August 20, 2015: Harestanes to Morebattle
Our first ascent behind us, we enjoy a retrospective view of Teviotdale.
It soon became evident, as we rose for day three of our walk, that once again we would be favored by bright skies. We finished our breakfast and did not have long to wait before our host, having fed the Broussines, popped us into his car for the return journey to Harestanes. On this occasion he did not drive all the way to the visitor’s center, letting us off on the route itself instead. We began, someone unusually, by repeating a few hundred yards of yesterday’s stage. It was 9:25.
The path, still tracing its way through woodland cover, twisted and turned – even heading for a while in the opposite direction from that desired for this day’s march. We passed a ruinous dovecot and turned left to drop down to the River Teviot, which we crossed by a long suspension bridge. In more open territory we now headed east, encountering more woodland, and pulling close to the confluence of the Teviot and the Jed Water. After a turn to the right we climbed up to the highway, hopped over a crash barrier, crossed the tarmac and continued on to the Jedfoot Bridge.
Here we could see that, after a day of fairly level progress, we were now facing the first of a number of ascents – still following, at first, the route of Dere Street. We walked on a track, so there could be no complaints about the footing, and I must say that I did far better with this uphill section than I had with the climb up to the Eildon saddle. Gavan, meanwhile, had convinced himself that my struggles of yesterday were due to energy loss – which he proposed to remedy with lots of snacks on route. (He was also certain that I would do better with two walking poles than with my faithful stick.)
We were sharing a route with the Borders Abbeys Way here but as we neared the top of our first rise this path left us to drop down to Jedbergh itself. We abandoned Dere Street soon after this junction, turning left for a lovely fairly level woodland walk. Views ahead and to the left were wonderful up here – the Waterloo Monument was prominent across the valley. Progress was quite straightforward here and on a paved road that we reached at the end. This tarmac ribbon headed off to the south for a while and, much to my regret, we now had to lose much of the elevation we had earlier gained – as we made our way down to Oxnam Water, which we crossed by a footbridge.
Gavan crosses Cessford Moor.
The angle of ascent was once again quite steep as we made our way uphill among the herds of cattle grazing here. I found that I could negotiate this ascent without many pauses and, after the cottage of Littledeanlees, it was forward on a track with more woodland as the goal. Then, as we reached our summit, we had a kind of instant reply of the last ascent – a left-hand turn as we were invited to head in a northerly direction on a path through the trees. More lovely views followed and again we reached a road at the end.
Now we would have to make another descent, passing the Brownrigg farmstead and fighting our way through a construction site in order to reach the Wooden Burn. Here we began the third major ascent of the day, though this one seemed to be accomplished in stages as we climbed with trees on left and right. On occasion we walked in woodland as well and there were often fairly level stretches to keep us breathing comfortably. Over on our right an outcrop called Blakeman’s Crag signaled that were were reaching our crest and Gavan noted that we could already see the outlines of Cessford Castle far ahead.
To reach this spot we now began another descent, the village of Cessford coming into view only at the end. A sharp turn to the left and another to the right were accomplished on trackways, which made progress comfortable indeed – though I did notice that the area at the base of my big toes was growing warmer and that I would have to wrap some tape around this place before tomorrow’s march. Cessford village seemed to be devoted only to industrial agriculture and there was no reason to linger.
Cessford Castle.
Our route now called for a fourth ascent for the day, though a brief one, on tarmac, to reach the famous castle. We did not press our noses up against the the decaying brick of this modest ruin but on the grass outside we threw ourselves down for some lunch – featuring sandwiches we had bought at the Jedburgh Co-op. This was a nice place for a little rest and we were cheered by the fact that we could now see the Cheviot range ahead of us, that we were through climbing for the day, and that we could rely on paved roads for the rest of the journey.
Still, progress seemed to be hard-won as we trudged onward, following the bends of the road until we reached the B6401 and turned east for a final march on our destination for the day, the village of Morebattle. At last, still blessed by a late afternoon sun, the farmsteads and homes of this remote place began to make an appearance and we edged our way wearily past the shops of the town until, at the far end, we entered a parking lot where an ancient church was undergoing modernization while someone was serving coffee from a caravan out front. On our right was our night’s accommodation, the Templehall Inn. It was 4:00 and we had walked ten miles.
Our hostess, a senior landlady who seemed to have no help, served behind the bar, showed us to our first floor rooms (Gavan carried up both of our cases), provided us with dinner menus and served our food – someone must have cooked this is the kitchen. In the dining room we met a Dutch woman and her daughter (from Manchester) and they recommended we book a table at a restaurant for Saturday night in Wooler; Gavan, a cultist of Trip Advisor, had already done so for Monday night on Lindisfarne and he was soon on the telephone. Walkers and locals mixed peaceably in this comfortable if downmarket hostelry (and there were plenty of dogs about as well) and we were soon quite relaxed over our Morebattle repast. Relaxed and, naturally, a bit tired too – it would come as no surprise to state that once again we had an early night.
To continue with the next stage of our walk you need: