, highlighting the bluebells and red campions, which were all around.
Passing quickly through the small village of Castle Kennedy, the route enters the grounds of the castle itself along a road lined with colourful rhododendrons, with a view across the White Loch to the ruins of the castle. The bank of the loch made an ideal place for a rest at 11 a.m. and as I sat there in the increasing patches of sunshine, I watched a heron perched not far away by the loch. Further along the loch was a turning off to the car park for the castle and its gardens, so I went up there hoping for a better view of the castle. From the car park, there was quite a good view of the castle from close quarters, without having to go into the grounds.
Ruins of Castle Kennedy from car park
Footbridge over Water of Luce
Back on the route, it joined the road for a while before following a track uphill with views opening out more and more. Up the hill, after another short road section, the way follows a track leading to a forest. My guidebook talks about entering the forest, but I was pleased to find that things had changed since the book was written. Firstly, large areas of the forest had been felled, and secondly, the route had been diverted to take it around the perimeter of the forest so that, even when it is replanted, there will still be a view on one side. The landscape was that of a wild upland area with gentle hills punctuated by patches of forest. The weather was warm and sunny, so I stopped for an hour's sunbathing and had some lunch. It was very peaceful, with only the sound of the wind blowing gently through the trees, some birdsong, and the buzzing of a few flies, which were not too troublesome.
On the way down towards the Water of Luce, there was a short stretch where the path entered the edge of dense forest but, even then, it offered views through the trees for most of the way, so was not unpleasant. This change in forestry was mentioned in one of the leaflets that I picked up along the way. They have been trying to make the route more walker friendly, having realised that too much walking through forests puts many people off the walk. Nearer to the river, before crossing the railway line, there was woodland with large patches of bluebells to brighten the scene. A recently rebuilt footbridge takes the way over the Water of Luce and there, in the shelter of the valley, it was very hot, so I was glad when I climbed up Smithy Hill and found a little more breeze to keep me cool. At the road, I could have gone straight to my overnight accommodation in New Luce and then rejoined the route further along next day. However, as I did not have a long day's walk, I had decided to follow the way around New Luce and then turn back into the village from the other side so that I would not miss out any of the route.
Track over moors beyond Smithy Hill
Loups of Barnshangan waterfalls
Up Smithy Hill, it was back to rough moorland after the verdant pastures of the valley and, after following a long, straight track for a couple of miles, I eventually neared the road at Barnshangan, where I took another rest, finishing off the last of my water. The weather was becoming more overcast, but still quite warm, as I went on to take a look at the Loups of Barnshangan, some waterfalls on the Cross Water of Luce. The peaty waters cascade through rocks into an almost black pool beneath a footbridge. It was then just a matter of walking about a mile and a half down the road to the Kenmuir Arms Hotel in New Luce, where I was spending the night.
I had the luxury of a bath to soak in when I arrived at the hotel and I then went down to the bar. There were a few people in the bar, mainly locals, and I had a few pints of Belhaven Best and a very tender lamb shank with mash from an extensive menu, even though I was the only one eating that night. A couple of chaps in the bar were schoolteachers who had arrived on their cycles and they consumed a number of pints of Guinness with gin chasers. I was surprised when they asked for gin and ended up with a glass of black liquid, but the word gin in these parts automatically means gin and coke. By the time they departed, I would have been surprised if they could manage to ride back home in a straight line, although they didn't seem too much the worse for wear, and it was obviously better than driving a car after the same amount of drink. In this remote place, they would be unlikely to meet up with any other road users on the way back in any case.
Day 3 - Friday 30th May 2003 - New Luce to Glentrool Village
Distance: 18 miles + 3 miles to/from B&Bs, Ascent: 1,100 ft
Accommodation: B&B - 61, Glentrool Village
It had rained heavily overnight, but I woke up to a bright morning with hazy sun. I had a long walk ahead of me of about 21 miles including my detours to and from accommodation, so I wanted to get off to a reasonably early start. After a good breakfast at 8am, I managed to get started by 9am after chatting to the landlord, who was quite a young chap from the north east with a wife from Surrey together with her father, who was helping to run the business. They had only just taken the place over several months earlier and seemed to have been doing quite well, even through the winter, with the prospect of better trade in the summer.
I set off up the road back to where I had left the way the previous day and continued up the road, climbing steadily past Balmurrie farmhouse, with its beautiful garden, then onto a track and then a footpath over rough moorland. It was interesting to see how, on one side of the road was lush pasture, and on the other side rough moorland. In this remote area, with plenty of land to spare, much of the land which could have been developed into good grazing has been left untouched.
I came to a point where the path was not clearly defined, although there were a few marker posts from time to time. A recently erected fence kept me away from the route shown on the map, but there was a marker post on my side of the fence. After a short while, however, I realised that this was taking me in the wrong direction and I had to stop to take my bearings using my GPS. I was a few hundred yards off route, but it was not too difficult to make my way across to the correct path, albeit over some rather boggy ground. The weather had been rather warm and humid lower down, but higher up it was more pleasant , with hazy sun and a cool breeze.
A little further on, I entered the long forest section, but was pleased to find that there were broad clearings about 50 yards wide along the route for much of the way, which made the forest less oppressive, and a number of larger clearings and areas where felling had taken place opened things up even more. All in all, it is nowhere near so bad as it looks on the map, although the long forest tracks do tend to drag. The route varied from well made tracks to rather uneven and boggy paths over tussocky grass, which made rather heavy going but, in general, it was easy to make good progress.
At a shelter called the Beehive, I met a ranger, employed by the council, who was doing a photographic survey of this section of the route. I chatted to him for a while and commented on the lack of people walking at this time of year. He said that a lot more people walk later on and suffer badly from the midges, whereas at this time of year they are not much of a problem. The last entry in the visitors' book was from four days ago, which was about right for someone who had set off at the weekend.
Beehive shelter in a clearing at Laggangarn
Loch Derry and Craig Airie Fell (route came over summit)
Further along were the Laggangarn standing stones, and beyond that, just off the route, the Wells of Rees, where lepers from Glenluce Abbey used to take the waters for their supposed curative properties. The ranger met up with me again, as he surveyed at the wells. These little items of interest helped to break up what would otherwise have been a rather monotonous forest walk.
Near Craig Airie Fell, where there had been a lot of tree felling, I was surprised to find that the route did not follow that shown in my guidebook, but doubled back towards the summit of the fell. This was a welcomed addition to the route, as the clear felling around about has opened up a full panorama from the summit, with Loch Derry below and a vast area of moorland and forest around in all directions. Unfortunately, the rather hazy conditions limited the view somewhat, but it still seemed to be the ideal spot for a lunch break and a spot of sunbathing with my boots off. I had to watch the time a bit, as I still had quite a long walk ahead of me and I didn't want to arrive too late at my B&B in Glentrool Village. It surprised me to find that in this remote location, with no civilisation for miles around, that there was good reception on my mobile phone. It seems that, even in remote places, there can still be a good signal if you are in line of sight with a distant transmitter, whereas lower down the signal is frequently blocked by small hills, even if you are quite close to a mast.
As I was about to set off again, the ranger met up with me yet again. He then passed me twice more in his pickup truck along the forest track further on. The next section of forest again had a wide clearing along the track, a number of other clearings, and views of the river from time to time, which helped to relieve the monotony of the walk a little, though it was still very tedious. After what seemed to be an eternity, I emerged onto the B7027 road from the forest road and, in another half mile, at last came to a path through the last stretch of forest before Bargrennan. Although the path was rather uneven and boggy, I was quite relieved to be on a path instead of a hard track or road. At this point I met the ranger again for the final time, as he was soon finishing for the day.
As I finally exited from the forest, I took a well earned break, as I had been walking for about 7 miles since my lunch-time stop. Continuing on my way, a further mile of road walking brought me to a path up the Hill of Ochiltree, with its fine views over the Loch of Fyntalloch and Loch Ochiltree, with a view also, though rather hazy, of the higher hills to the east. A path, rather boggy in places, leads down to the A714 road at Bargrennan. However, after hopping across a number of boggy bits, I must have missed a sign to turn left and carried straight on. When I realised this, I decided to drop down through Garchew Wood, in order to rejoin the rout. The wood itself was not much of a problem, but at the bottom I had to make my way through a very large area of extremely boggy ground, and only just managed to avoid sinking in over my boot tops on a few occasions. It was, therefore, with great relief that I rejoined the correct path and made my way into Bargrennan.
Loch of Fyntalloch and Loch Ochiltree from Hill of Ochiltree
My B&B was about a mile and a half further along the road, in Glentrool Village, and I was pleased to see a sign pointing this diversion as an alternative route, picking up the way again via the visitor centre. This means that tomorrow I have about half a mile less than the 22.5 miles stated in the guidebook - still a long walk, but every bit less is all to the good. As I walked along the main A714 road a little way to pick up the minor road into Glentrool, I was rather dismayed to see that the sign said 2 miles to Glentrool Village when I reckoned that it should be little more than a mile, as I had already had enough of walking on long forest tracks and roads. Fortunately, the village came into sight before too long and I realised that they had got the sign wrong. I had a warm welcome from Morag at the B&B. She had wanted me to phone when I reached the main road, so that she could give me a lift, and was quite insistent that I have a lift down to the pub, which was a mile back down the road, for a meal. With some difficulty, I managed to persuade her that I really preferred to do everything on foot if it was at all possible, and a mile to the pub was nothing to worry about.
After a pot of tea and a bath to freshen me up, I set off back down the road towards the pub in the cooler evening temperature, which was far more pleasant than the rather oppressive heat earlier on. Despite the long walk earlier, I was feeling fully refreshed, and found it no effort at all getting down to the pub, especially with only having to carry myself and not a heavy pack. The bar did not have much ambience, but it was quite entertaining in there, as there were two couples having a lot of jovial banter between themselves and with the landlord and landlady, who were leaving on Sunday. I had a reasonable meal of haddock, chips and peas, together with a few pints of beer, which I needed to replace all the fluid I had lost in the hot day's walk.
When I got back to the B&B, Morag was telling me that the landlord had got on the wrong side of most of the locals and that they would be glad to see the back of him. She gave me a drink of her home-made sloe gin, and we had quite a long chat before I went off to bed to get some rest for another long day's walk.
Day 4 - Saturday 31st May 2003 - Glentrool Village to St John's Town of Dalry
Distance: 22 miles, Ascent: 2,100 ft
Accommodation: Lochinvar Hotel
I had another good Scottish breakfast at 8am and was off, after packing up my things and chatting, at 9am. As I left, Morag invited me to pick up a small piece of paper from a little dish on the table. It had a short quotation from the bible on each side. Again she wanted to give me a lift back to the route, but again I persuaded her that I didn't need one, as I was going via the visitor centre. From there, a path by the river eventually leads to a footbridge, where it meets the main route on the other side of the Water of Trool. This part of the walk, though in the forest, is very pleasant, as the river is nearby and the trees are far enough back for the hills on one side of the valley or the other to be seen for most of the way.
Loch Trool
After a couple of miles, Loch Trool appears and there is a good view from the loch side. However, I soon found that this path petered out and that the main path climbed up a hill through the trees, a little way back. Unfortunately, the trees do obscure the view of the loch for some time. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this bit of forest walking because the path twisted and turned and climbed up and down so that there was an ever changing view, even if it was sometimes just of more trees. This is so different from the long straight forest tracks and roads where there is virtually the same view for half a mile at a time and all you can think about is getting to the end of it. Further along, the loch becomes visible again through the trees and there are many more lovely vistas of the craggy hills, loch and trees. This section of the walk is by no means easy, but it was the most enjoyable so far, and I was hoping that this improvement in the scenery would continue.
I stopped for a break at 11 a.m. just past the head of Loch Trool, where I drank half a litre of water straight down, as it was another warm day with hazy sunshine, although there was a cool, refreshing breeze from time to time. Looking at the hills around, I started thinking that the route would have been better following the hilltops rather than keeping to the valley, but considering the long distance between accommodation, perhaps it would be too much to include a lot more climbing, which would make for slower progress.
At the head of Loch Trool, the path climbs up fairly steeply for a way before dropping back down to Glenhead Burn. At this point there was a sign showing this section of the Southern Upland Way together with an alternative route offering better views. A solid red line showed the Southern Upland Way and there was also a dotted line looping away for a couple of miles. I took the route shown by the dotted line and was rather disappointed to find that, after a while it ended up on a long forest track climbing up a high valley with no view at all. Even when it emerged from the forest further up, there was still not much of a view. As I reached the top of the hill, there was another notice board showing the same map at the other end of the alternative route. On closer examination, I found that the dotted route was actually the original route and that the alternative route was the one that was fully waymarked and shown as the official route on the map. The normal thing that is done in these circumstances is to have a sign saying that there is a route change and asking people to follow the waymarkers. This was all very confusing and meant that I missed out on the better views.
National Cycle Trail signpost by Loch Dee
The wide track continued on past Loch Dee but the scenery, though still good, was not as attractive as that of Glen Trool, and the forest track became rather tedious although again, due to felling and replanting, the views over Loch Dee and the surrounding hills were not obscured for most of the way. Just past Loch Dee, I took a lunch break. At lunch breaks, weather permitting, I like to take off my boots and socks to give my feet a proper rest and a good airing. It also helps to dry out any dampness that may have been building up. A small blister had been building up under my right heel and this was caused by the foam rubber of my Sorbothane insoles having broken up causing it to rub. I took this opportunity to cut away some of the offending rubber, and also to burst the blister. Apart from this minor problem, my feet were doing very well and giving me less problem than on many long walks.
I set off again at 1.45pm and soon found that the conifers took over and I was faced with another long trudge on wide forest tracks without much of a view. In one or two places, large areas of trees had been felled, opening up wider views of the hills around and about, but this still left all the unsightly debris left from the felling operations. Eventually, after crossing the River Dee, I came to a sign put up by Forest Enterprises which said 'No unauthorised persons beyond this point'. There was no diversion marked, nor was there any sight or sound of anyone working in the area, so I just carried on, keeping an eye out for anything that might be happening. After about 100 yards, I came to a similar sign facing in the opposite direction, and all that I could see between the two were some new stone chippings that had been spread on the track.
Eventually, Clatteringshaws Loch came into sight and relieved the monotony of the walk for a while, before the route turned away through more forestry before finally emerging into open country. Looking at the guidebook, I had about 6 or 7 miles to go. It does annoy me that these OS guides to National Trails are lacking in the most basic information that a walker requires. To me, one of the most important things I want to know, after knowing that I am on the right route, is how far I have left to go, so that I know how quickly I have to walk and how many rest stops I can take. Most guidebooks written as such by real walkers include this information as a matter of course, generally by putting a little circle every mile along the route with the distance from the start, making it very easy to see how far it is to your next destination. They often also include the amount of ascent in each section of the walk, so you can see how difficult it is likely to be. However, to the Ordnance Survey, these things seem of no importance and they would far rather include lots of information that is of little relevance to a walker than include things of genuine practical value.
I stopped for a short break and a drink of water before setting off at 4.10 p.m. on the last stretch to St John's Town of Dalry. It was a relief to be out, at last, into open country again, even though it was on a rather nasty path along a sloping hillside badly churned up by cattle. It did improve after a while before joining a track and then a road for the next few miles. I was feeling rather footsore now and looking forward to reaching my destination for the night. I made one more quick stop for water and a short rest at 5.30 p.m. The weather had gradually changed from hazy sunshine to cloud, which had, at least, brought down the temperature, making it pleasantly cool. After following road and the stream for a while, the way took a path through fields and up Waterside Hill, which overlooks St John's Town of Dalry. As I entered the field I found a hefty bull standing right in the path. He was accompanied by several heifers, so was less liable to be a danger, but I didn't want to take any chances. I waited for a while hoping that he would move, but then gradually made my way around him. He kept eyeing me up and down but seemed contented, as he kept chewing the grass, so I was able to get cautiously past and on my way.
St John's Town of Dalry from Waterside Hill
Footbridge over Water of Ken to St John's Town of Dalry
There was a steady climb up the hill, but I didn't mind that, as it made a pleasant change and opened up views of the rolling hills around the area, as well as of the town itself. A short walk down the hill took me to the road, where I found another route change to take a path by the river rather than having to follow the road for a while. The riverside path leads to a footbridge over the river by the church, which is right by the town centre. My accommodation at the Lochinvar Hotel was quite close and it was not long before I was soaking in a nice hot bath before going down to the bar for a well earned pint or two and a bar meal. I had Cumberland sausage with mash and vegetables, which would have been nicer had it been warmed up properly, then followed by trifle.
The cloud had cleared making it a warm sunny evening, so I had a wander around the church and down by the river, where a few people were fishing. I didn't go very far, as I was still feeling the effects of the 22 mile walk on top of the long walk of the previous day. The river flow here is affected by the hydroelectric power station a short way upstream, which can release sudden heavy bursts of water at times of peak electricity demand. This must have been the case when I came by earlier, as the river was flowing much more rapidly than now. The water level can rise suddenly and there are warning notices to this effect.
The other main accommodation provider in the town is the Clachen Inn, which is home to www.southernuplandway.com. The room prices tend to be more expensive than the Lochinvar Hotel, although they do offer discounts for those doing the whole Southern Upland Way. It seemed very lively in the bar, and it would have been nice to go in, but I was still feeling a bit too full from my meal to have another pint. I went back to my room and watched TV for a while and caught a weather forecast which said that there was a band of rain spreading across but then it would be quite good for the next few days.
Day 5 - Sunday 1st June 2003 - St John's Town of Dalry to Smittons Farm
Distance: Distance: 7 miles + 0.5 miles to B&B, Ascent: 350 ft
Accommodation: Smittons Farm
Breakfast was from 8.30 to 9.00 and I was in no hurry today with only a short way to walk to Smittons Farm. I had washed out a number of things last night, including my shorts, and they were still soaking wet, so I resorted to the old trick of heating up the jug kettle and draping things around it until the worst of the wet was dried out. For breakfast, as I only had a short walk, I opted for a small breakfast of bacon, sausage and egg rather than the full works. I have been finding that, even on long days, I do not get so hungry, possibly because of my age, but possibly also because a lot of the walking has been on the flat, which doesn't use up so much energy.
I set off at 10am wearing clothes that were still not dry, but they soon dried out in the breeze. The weather was better than expected - cloudy but with some sunshine and considerably cooler than the last few days. It is always a problem to know what to do on a short day's walk. If I were to press on quickly, I could do the walk in a bit over two hours, but there is no point in arriving in the middle of the day unless it is somewhere with things to occupy the time in the afternoon. In good weather, it is possible to stop every mile or two to have a long rest enjoying the view and possibly sunbathing, whereas in bad weather with no shelter, the only option is to press on. Had it been raining, I would probably have spent the morning in St John's Town of Dalry, had a pint or two and something to eat at lunch-time, and then walked in the afternoon. As things are, the good weather option is a possibility.
Earlstoun Loch from Ardoch Hill, a little way off the route
The scenery around here is really fine and makes me feel like I am in the Southern Uplands, unlike the earlier part of the walk. The town itself has quite a few facilities with a few shops, a bank and even a Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths. Above the town, a steady climb opened up some lovely views of the surrounding hills, so when I reached Ardoch, I turned left instead of right to head for the summit of Ardoch Hill, which gave a fine view to the west overlooking Earlstoun Loch and the hills behind. Unfortunately, the rather cool breeze got stronger, so I decided to move on after a little while at 11.45am.
After rejoining the way where I left off, I made my way through pleasant walking country before getting a bit confused with the waymarking. I passed one marker post, but could not see where the route was supposed to go. It didn't help that the map in my guidebook was rather inaccurate about the route around here, showing it running close to the forest wall, whereas it actually runs about a hundred yards to the west. On re-examining the last marker post, however, I found that it had a very faded arrow pointing to the right. This was all right for a little while until I came to a little gate without hinges tied up with baler twine and without a stile. This sort of thing is quite commonplace on some walks, but not in keeping with the generally very high standards I had found so far on the Southern Upland Way, so it made me a little unsure as to whether I had missed my way. I could see no other route, so I climbed over the gate and soon found another waymarker post.
At this point, the sun was shining again and there was a wall to shelter me from the wind, so it seemed an ideal place to stop for lunch and a spot of sunbathing. After a couple of very relaxing hours, I decided to make my way a little further. This is very fine walking country, with distant views of the hills all around. After a while, the path joined up with a minor road for about a mile to Butterhole Bridge, where I encountered a very strange thing in these parts. It was a motor car - not even a farmer's Land Rover but a saloon car.
Rhinns of Kells from near Butterhole Bridge
East from Marskaig Hill
North from Culmark Hill Smittons Bridge is to left, with Cairnsmore of Carsphairn behind
From here there were fine views of some of the higher hills of the Southern Uplands, with Cairnsmore of Carsphairn to the north, and the Rhinns of Kells to the west. Soon, the way took to a footpath making its way up to Culmark Hill where, again, the route shown in my guidebook was a little different from the actual route, although this didn't matter too much, as the route was waymarked reasonably well. On top of the hill, a wide vista opened up with Smittens Farm, my destination for the night, beside the river with a forest behind and a backdrop the high rounded hills of the Cairnsmore of Carsphairn. The route of tomorrow's walk could also be clearly seen, as far as Benbrack. I had another stop to admire the view and to pass a bit of time before making my way down to my B&B.
It is at times like this, with plenty of time to spare, that binoculars come in useful for picking out distant features and observing the wildlife. It is always debatable as to whether it is worth carrying the extra weight when, on many days, there is not a lot of spare time to make use of them, but for the last several walks I have carried them with me.
When I thought that it was late enough in the afternoon, I descended the hill to Culmark Farm, where the route should go through the farmyard, but I found a newly erected fence blocking the way with no stile, as yet, erected. It was not much of a problem to skirt around the perimeter wall of the farm to regain the way along the access road to the farm and from there to the B729 road to Smittens Bridge. This was quite a busy road for these parts, with about half a dozen cars travelling along in the last hour. At the road, the way goes off to the right, but Smittens Farm was about half a mile off the route to the left. This is the only accommodation within a reasonable distance of the route to enable this 25 mile section of the walk to be broken up into two, rather unequal parts, although there is a bothy further on that many people use.
I was given a very warm welcome when I arrived at the farm just after 5pm and, after a cup of coffee and a bath, I had a very nice meal of lentil soup, chicken in a pepper sauce and cheesecake. There is no pub anywhere near here, so I spent the evening looking through four volumes of serialised weekly 'Discover Scotland' magazines, which were very interesting and well illustrated. The couple had been there for five years and only started doing B&B when a Southern Upland Way Ranger pleaded with them to do so. The nearest town is Carsphairn, about five and a half miles away, and the only person they regularly see is the postman, although they did have their 5 year old granddaughter staying with them for a holiday.
Day 6 - Monday 2nd June 2003 - Smittons Bridge to Sanquhar
Distance: 18 miles + 0.5 miles from B&B, Ascent: 2,650 ft
Accommodation: Drumbringan Guest House
I woke up to a bright, sunny morning, had a good breakfast at 8am and off just before 9am back along the road to meet up with the way. There was a cool wind and quite a few clouds were gathering as I made my way on the gradual climb up Manquhill Hill. This really is in the heart of the Southern Uplands, with wide views of hills and forests all around. Some of the highest ground was just in the cloud but, otherwise, there was good visibility all around. I stopped for a rest and drink of water on the summit of the hill, which is slightly off the route. It was interesting to see that I had full signal strength here on my mobile phone but there was none at all back at the farm.
To look at the map, it would seem that there is a large area of dense forest to contend with around Manquhill Hill. In fact, there is very little impression of this on the ground, as the trees were young and no more than 8 or 10 feet tall and well spaced from the path. With the contour of the hillside, there was very little impression of being surrounded by trees and there were good, open views most of the way. Even when the trees are fully grown, they will not have a big impact on the openness of the scenery.
Benbrack from Manquhill Hill
West from Mid Hill towards Cairnsmore of Carsphairn
Scar Water Valley towards Polgown
The ascent of Benbrack was somewhat steeper, and was the first significant climb of the walk so far with an altitude of 580 M. However, it was not a difficult climb to the rounded summit, which opened up views of the route ahead. I stopped for another short break just past the summit, where there was less wind. There were still some patches of blue sky, but also some dark clouds looming, but all in all, it was still good walking weather for this splendid stretch of the route. Eventually, the way entered another forest at High Countam and the views mostly disappeared for a mile or so, although the walk was, at least, on a path that meandered around to make it less tedious. As I started the descent of the hill, there were more clearings and a better view of the surrounding hills, which climbed steeply up from the valley, so were often visible above the trees.
I stopped for a break at the Memorial Bothy, which made a convenient place to sit down. There had been a few spots of rain but it managed to hold off for the moment. The diary in the bothy showed quite a few recent entries, but not all of them from people walking the Southern Upland Way. Many, like me, were using it to have a lunch break and the last entry from Southern Upland Way walkers was on 29th May. It also was apparent, from some of the diary entries, that this is used as a pickup point for walkers going to various B&Bs. I was starting to get a bit cool, so set off again after a 45 minute break with about half of the day's walk completed.
Near Polskeoch (these place names on the map are generally just names of isolated farmhouses), I came across a group of motorcyclists, Italian I think. At first I couldn't work out what they were doing, but then realised that they had come upon the locked forestry gate and were trying to manoeuvre their bikes around a boggy area of grass to bypass the gate. The next couple of miles were on a minor road, but were enjoyable because there were fine views down the valley and the road meandered a little, so was not so monotonous. At Polgown, the way heads up the hillside on a path, revealing ever finer views of the broad valley running between a series of hills on either side. The sun started shining a bit more just to add to the scene, although there was still a cool wind blowing.
Scar Water Valley from ascent of Cloud Hill
Approaching Sanquhar
I started to notice that my left heel was feeling rather sore, so I stopped at the top of Cloud Hill to investigate. A blister had formed, so I put a plaster over it to help stop the rubbing and tightened my bootlaces a little to try to reduce any movement of my feet within my boots. I also noticed, when I looked inside my boots, that the seams in the GoreTex lining at the heels had split, and the foam padding beneath was wearing away, leaving a hollow by each heel. This was the cause of my problems, and not very satisfactory for a pair of expensive new boots.
Over the Hill, Sanquhar came clearly into view, and Lowther Hill with its golf ball radar station was also clear to see. Most of the hills of the Southern Uplands are lacking in any distinctive shape, and are, therefore, difficult to distinguish apart, so it is always good to see a clear identifying feature on some hills to make them unmistakable. Sanquhar looked deceptively close, but was still about four miles away, as the route has to make a considerable detour to cross the river via the road bridge. However, the sun came out more and more, making a pleasant end to an enjoyable day's walk, ending with a riverside walk and then to the castle ruins.
All in all, this has been the best day of the walk so far, despite the weather being cold and windy in the middle of the day. There has been relatively little walking on roads and forest tracks, some good, high level walking and some splendid hill scenery. This has made the miles pass by almost unnoticed, which is how it should be on a good walk.
My B&B was only a short way round the corner in Castle Street, where I relaxed in a hot bath and then did some minor surgery on my blister before setting out in search of a drink and a meal. The first bar I saw didn't look as if it would be serving food, so I took a chance on the next place along the road. The lady behind the bar said that she could cook something if I didn't mind waiting a bit. The bar itself was small and rather run down with three regulars propping up the counter. One chap was totally wrecked, still with three drinks in front of him and the couple were knocking it back quite a bit, particularly the woman. I find it difficult to understand the mentality of some of the Scottish population who feel the need to drink themselves into oblivion as quickly as possible in the early evening, but it did make me think that I had made a big mistake by choosing this particular bar, though I don't know if the other ones would have been any better. Everyone in the bar had a strong Glaswegian accent, unlike most of the people I had met on the way so far, who didn't have very pronounced accents at all and were quite easy to understand. Although they were all very friendly, I didn't particularly want to get into conversation with a chap who could hardly manage to stand up straight, but the place was too small not to get involved.
After a while, the food arrived and I was able to sit down at one of the two small tables and, at least, be a little bit more out of the way. The landlord refused the drunken chap any more drinks and took him home. Meanwhile, various other people came and went, including a chap who worked in the Chinese Restaurant almost next door. He seemed to like a quick pint of Guinness when he had a few minutes to spare, and whilst he was there, the couple ordered a take away, or carry out, as they are called around here. After finishing his drink, he went off to prepare the meal and returned with it a short while later. By this time some local youth was trying to impress the girls outside by doing racing starts down the High Street in his car. The woman at the bar took exception to this, as he was a well known local hothead, so she rang the police, who arrived a short time later. They were trying to get people to make statements so that they might have a case against him. Meanwhile, the Chinese take away was sitting on the bar getting cold. At this point, I had finished my meal of steak pie and chips and my drink, so made a hasty exit. Oh for a quiet life!
It was a lovely sunny evening, so I took a look around the castle ruins, which were covered in graffiti. I climbed to the top of what remained of a spiral staircase, which gave me a fine view of the town and the surrounding countryside, although I couldn't help feeling that anywhere else in the country this would have been cordoned off as unsafe. I got the feeling that, despite having some beautiful countryside around here, life was cheap. I returned to my B&B to watch television for a while and to get some rest.
Day 7 - Tuesday 3rd June 2003 - Sanquhar to Wanlockhead
Distance: Distance: 8 miles, Ascent: 1,800 ft
Accommodation: The Garage B&B
I had another good Scottish breakfast at 8am, although I was in no particular rush to get off today with only 8 miles to walk to Wanlockhead. After yesterday's walk, which had considerably more ascent than previous days, coupled with about eighteen and a half miles of walking, I was feeling a little weary, as I packed my things and set off into town. I wanted to buy a few things for lunch and also use the cash machine, as it could be quite a way to the next bank. Sanquhar is one of those towns that that straddles a main road and a railway line and, although it has a number of shops, banks and other facilities, doesn't seem to have what you would call a town centre.
Cogshead
The weather was fine but with cloud around the hills to which I was heading and there was a strong breeze. The way goes under the railway line, then climbs a hill overlooking the town, then onto a plateau before climbing further up into the hills. Once again, my guidebook proved to be out of date, as I headed for the road to cross Loch Burn by the road bridge and then lost the waymarking. There is now a short cut using a footbridge. It doesn't make much difference in distance, but I am generally happier to take a footpath instead of a road, even for a short distance. A steady climb took me Coupland Knowe, then a steeper climb led over towards Cogshead, where I took advantage of some shelter from the wind to have a rest break. I was taking things very steadily, as I was trying to not rub the blister on the back of my heel. It was not giving me any discomfort, but I was trying to give it a chance to heal a little before being subjected to longer days of walking. At this point, according to my guidebook, there was a choice between an easy, but considerably longer route via forest tracks, or a shorter but steeper route over the open hilltop of Highmill Knowe. There are no prizes for guessing which route I decided to take. However, when I reached the point where the two routes were supposed to diverge, I found that the only route signposted was the high route. Once again, I think that the forest route had been the original one before the way was diverted over the hill and became the official route, the same thing as had happened more recently by Loch Trool.
As I climbed the hill, it started raining. There were just a few spots at first, but gradually it got to the point where it was wise to stop and put on my waterproof jacket, and it remained like this for the rest of the way to Wanlockhead. All around the village are the remains of the old lead mining era, which only came to an end well into the 20th century. Many things have been preserved as part of the mining museum, although some of the buildings are still crumbling. The village straggles out along the track and road for about a mile with various mining relics and spoil heaps along the way. At the head of the village, I happened to see my B&B, which used to be the village garage, so I dropped my things off, got changed, and then went to have a better look around.
The earlier rain had passed over and there were now occasional patches of sunshine. I was under the impression that there was a pub in the village, but I couldn't see it at first. The 'golf ball' radar station on Lowther Hill stands prominently above the village, as does a BT communications tower further along, although they are hidden from some parts of the village by lower parts of the hillside. As I wandered around the village looking at the various remains of the mining era, I came across the badly run down Wanlockhead Inn, securely padlocked, and with a faded sign. It also had a 'For Sale' sign on it, so it was back to the museum tea-rooms for refreshment before buying a ticket for the museum, which included a guided tour of one of the lead mine, some miners' cottages, and the miners' library, as well as the museum itself. The museum closed at 4.30pm, so I was just in time to do the full tour.
Beam pump and miners' cottages, Wanlockhead
Relics of old tramway, Wanlockhead
Lowther Hill with its radar station from Wanlockhead
After the tour, which was very interesting, I wandered up a hillside and sat overlooking the village until the weather deteriorated and I had to return to my B&B. I later had dinner there of soup, salad and pavlova, and had been thinking of walking a mile or so to the pub in Leadhills afterwards, but my plans were shelved because of the foul weather. Instead I settled down to an evening of watching the wide screen television with Sky Digital.
The landlady said she thought that the pub had recently been sold to some English people, as have a large percentage of the properties in the village. As a result, the village has lost much of its community spirit and character. One thing that was not clear was whether the new owners of the pub intended to run it as such, or just convert it into living accommodation. It would be a great pity to lose the pub altogether, as there are a large number of museum visitors, as well as walkers passing through. However, with mainly seasonal and weekend trade, many such places are not economically viable.
The landlady had had 46 walkers staying so far this year, which surprised me a little, as other B&Bs had not had so many. She attributed it to the fact that her entry was the first entry for Wanlockhead in the accommodation guide, so people tended to ring her before anyone else.
Day 8 - Wednesday 4th June 2003 - Wanlockhead to Beattock (Barnhill Springs)
Distance: 20.5 miles, Ascent: 50 ft + 1,100 ft to Castle
Accommodation: Barnhill Springs Country Guest House
I awoke to a grey morning, but as least it was not raining and the forecast was for better weather later in the day. I managed to get off reasonably early, at 8.40am, after a nice breakfast and started the steady climb up towards the summit of Lowther Hill. There were good views back over Wanlockhead and the surrounding hills with only the sound of the wind and the lonely curlews to keep me company. The radar station at the summit was constantly in and out of the cloud, as is often the case. I had found that in the previous couple of days, even though other places may have been enjoying reasonable weather, the summit of Lowther Hill was surrounded by dark clouds. It reminded me very much of the North Pennines and the radar station on Great Dun Fell, which suffers from similar poor weather conditions.
Further on up the hill, the path meets up with the access road but, whereas the road zigzags up the hill, the path takes a much steeper line cutting across the zigzags. Near the summit, Wanlockhead came into view again, having been obscured for part of the way by lower hills. The route has to skirt around the summit because of the radar station and I took shelter from the cold wind for a while in a rusty metal hut nearby. I was feeling distinctly cool in my normal walking gear of shorts and a short sleeved shirt, although I was reluctant to put on anything warmer, as I would be sheltered somewhat from the wind as I started to descend the other side of the hill. The cloud was lifting slightly and there were even patches of blue sky, but none of the sunshine, as yet, was reaching Lowther Hill.
Wanlockhead from ascent of Lowther Hill
View west from Laght Hill to Thirstane Hill
The way follows a ridge of lower, rounded hills as it heads eastwards and this was a splendid walk with long distance views of the wide open country for miles around, even though it used up more energy with all the ups and downs. I saw a farmer racing around on his quad bike tending to his sheep. These vehicles must have made the life of the hill farmer so much easier, as they seem to be able to get almost anywhere. Even the sheep-dogs have an easier time by getting a lift. A few miles ahead I could see the lower land and the all too familiar forestry plantations that lay ahead. I stopped for a break and a snack just before Laght Hill, sheltering from the wind beside a wall, where I heard the farmer ride up and whistle away as he worked behind the wall.
The climb up Laght Hill was very steep at first but less so towards the rounded summit, where there were, again, some fine views. On the way down to meet the road, I caused a lot of consternation amongst the local bird population. They were making a lot of noise and swooping and diving quite close to me. This carried on for a few hundred yards and I could only assume that they had nests nearby and were trying to frighten me away. I was not sure what these black and white birds with orange red bills were at first, but I later discovered that they were oyster-catchers. They are quite common over the moorland along the way, which surprised me a little, as they are wading birds, but then so are curlews, which are also common on the high moors.
After walking for about half a mile along the rather busy A702 road, the route headed towards a conifer plantation. Again, however, a considerable amount of felling and replanting made the whole area much more open and there was no impression of being cut off from the surrounding landscape. The forest track came out into the open before making its way towards another plantation. Along this stretch, I encountered logging operations with huge piles of timber being stacked at either side of the track. There were the usual notices saying 'No admittance to unauthorised personnel', but no diversion signs. In this case, it would have been dangerous to walk along the path whilst this work was being undertaken and it was fortunate that there the adjoining area was rough, open grassland, so I was able to bypass the work in safety. After rejoining the track past the stacking operations, I then came upon some felling operations, which were not so easy to bypass. Looking at the work that was being carried out, it was sufficiently far back from the track to present no danger, or so I assessed, although it is surprising how far some of the trees can reach if they come down in the wrong direction. Keeping a careful eye on what was going on, I quickly passed by and got out of the way.
The next section of forest was, again, partly felled, so I had a clear view of Daer Reservoir with its waterworks, as well as a view of the route ahead up Sweetshaw Brae to Hods Hill. I stopped for lunch by the road bridge over Daer Water and was lucky enough to catch some sunshine for a while. At 1.45 p.m., after a 45 minute break, I was off again to start the ascent and found, once more, that the route had changed from that in my guidebook, taking a diagonal line to cut off the corner. I met up with a farmer on his quad bike, rounding up sheep with his dogs, so I stood well to one side to let them come past. On the ascent, there were some splendid views over Daer Reservoir and across to Lowther Hill, so I kept stopping to look back, whilst I took short rests.
Daer Reservoir from ascent of Hods Hill
Lowther Hill from Hods Hill
From the summit, the path led along a ridge with a few ups and downs as it first ran by the side of the forest, then entered it, to descend quite rapidly in a wide clearing. Further along, it climbed back up again, but not to the same height. Another descent led to a large clearing with a farm. It had been spotting with rain for a while, but not enough to need waterproofs, and I was hoping to get as far as possible before it got any heavier. The forest walking had not been bad, as it was mainly on a path, with ups and downs and some wide clearings, although it had been harder work than the usual level forest tracks. A little further on, the path met up with a minor road leading out of the forest and over an area of upland grazing past Beattock Hill. Although it was now raining steadily and I had resorted waterproofs, this was still a pleasant walk with views across to the hills ahead. Down the hill I could see the M74 motorway at Beattock and, after crossing the railway line and the old A74 road, a path ran under the motorway to meet up with a minor road leading to my B&B at Barnhill Springs Guest House, right by the route of the Southern Upland Way.
After a bath and a refreshing pot of tea, I washed out some of my things before setting off in search of a meal at The Old Brig Inn, which I had passed on the way. The place had been built by Thomas Telford as a coaching inn when he was building the road up through Scotland. The barman was very chatty and very interested in the Southern Upland Way, as was the chef. I had a very good cottage pie along with a few pints of McEwans 70/- before returning to Barnhill Springs to watch television for a while before going to bed. My bedroom was enormous, as were most of the rooms in this fine old building, which used to be a farmhouse.
Day 9 - Thursday 5th June 2003 - Beattock to St. Mary's Loch
Distance: 20.5 miles, Ascent: 2,750 ft
Accommodation: Tibbie Shiels Inn
I again managed to get off at 8.45am, after a good breakfast at 8am, to start another long day's walk. All my things had dried on the radiator in my bedroom, which was quite a bonus and meant that I didn't have to don any wet clothing for a change. I had a packed lunch from the Guest House, as there was nowhere nearby to buy anything. I already had a head start of half a mile from Beattock, so I was soon climbing the small ridge over to Drumcrieff Bridge, where I could see some fine views north eastwards along the valley with lovely hills tantalisingly devoid of forests. The route followed the river for a way, through a strip of mixed woodland, which was so different from conifer plantations, then came into the open with good views up the valley before heading uphill to the east.
When the scenery is getting good, what do we do? We head for the forest. A steady ascent left all the good views behind and led along a forest track with little or no views. Another sign proclaimed 'No admittance to unauthorised personnel' and, of course, there was no diversion sign. I, therefore, did the only sensible thing and ignored it. The only thing to do is to keep a careful lookout for any sign of danger, and then take appropriate action to avoid it. However, there was no activity at all, and the sign was probably just one of many that get left around last time somebody did a bit of work nearby. The only evidence of any work being done were some piles of earth by the side of the track. If this were a public road, then it would not be closed just because some minor work was being undertaken. Because it is owned by Forest Enterprises, they feel the need to cut off access whenever the slightest activity is taking place, without a thought for the inconvenience it might cause. My conclusion is that these signs are put up mainly to safeguard themselves against any possible claims for compensation, without any proper assessment of what risks are actually involved. People can then choose not to observe them and if they are injured as a result, then they have very little grounds to sue for damages.
After a few miles of trudging steadily up the forest track, it eventually turned off onto a path, which was, at least, preferable, before emerging into the open. One thing I had forgotten to do in my haste to get off to an early start, was to fill up my water bottles. There was a fresh, clean mountain burn by the path, so I was able to fill them up from there. I was glad to see that the height gained climbing up through the forest was not wasted and I was rewarded with a lovely view overlooking a gorge with some waterfalls tumbling down - the ideal place for a rest break. The weather was cool but quite reasonable with the occasional patch of blue sky.
A nice open path crossed the border from Dumfries and Galloway into the Scottish Borders, and there were signs to welcome people from either direction. Soon it was back into forest again, but only for a short way and still with good views for much of the time. The track follows Ettrick Water right down the valley, becoming a road after a while. Most of the forestry lining the hillsides gives way to grass, and presents a very fine scene, which helps to compensate for the rather tedious five miles of road walking.
Craigmichen Scar and waterfall
Selcoth Burn from Craigmichen Scar
Looking back up Ettrick Water to Over Phawhope
Small gorge along Ettrick Water
At 1.30pm, I stopped for my lunch break by Broadgairhill Burn, and was rewarded with some patchy sunshine, which was in rather short supply earlier. I had been making good progress, and estimated that I had only about 9 miles left to go. I was off again at 2.15 p.m. for about another four miles of the road walking that remained. There was good scenery and Ettrick Water ran nearby for much of the way, so that all helped to make the miles go by more easily.
At last, a left turn onto a path up the hillside marked the last leg of the walk over to St. Mary's Loch. This was the first time since I had started the walk that I had seen a Public Footpath marked as such, although I saw to see quite a number later on. The signpost was erected by The Scottish Rights of Way Society. After a short, steep climb, the rest of the ascent was very gradual, climbing steadily beside Scabcleuch Burn in a steep sided valley until the watershed, when it climbed along the edge of Pikestone Rig. From this fine viewpoint, a little patch of water of Loch of the Lowes could be seen. After a while, the way started to descend and I could see another patch of water in the distance, that I took to be St. Mary's Loch, although my guidebook said it was the Loch of Lowes. On checking the photograph later, it was as I thought and it was the guidebook that was wrong.
Glimpse of St Mary's Loch from near Riskinhope Hope
Confluence of two burns and a circular sheepfold at Riskinhope Hope
The wind was quite strong by now, but there was quite a lot of sunshine, so I took another break, sheltering from the wind, by the ruins of a building at Riskinhope Hope with a lovely view of one of the many circular dry stone sheepfolds, and the confluence of two small burns. One might be forgiven for thinking that it was all downhill from here, but there is still a steep climb up around Earl's Hill before the track leads steadily down the St Mary's Loch. By now, the sun had gone and there were dark clouds and a strong cold wind, although this was moderated somewhat as the way descended. There was no problem with mobile phone reception, as there was a mast right behind Tibbie Shiel's Inn, which is where I was staying for the night. In fact it is the only accommodation anywhere near this part of the route, and it is in a beautiful setting between two lochs.
After a shower and a couple of cups of tea, I felt refreshed, although my feet were feeling the strain a little after two long days. However, they were only giving me minor discomfort, unlike on some walks where I have been extremely footsore at times. I put this down to the success of my home-made arch supports in conjunction with the Sorbothane insoles which, after my little bit of doctoring, were causing no more trouble.
I went into the bar, which was quite lively with several people having bar meals and drinks. I had a fish platter and a couple of pints of real ale, the first I had come across so far on this walk. The sun was shining, so I went out for a walk around the end of the loch and up to the James Hogg memorial nearby, where there was a beautiful view of both St. Mary's Loch and the Loch of Lowes. However, there was a very strong wind blowing and this soon drove me back to the inn for another pint before going off to bed.
Day 10 - Friday 6th June 2003 - St. Mary's Loch to Traquair
Distance: 12 miles + 1.5 miles looking for B&B, Ascent: 1,150 ft
Accommodation: The School House B&B
The weather was foul through the night with rain and a heavy sky first thing in the morning. I had another good Scottish breakfast and, by the time I had finished, there was a beautiful blue sky. I wandered around the area nearby and took a few photos of the lochs and also climbed up the hillside opposite to get a better view of St. Mary's Loch. This particular spot is the most picturesque place I have encountered along the whole of the Southern Upland Way so far. There have been many places with fine scenery, but mostly of a wild and remote nature with rough moorland and forests, which is what I expected on this walk. Here, however, this combination of lochs and hills with the inviting little inn, bridge and memorial in the midst of it all, presents a much more warm and inviting scene, and is a delightful contrast to some of the rather drab scenery in some parts of the way.
St Mary's Loch near Tibbie Shiels Inn
Tibbie Shiels Inn
St Mary's Loch and Tibbie Shiels Inn from hillside
It was after 10am before I set off to walk by the loch side on the next stage of the route. I had only 12 miles to walk, so I was in no hurry, and the beautiful weather meant that I could take my time and enjoy the lovely scenery. The first part of the walk was very tranquil and relaxing and here I encountered the first walkers I had met so far, apart from a few dog walkers near to towns. A couple who were staying at the inn were walking round St. Mary's Loch and returning via the road on the opposite side. Half way along the loch, the path joins a forest track, and the views are then partially obscured by silver birch trees growing by the loch side. My plan for the day was to make fairly steady progress so as to not arrive too early, so I had a short stop by a gap in the silver birches, with a view across to the route climbing up the hillside past the foot of the loch.
As I rounded the end of the loch and started the gentle hill climb, I saw a building surrounded by scaffolding and with a roof of waterproof sheeting, and realised that this was Dryhope Tower undergoing restoration work. At the top of the hill there was the last chance to take a good look back over St. Mary's Loch before heading into more wild and open country. Actually, it was not the very last view of the loch, as there was one more brief, distant view a few miles further along. I had to be a bit careful about my plan of taking my time as I realised that by noon I had only walked about three miles. I have sometimes done this in the past and then found that, by the middle of the afternoon I still had a long way to go and have had to rush to get there in time. I, therefore, pressed on ahead a little to just past Blackhouse Tower before stopping by the start of the forest for my lunch break. The wind was quite strong and cool, but the trees afforded some shelter, though not quite enough for any sunbathing.
After an hour, I was feeling rather cool, so I set off up the forest track, where most of the view was blocked by trees, although this was compensated somewhat by the lovely soft, springy turf of the track for most of the way. About a mile further on, a small clearing allows the very last view back over the distant loch. Now that I was walking again, the clouds cleared and I had lovely sunshine with a fresh breeze - ideal walking conditions. Exiting from the top of the forest, the path took me on a glorious lofty walk with wide open views all around and with soft springy turf underfoot. This, to me, was the epitome of what I expected of the Southern Upland Way. It was not picturesque, not photogenic, but beautiful upland walking country and gave me the feeling of being on top of the world. Of course, had there been low cloud and a force 9 gale with horizontal rain driving into my face, I might not have felt quite the same way, but today it was wonderful.
On one of the higher points along the way, I noticed, what looked like a small standing stone with Celtic carvings, a little off to one side of the path. When I went to examine it further, I realised that it was not a stone, but one of the kists that I had read about in a leaflet. It was actually hollow, with a flap at one side to allow walkers to pick one of the waymerks from inside, although I must confess to being a trifle disappointed in the merks themselves, as all the ones here seemed rather poorly cast with a virtually unrecognisable design on them. I was surprised that I had come all this way before finding a kist, but then I had not been paying particular attention and was not quite sure what I was supposed to be looking for. Not all of the kists look like this, as they are disguised in all sorts of different ways, so finding this didn't help me to find any more. This scheme is just one of the many ways that the councils try to promote this walk, although it does not appear to have attracted the number of people that they might have hoped for. However, I think that they deserve a great deal of credit for the effort that they put into the maintenance and waymarking of the path, and the advertising of the walk itself.
Innerleithen and Traquair from Blake Muir
At Blake Muir, a new scene unfolds as the path starts its descent. The town of Innerleithen appears down in the valley, surrounded by partially forested hills, and half way to there is Traquair, where I was staying for the night. The path led to a track which then joined the fairly busy B709 road for the last mile into Traquair. The weather was still fine, and that made it quite hot in the sheltered valley without much of the breeze that there was on the hills. According to my Accommodation Guide, the grid reference of my B&B pointed to somewhere about three quarters of a mile out of Traquair on the way to Innerleithen, so I took a little side road to cut off a corner and made my may past the entrance to Traquair House until my GPS indicated the correct position. I was quite surprised that a place called the 'The School House' should be so far out of the village, and the only place I could find was a large house with no mention of B&B and was not called anything to do with School House. I concluded that the accommodation book must have been wrong and decided that it would be better to look near the village centre, or even more so to look near the school that was shown on the map. As I was passing a cottage, I asked a lady, who confirmed that was where I should be. If I had not taken the shortcut via the small lane, I would have passed a sign for it in the centre of the village. Fortunately, I had only had a short day's walk so the extra mile and a half did not matter, but it was still annoying to be sent on a wild goose chase by incorrect information.
I had a relaxing soak in the bath - one of the advantages of not having an en-suite room is that there is generally a bath available, whereas en-suite rooms mostly have only a shower, which is never as relaxing. I was served with a lovely dinner of soup, salmon with Hollandaise sauce, and fried banana with ice cream. The dining room had a huge table that could have seated ten with ease, but I was the only one sitting there. There were patio doors into the garden, which had marvellous views of the hills, both around by the route I had walked and also those overlooking Innerleithen, so I stood there for some time enjoying the view in the warm evening sunshine. The nearest pub was in Innerleithen, which was nearly two miles away, so I decided against all that road walking to just for a drink, and settled down for an evening in.
Day 11 - Saturday 7th June 2003 - Traquair to Darnick (near Melrose)
Distance: 16 miles + 0.5 miles diversion to Minch Moor, Ascent: 2,800 ft + 150 ft to Minch Moor
Accommodation: the Gables B&B
I had a good breakfast at 8.30am and was off by 9.30am. I mentioned the map reference to Mrs. Caird and she said that it was the grid reference of her previous house. She has asked the publishers to change this for three years running, and she thinks that it has now been updated on the on-line version but not in this year's printed version of the accommodation guide.
Tweeddale from ascent of Minch Moor
The way leads up a steady climb to Minch Moor, with fine views back to Tweeddale. Though there is forestry on the ascent, it doesn't interfere with the views because of the gradient together with clearings and felling/replanting. I passed an elderly walker on the way up and was following a couple of walkers ahead. They look as if they are just out for the day, as it is Saturday and there are there are many more centres of population near to here - Edinburgh, for instance, is only 29 miles away, and there are a number of busy roads up this side of Scotland. This is the difference between here and the western part of the way, which is out on a limb, and is only visited by those few people with a definite purpose for being there.
On long distance walks, I tend to go through various phases from lethargy, when every ascent is an effort, to periods when I am feeling full of energy and hills are no problem. At the moment, I was feeling energetic, so I made rapid work of the ascent. The route skirts past the summit of Minch Moor, but there is a 400 M path up to the trig point and cairn on the top, where there is a complete panorama of rolling hills. The weather was not at its best, with dark clouds, spots of rain and a cool wind, but it was still good enough to get an appreciation of the views, and there was some shelter afforded by the cairn. The elderly walker came by, but he was a man of few words and soon continued on his way. After a while I retraced my steps to rejoin the route, where I met a group of nine walkers, again just out for the day.
For a while, the conifers took over the view, but it was not too long before the track emerged into open moorland covered in heather. At the edge of the forest, I stopped for a rest so that I could shelter from the wind whilst still enjoying open views beyond. The next few miles were fine upland walking with only gentle rises and falls in the path and with wide open views, though they were not shown to their best by the overcast weather. A heavy shower made me stop to put on my waterproof jacket and, although the rain soon stopped, I left the jacket on as protection against the wind until the hillside of Broomy Law afforded me some shelter. I could see the Three Brethren cairns ahead and was hoping to have some shelter there from the wind for my lunch break, at the same time as having a good view of the scenery. The huge cairns are marvellous examples of dry stone building, and make a fine landmark, which can be seen for miles around.
The Three Brethren Cairns
Path erosion caused by storms several days earlier
Having met hardly anybody in the first ten days of the walk, I was quite amazed at the number of people around. Several mountain bikers passed by and, at the cairns a total of ten other walkers in various groups stopped by for a lunch break. None, however, were walking the Southern Upland Way, they were all just out for the day to visit this popular local beauty spot. Although the cairns afforded some protection, it soon got quite cool and, for the first time since the start of the walk, I put on my fleece. After about three quarters of an hour, I started to make my way down the hill, but there was some very threatening weather heading my way, and it wasn't long before I had to stop again to put on my waterproofs. The wind was an icy blast and a heavy downpour soon followed, although it wasn't long before the wind and rain abated and the sun came shining through.
The route down had suffered very badly from erosion caused by storms and flash flooding just over a week ago. Deep channels had been gouged out of the path by rainwater and, in places, these were two foot deep. Everywhere around there was evidence of erosion and, wherever water had run down the hillsides, there were deep scars and stone debris littered around. The most dramatic evidence of this was to be found at the bottom of the hill at Yarm, where Shorthope Burn, now a gently trickling stream, had washed tons and tons of stones and pebbles across the road. The road had since been cleared leaving huge piles of stones at either side. It was obviously one of those occasions when a hundred years' worth of erosion takes place within a matter of hours, and the mind boggles as to what it must have been like at the time for anyone caught in the storm.
I couldn't decide whether to take off my waterproofs or leave them on, as the weather was changing so frequently but, eventually, as I reached Yarm Bridge, it was looking better, so I took a chance on removing them, because I was getting too hot. As I started up the track, after crossing the bridge over the Tweed, I met a chap coming the other way with a large pack. He was walking from Land's End to John O'Groats and using a small section of the Southern Upland Way on his route. He had been walking for three months and expected to take another month to reach his destination. The route he was taking was one with as much off-road walking as possible, making use of many National Trails and other walks, including the South West Coast Path, Cotswold Way, Pennine Way, St. Cuthbert's Way, West Highland Way and Great Glen Way, as well as this walk. The total distance, doing it this way was, I think, 1,172 miles, as opposed to something over 800 miles by the shortest route, but a small price to pay for making the walk so much more interesting and enjoyable. The weather had been pretty good for him most of the way so far, which was just as well, as he was camping with occasional stops in youth hostels. He last slept in a bed three weeks ago. After an interesting chat, I wished him well, and we went off in opposite directions.
Climbing up the hill, I met up with a group of walkers, mainly girls, who were walking from Traquair to Galashiels. I chatted with them for a while along the way, before going on ahead. The weather brightened up somewhat and it was easy walking along over the lush green hilltop, eventually dropping down into the edge of Galashiels. The route then heads along the side of Gala Hill with fine views across to the Eildon Hills, much loved by Sir Walter Scott. These are three very distinctive hills, which can be seen from many miles back, and they were bright yellow on their lower slopes, which were covered in gorse. When I was back at the Three Bretheren cairns, one chap said to his friend "What are those three over there?" The friend, who was a bit of a wag, replied "They are hills - look, you can see by the shape of them!"
Eildon Hills from Gala Hill with Abbotsford in foreground
Abbotsford from across River Tweed
Further along, there is a lovely view across to Abbotsford, a fine country house beside the Tweed. After dropping down, across the road, to a path by the riverside, there is a much closer view. The path led onto a road to cross a tributary of the Tweed before joining a cycle/walking track on the route of a disused railway line, which was even less exciting than a track through a dense conifer plantation, as it was in a cutting most of the way with nothing to see. After about a mile, I rejoined the road network to find my B&B in Darnick, a village near Melrose, where I had a relaxing bath before making my way into the town centre, which was about a mile away.
I had seen an advert in my room information for the King's Head, which had real ale, but I must have missed it on my way, so I called in the Ship Inn for a pint before Walking back down the road, where I found the King's Head. They had a choice of three real ales, and I tried the Caledonian, which was very good. The place was very busy, it being a Saturday night in a rather popular pub. I managed to find a place to sit for my giant Yorkshire pudding with beef casserole and, after a couple more pints, I had a look around the town and its fine abbey.
There were lots of tourists about including several Americans and Germans, who were wandering around by the abbey. The whole area looks very prosperous, with many grand houses and having a general air of affluence, unlike most of the places further west. Instead of the north south divide in England, Scotland seems to have an east west divide in terms of prosperity.
Day 12 - Sunday 8th June 2003 - Melrose to Lauder
Distance: 10 miles, Ascent: 1,250 ft
Accommodation: The Grange B&B
I decided against the full breakfast, with its long list of items, and settled on sausage, bacon, egg and tomato, which was more than enough. I could have had haggis if I had ordered it the night before, but I didn't notice until it was too late. I only about 10 miles to walk to Lauder, so I was in no hurry to set off, especially as it was still raining a bit from overnight. I had a long chat with the owners of the guest house about the ups and downs of the hotel and guest house business. They also showed me photographs in the local paper of some of the damage caused by the recent storm, which was particularly bad at Broadmeadows, about a mile south of the route. There had been hailstones so big that they were causing damage to cars, and there was also a lot of damage caused by flooding and all the debris washed down by the water.
It was after 10am before I set off to rejoin the way by the side of the River Tweed. The riverside walk was very pleasant, and the rain had just about stopped, although it was still rather overcast. I made a diversion into Melrose to buy a few things for lunch and to have another look at the abbey, which is very impressive, even in ruins. I rejoined the route at the chain bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the Tweed, and then continued on the riverside walk back up the other side of the river. There were quite a lot of people around Melrose and many walking dogs on the riverside paths.
Melrose Abbey
The way then leaves the river to make its way over an upland area towards Lauder. I met an elderly chap and his son on the way up the hill. They were out walking for the day and obviously liked bird-watching, as they kept stopping to look through their binoculars from time to time. He was telling me that he had done the Southern Upland Way some years ago, but they had taken bikes with them, which proved very useful on the long forest tracks and roads. The landscape was one of undulating grassy fields with a few outcrops of trees and views back over the Tweed, although the overcast weather marred the view. As I got higher, it started raining steadily. It was time for a lunch break, so I made for a nearby plantation to seek shelter. The conifers did not offer much protection, but I found a beech which was better.
The rain eased off after a while, and I started to get trouble from the midges, so I carried on along the way. Soon I came across the father and son again. They had stopped for lunch by a wall overlooking a small tarn where there was considerable noise and activity amongst the bird population, mainly of oyster-catchers. The father was extolling the beauty of this area and, indeed, this spot was particularly pleasant, but I didn't find this section of the walk a match for much of the scenery that I had seen along the way.
A long straight track leads across the gently undulating landscape and the high hills were no longer visible, at least not today, with visibility of about five or six miles. There was a great deal of dampness in the air and this produced a lot of crackling from the high voltage power lines as I walked underneath. It was only a quarter to three and I had barely two and a half miles left to walk, so I stopped for another break. The final stretch down to Lauder was more interesting, as it ran along the edge of the steep sided valley of Lauder Burn, beside the golf course. At the bottom of the hill was one of the usual Southern Upland Way shelters and information boards and I decided to phone home from there on my mobile phone, as it was spotting with rain. The only problem was that somebody had been making mud pies all over the seats, and plastering the notice boards with mud. I just managed to find enough clean space on the seat to sit down and by the time I had finished, it had started raining steadily. This made me put on my waterproofs for the walk through town to my B&B, which was at the far end.
I had a very warm welcome when I arrived, and was introduced to some of the owners' friends, one of whom was visiting from South Africa. Lauder is a reasonable sized town with quite a few shops and pubs, so the only problem in finding somewhere for an evening meal was the weather, which had deteriorated to heavy rain. Fortunately, the Lauderdale Hotel was close by and was serving food, and the rain was not quite so heavy at 7 p.m., when I went out. I had lasagne and chips in the bar along with a few pints of Belhaven Best, which was a beer I had found in many pubs along the way. There were a number of others in the bar, including two German motorcyclists, who were keeping an eye on the rain outside before deciding to go on their way. I passed some time away by doing a couple of crosswords from the paper before deciding to return to my B&B, the rain now having stopped. When I got back, some more guests had arrived. This is the busy A68 to Edinburgh, so they get a lot of passing trade, especially in the tourist season.
Day 13 - Monday 9th June 2003 - Lauder to Longformacus
Distance: 14.5 miles, Ascent: 1,800 ft
Accommodation: Rathburne House B&B
I awoke to sun streaming through the window and it looked like I was in for a fine day ahead with hardly a cloud in the sky. I had breakfast (ordered the night before) at 8.30am, with some of their specialities such as South African boereworst, which are rather spicy sausages made completely of meat. They have them made by the local butcher to a recipe that they got from South Africa. Two ladies from Sheffield were also down to breakfast. They were touring and walking in the area and I chatted to them for a while. They knew Kirk Smeaton, where I used to live, as they had visited Brockadale Nature Reserve, where I used to help out as a volunteer warden.
I set off at 9.15am to walk back through town, where I stopped to buy sandwiches for lunch, then on past Thirlstane Castle, which was originally medieval but had been given a romantic new look by restorers. The route then climbed steadily up the hillside through green pastures and a couple of short sections of forest, before entering a large expanse of open moorland. There were good views back to the distant Eildon Hills, and over Lauder and everything looked good in the fine weather conditions. It was quite hot work in the sunshine, until I climbed higher, where a breeze sprang up, making it more pleasant. A footbridge crosses Blythe Water in an attractive little valley, and this made a convenient place to stop for a break with sheep and cattle grazing nearby, and oyster-catchers, curlews, lapwings and pied wagtails in the air.
Thirlstane Castle, Lauder
Eildon Hills from Park Hill
Footbridge over Blythe Water on Way to Twin Law
The path then climbed steadily onto the wild, open, heather moors to a small plantation before joining a track over towards Twin Law. I was planning on a lunch break by the cairns on Twin Law, which could be seen over in the distance. In poor weather, these moors offer very little shelter, except for the odd rusty barn, a sheep fold, or the summit cairns themselves. The track seemed to go on forever across the featureless bleak moorland and, to make matters worse appeared to be going off in the wrong direction for quite a way before coming to an end with a footpath taking a sharp right for the remaining mile to the summit. At this point the view towards the Cheviots was in sight whilst walking, whereas previously it had only been visible by turning around. This made the final stretch to the cairns much more interesting, and the walk did not drag so much.
From the viewpoint by the cairns, there was a panorama of distant hills with the view to the west extending to about 50 miles. To the east, where the sea should be visible, it was a little hazy, so I was not quite sure whether it was the sea that I could see, or whether it was just the absence of land. There were a number of people about by the cairns, which are again magnificent examples of dry stone building work, each one with a shelter hollowed out of one side, just big enough to seat a person. I met a couple with an elderly mother, who had walked up from Watch Water Reservoir, and they were followed by three girls, who had walked from Lauder.
Twin Law cairns
Distant Cheviot Hills from Twin Law
Watch Water Reservoir on descent from Twin Law
It was quite breezy on Twin Law, but with a bit of shelter from the cairns, it was quite pleasant whilst the sun was shining, but rather cool otherwise. I must have made good progress, as I only had about five miles to go, so I was in no hurry. The view across to the Cheviots was very good, with a patchwork of fields and small plantations in the lowlands between. After the drabness of the moors, there was now a complete contrast, particularly when looking over to Watch Water Reservoir, with the bright blue of the water, the lush green of the fields and the red earth of some of the ploughed fields. The walk down was a joy, with lovely views ahead, and springy turf underfoot, so it seemed no time at all before I was walking beside the reservoir.
I now had less than two miles to go and it was still quite early, so I decided on a spot of sunbathing overlooking the reservoir, as it had been too cool higher up on Twin Law. I set off again at ten to five along the road into Longformacus, where I found my B&B about three quarters of a mile before reaching the village. It was marked as an hotel on my map, and was originally built as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Argyl. Over the years it has been used as an hotel at various times, but had closed down for some time before the present owners, Pat and Dave, bought it a year ago to run as a guest house in their retirement. It is a very splendid building in large grounds and with a very impressive hallway, but not the easiest place as far as upkeep is concerned, and the cost of heating it in the winter must be enormous.
After a shower, I enjoyed a pot of tea talking to Pat, who had walked Land's End to John O'Groats in 2000 to raise £1,500 for charity. She completed it in nine and a half weeks, but did a lot of road walking, as she was not too sure of her navigational skills. Dave joined her at weekends through England and also for the last stretch through the Cairngorms to the finish.
I had no reception on my mobile phone, so I walked down into the village, where there was a call box. I lifted the receiver only to find that it said 'No cash calls'. As I had spoken to Jean earlier, I thought that she would not be too worried if she didn't get a call. Nevertheless, I walked up a hillside nearby to see if that gave any mobile reception, but to no avail.
Dinner back at Pam and Dave's was parsnip soup, Moroccan chicken, meringue with ice cream and strawberries, then cheese and biscuits and coffee. It was all very nice, but I don't think I could have managed a meal like that every night of the walk.
Day 14 - Tuesday 10th June 2003 - Longformacus to Cockburnspath
Distance: 18.5 miles + 1 mile to B&B, Ascent: 1,700 ft
Accommodation: Linhead Farm B&B, Cocksburnpath
I had an 8am breakfast along with a couple who were taking a short break whilst their kids were away at camp. I had ordered a full breakfast last night, but had had a mind to cross out a few items, but Pat took the sheet away before I thought to do so. I was presented with bacon, egg, tomato, fried bread, mushrooms, beans and three large sausages, along with a large rack of toast. The couple had the same, and we were all struggling to eat it when Pam came in with another plate with yet more toast and some toasted teacakes. I had to leave one sausage and nearly all of the toast, as I was still full from last night's meal. The other chap left about the same as I, whilst his wife had to leave about half of hers.
Whiteadder Water from Black Weil
I set off at 9am. It had rained overnight, but was now a little brighter, as I made my way down to the village, then up over grassy moorland. There are a number of fine country houses in this area, as it was obviously a popular retreat for the gentry in bygone days. The way gave good views over open country, with the red earth of a number of ploughed fields standing out from the greenery, and the walking was easy. The sun came out a little, although the weather was still unsettled, with heavy clouds from time to time. After a few miles of open moorland, the way entered some forest along a steep hillside above Whiteadder Water, and still afforded some views of the landscape through the trees. The sun came out again as I came out of the trees and dropped down by the river, so I took advantage of this to take a short break at 11.30am. When I set off again, it was not long before I reached Abbey St. Bethans where, after crossing the river on a footbridge, the path follows the river bank for a while with colourful rhododendrons along the way. I must admit that I expected to see the ruins of an abbey somewhere, but there was nothing to be seen, and the route departed from the village up a wooded valley beside a burn before making for higher ground up a grassy hillside. There was a dogleg diversion to the path up the hill round some newly planted conifers, before it levelled out and headed for a large cairn with a weather vane on top. This was built to commemorate the land having been in the same family for 100 years from 1848 to 1948.
Another small diversion took the path around Whiteburn Farm, instead of through the farmyard, which is what has happened in many places around the country. At this point, it started to rain a little, so I made my way to the small plantation ahead to take shelter under some trees. It was only five minutes before the rain had passed over and I was able to continue a little further. The sky was not looking good, and half a mile further on the rain started again, but this time it looked as if were set in for longer. I was not far from another plantation, so I took shelter under a sycamore, where I decided to have some lunch, whilst waiting to see what the weather would do. The tree gave me reasonable shelter for a while, but it soon reached the point where there was a lot of water dripping down through the leaves, especially when they were caught by the wind. I was left with little option but to put on my waterproof jacket and continue along the way. The heaviest of the rain passed over, but there still seemed to be more to come, so I pressed on further, taking shelter under a conveniently placed tree from another heavy downpour a little later.
Before long, I turned round and found that the sky was clearing, with large patches of blue sky heading my way. The scenery around here was that of rolling grassy hills, none of them particularly high, punctuated by small plantations. It left me with the distinct impression that all the high hills and wild moorland had now been left behind and that the next thing to look forward to was the North Sea Coast. Having had rather a short, uncomfortable lunch break, I took advantage of the sunshine to take a longer break with my boots off, albeit very close to the busy A1 road and the main east coast railway line.
Before long, I turned round and found that the sky was clearing, with large patches of blue sky heading my way. The scenery around here was that of rolling grassy hills, none of them particularly high, punctuated by small plantations. It left me with the distinct impression that all the high hills and wild moorland had now been left behind and that the next thing to look forward to was the North Sea Coast. Having had rather a short, uncomfortable lunch break, I took advantage of the sunshine to take a longer break with my boots off, albeit very close to the busy A1 road and the main east coast railway line.
Now it was time to enter a conifer plantation for the very last time on the walk. In fairness, it wasn't too bad, as there was a lovely grass track, which had recently been mown, the sun was streaming down through the trees, and there were some mixed broad leafed trees for part of the way. Patches of gorse and some foxgloves added a splash of colour, as the way took a large zigzag in order to climb the hillside. Eventually, at the top of the hill, an open scene suddenly appeared, with the sea and coast straight ahead, but with the huge building of Torness Power Station further up the coast somewhat detracting from the view. A pleasant track led down to the impressive Pease Bridge, a road bridge built in 1783, over 100 ft. above the gorge. A path led down through the Pease Dean Nature Reserve towards the sea, where the view opened out onto a huge caravan park by an otherwise beautiful bay, with red cliffs and a fine coastal view to the east.
Whiteadder Water from Black Weil
Pease Sands westwards from Red Rock
The route leads up the road, then onto a path on the cliff tops, making a lovely end to the walk in the bright sunshine but with a bracing wind. Here I took another short break, about a mile from the finish, before continuing and taking a look at Cove Harbour. For a coast to coast walk, this would seem to be the logical finishing point, and it is a lovely little place with a track leading round to one side of the harbour and a pedestrian tunnel through the cliffs leading to the other. However, the official finish is in Cockburnspath, about half a mile inland so, for the sake of completeness, I walked to the Southern Upland Way notice board next to the inn marked on my map. However, the inn has now closed and is a private house, so there was no chance of a pint to celebrate the end of the walk. Whilst I was there, I checked the times of the buses for the morning, and found that the 9.20am bus reached Dunbar at 9.55am, just five minutes before my train departed. However, I had been offered a lift, if I needed it, by Evelyn, the farmer's wife at my B&B, so this seemed the safer option.
Cove Harbour at low tide
End of Southern Upland Way at Cockburnspath
I made my way back to Linhead Farm, half a mile out of Cockburnspath, and had a shower and a cup of tea before setting out to find a meal. I had been told that the only place to eat nearby was at the caravan park that I had passed on the way, so I made my way down there, resigned to the fact that I would not be able to get a drink. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the place had a fully licensed bar, the only problem being that there were notices stating that it was only open to members, and that to obtain membership one had to apply to reception with two photographs. I went in there anyway and found that they weren't bothered about membership and were quite happy to serve me without any, presumably glad of the custom on a quiet evening. I had steak and kidney pie followed by sticky toffee pudding with ice cream, and a few pints of Belhaven Best.
The only problem with finishing a walk on a beautiful evening is that it is more of a pity for it to come to an end and to have to return to the real world. Ending a walk in the cold and wet is not such a disappointment but, on balance I was happier with it being so nice, as it enabled me to wander down to the beach and reflect on my memories of the walk. As the tide was still out, I decided to walk round to Cove Harbour along the shore. This involved a lot of hopping and clambering over rocks, but was an enjoyable way to spend the last evening. I was amazed at the variety of different colours in all the pebbles and stones on the beach, and at all the different rock formations. I came across a huge pile of bricks rounded off by the action of the sea and wondered what building they had come from.
Rather than going straight back to Linhead Farm, I decided to take another look at Cockburnspath, as I had a nagging doubt that I had missed the real finish at the market cross mentioned in my guidebook. However, there was nothing whatsoever mentioning the Southern Upland Way when I got there, so the official finish must have been moved to the notice board. In fact, Cockburnspath has nothing much to offer the walker, other than a small shop and a two hourly bus service between Berwick and Edinburgh. There is not even any accommodation there, as all the B&Bs listed are in farms some way from the village.
Day 15 - Wednesday 11th June 2003 - Cockburnspath to Home via Dunbar and Edinburgh
There had been a change of circumstances at my B&B, as Evelyn had changed jobs and had to set off at 8am on Wednesdays and Fridays so she was no longer taking bookings for Tuesday or Thursday nights. However, as I had booked before she had changed jobs, she still honoured the booking. The only difference was that I had a 7.15am breakfast and had a lift to Dunbar, arriving a little after 8am with nearly two hours before my train was due.
Harbour at Dunbar
North from Dunbar towards Firth of Forth
It was a beautiful morning and already quite warm, so I walked down by the beach and round the interesting old harbour where a grey seal was swimming lazily around and causing some consternation to the seabirds. From the north of the town, the far side of the Firth of Forth could be clearly seen, as well as Bass Rock, with its lighthouse and the Isle of May, further away. As the time for my train approached, I made my way back through the town centre to the station. My ticket showed my first change was at Haymarket without any town being specified, and I had assumed that this was in Newcastle, as this was on the way south. Fortunately, however, I discovered that it was in Edinburgh, otherwise I could easily have gone off in the wrong direction, as the trains were only five minutes apart. I had about an hour and a half between trains in Edinburgh, so I got off at Waverley Station so that I could walk along Princes Street, then up by the castle, where they were erecting seating for the forthcoming festival, and through West Princes Street Gardens. Signposting doesn't seem to be a strong point around Edinburgh, but I kept on in the general direction of the railway line, which disappeared underground for some way, until I reached Haymarket Station and I just had enough time for a pint of McEwans 80/- on draught before catching the Virgin Aberdeen to Penzance train.
At some point, I must have crossed the Southern Upland Way, probably at Moffat, but it is difficult to see where you are when these inter-city trains speed through stations too quickly for the signs to be read. The rest of the journey was uneventful, but I felt that, with all my extra diversions that I had added another interesting day onto the walk rather than it just being devoted to travelling back. The only other interesting thing about my train journeys was that, of the six trains that I travelled on, I had a reserved seat shown on my ticket for five of them, but the only train that was operating a reserved seat system was the one for which I had no seat allocated. This was of no real consequence, only that it was a little annoying to hunt for the correct carriage and seat, only to find that it had not been reserved and that someone was sitting there.
After Thoughts
The Southern Upland Way proved to be a good long distance walk in parts but, as I had anticipated from the outset, there were considerable stretches of tedious walking through conifer plantations and along minor roads, particularly in the earlier part of the walk. Every long distance walk has some tedious sections, but this one had more than I felt happy with. I think that part of the problem lies in the fact that very few people walk the area to the west, so there are not many established footpaths. When putting the walk together, it was presumably easier to link up a number of forest tracks and roads with sections of footpath rather than to forge a completely new, more interesting route, through virgin territory. In fairness, many of the forest sections are not nearly as bad as they would appear on the map, and there are constant attempts to improve them further but, in some places, nothing short of a major change of route would do the trick.
I must, however, congratulate both Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Scottish Borders Council for the excellent job they have done in waymarking and maintaining the route, as it is one of the best long distance paths that I have come across from this point of view. Their idea of putting large information boards by each section of the walk, and having leaflet boxes at strategic points to distribute accommodation guides and interesting information is also excellent, as are the efforts of the rangers. The 'Waymerk' initiative adds an extra dimension for those who like to combine treasure hunting with their walking, and is another commendable idea to attract a wider range of people. Unfortunately, for all this good work, which should help to bring some much needed cash into the local economy, the number of walkers is still rather disappointing. Many more people are attracted to the more spectacular scenery of the West Highland Way than to the gentler Southern Upland Way scenery. Perhaps some people are put off by the apparent difficulty of breaking up some of the longer sections of the walk where there is no accommodation to hand, but this is not as much of a problem as it at first seems. Many B&Bs are prepared to arrange pickups and set downs at convenient points, so there is no need to take on excessive distances in one go. Others may be worried about walking in such remote areas, but they are not generally as remote as they seem. There may not be many towns or villages around, but there are farms scattered widely throughout even the most remote places, should anyone need help in an emergency. In fact, a lot of the walking in remote parts is on tracks or roads, where it is possible for vehicles to gain access.
From my own point of view, I would have been a lot happier for this walk to take a higher level route in many places, in which case it would live up to the 'Upland' part of its name, rather than being a walk that goes through the Southern Uplands. This would probably entail much more negotiation with landowners regarding access, and would make the walk more strenuous, thus requiring extra time to complete, but I think the walk would be that much the better for it.
Overall, I did still enjoy the walk, and this was helped by favourable weather most of the way. On the whole walk, I only had my waterproofs on for perhaps four hours. There was quite a bit of rain, but most of it fell overnight, so didn't cause me any trouble. The problems that often occur with long, wet grass were not apparent because so much of the walk is on well made tracks and roads rather than on footpaths, and my feet never got particularly wet at any stage. I had also taken more cold weather clothing including a hat and gloves, than I do on most walks, anticipating more bleak exposed terrain and bad weather conditions than I actually found, so this never got used.
The other thing that I had been warned of, the midges, caused me very little trouble. A lot depends on weather conditions at the time, but early in the year they are very little trouble, whereas later on they can be a nightmare, and have caused a number of walkers to pack in and go home. I went prepared with insect repellent and bite relief, but used neither. I did find a few bites, particularly round the tops of my socks, but not enough to worry about.
Of all the walks that I have completed, some have been very sociable affairs with a considerable number of fellow walkers that I have kept bumping into along the way, and others have been lonely walks where I have hardly met a soul. This was very much of the latter case. I met nobody who was doing the whole walk, and only near the more populated areas in the east did I meet up with any walkers at all. It doesn't particularly trouble me if I have no company, as I often find that it can distract from enjoying the scenery if I am too busy talking to someone. However, where it is really advantageous to meet others, is in the evenings, to have a good chat over a pint in the pub.
The guidebook that I used suffered from a number of basic inaccuracies, but mainly from the fact that it was several years out of date and didn't take into account recent route changes. However, that was not really a problem, as the route is so well waymarked that it could almost be walked without a guidebook at all. There is another guidebook published by the Ordnance Survey, which has taken over as the official guide, and is probably more accurate and up to date. It costs a few pounds more, but it may be worth paying the extra to get a better book, especially as both books manage to fit the whole walk into one volume and, therefore, avoid both the cost and weight of the two volumes that some walks of a similar distance occupy.
On my walks, I spend quite a bit of time writing these diaries as I go along, as I could never trust to my memory to put them on paper later. When I got back home, together with a rather smelly pile of washing, I took off the rest of my clothes for Jean to put in the washing machine whilst I had a bath. When I had finished, I suddenly realised that, although I had emptied out the main pockets of my trousers, my diary was in another pocket down the leg. I rushed out to the washing machine and managed to retrieve a soggy mess, which looked more like papier mâché than a diary. However, a few hours of separating out and ironing managed to retrieve most of the information, although some of the outer layers had suffered quite badly and needed a bit of memory and guesswork to fill in the missing bits.
My feet, which had fared quite well in general on this walk, had been giving me some problems in the latter stages because the padding at the heels had been wearing away. I first noticed this about half way through the walk, and it continued to make my heels rather sore for the remainder of the way. It was a pity, because I had found the boots to be extremely comfortable in every other respect, and I was sorry that this defect spoiled them. When I got back home, I returned them to the shop together with the receipt showing that they had only been bought about five weeks earlier. I didn't like to point out that I had walked about 250 miles in them during that time, although the problem had first started after about 150 miles. There was no problem about returning them, and I was offered either some replacement boots or a refund. I opted for some more boots of the same make, but of a more conventional construction, without the GoreTex lining and the foam padding and, as they cost less, I also got a refund of £10.
Photography and Technology
Over the years that I have been doing long distance walks, camera technology, Internet technology and display technology have developed by giant leaps from 35mm colour slides that had to be scanned to produce low quality digital images for the website up to the present day with high quality digital photography, almost unlimited memory and super fast broadband,
The article in the 'Other Items' section chronacles all of this throughout my walks.
