Today was to be a long day at 15.5 miles. We were two miles out of Bellingham so rather than road walk we got a lift from our B and B landlady. We set off at 9am, uphill along the road before turning off onto the hillside. Today had been described as “bleak and boggy” and “one of the worst stretches”.
We headed uphill from Bellingham and took an alternative route that didn’t gain as much altitude but turned out not to save any time as it was boggy underfoot and we did get wet feet.
The countryside was wide open and empty. We walked on and on, over the hills, and over lots of dry peaty areas that in another summer would have been boggy. Far ahead of us we could see Chris’s car. The lads were there as well. We hoped he’d still be there when we passed but we saw him drive off. We were disappointed. (Chris did say later that he hadn’t seen us or he would have waited.) Our disappointment was tempered however by the fact that there was a flagstone path, always welcome as you know you’re on track (and we had veered away from the path earlier) and that your feet will be dry.
We were thinking about lunch, but first we had a hill to climb. We passed a couple having lunch at the bottom but our rule is -get to the top before you stop. It was quite a climb, rocky, wet in places and steep. We reached the top with a sigh of relief and sank down out of the wind to eat our lunch.
The second part of the day was a bit of a slog. It was entirely through Forestry Commission Forest, a lot of which had been felled, or as the FC now call it, harvested.
We trudged on and on. There was the occasional stream and we saw a few chaffinches. No red squirrels though. We reached a car park, and public loos (yay) at Blakeshopeburnhaugh. We turned along the valley, walking beside the river. We passed a campsite at Cottonshopeburnfoot (it’s an area of long place names) with some hardy swimners. Eventually we hit Byrness (another Forestry Commission village) and walked along a pavement to the Forest View Inn.
The Forest View Inn was great. Laura welcomed me saying she felt she knew me already, having talked to Matthew about me. We had a very welcome cup of tea and said hello to Chris and the lads who were camping there as well as the other couple that we had passed while they were having lunch. Dinner was one sitting at 7.30 so we all gathered and had a sociable evening before heading off to bed.
Rose's LEJOG 