Pennine Way 25 Auchope Rigg to Kirk Yetholm

The final day

Ray had indeed come up with another cunning plan and his landlady had assisted with a phone call to check that we could ascend to the Pennine Way via Sourhope Farm, just an extra half mile to deal with. It was a relatively easy way to begin with apart from the last steep stretch up Auchope Rigg. After a few moments for everyone to catch up we set of for the Schil, the last peak of the Pennine Way.

We had to climb over a barbed wire fence to gain access to the summit but it was worth it for the splendid views while we ate our lunch. It was a very cold wind on the summit and today there were a few clouds in the sky. In the distance we could see a patchwork of fields and woods and beyond them hills in the distance.





There was a choice of route near the end, the high route and the low route. Very little difference in length but one went up and one went down. I chose the low route led by Rita. She had set us off on this journey many months ago and now she was bringing us home despite her dodgy knees!
The only casualty we had en route was a bumped head a mile from the end on a road!

At last after a rather cruel hill we arrived at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm and celebrated with cups of tea and coffee or pints of beer according to taste. Book signed, certificates collected, official photos taken on many cameras by David Bailey, sorry I meant Eamon Smith, and we set off for home with quiet satisfaction that we had achieved another goal and shared the highs and lows of a splendid walk along the backbone of England.




Unfortunately Eamon is leaving JAK travel so this was his last trip with us but I think he has caught the walking bug and hopefully he'll be joining us on a walk now and then, a whole walk Eamon not just a short section!

As usual I would like to thank all those willing volunteers that organise these trips, plan the routes and lead the walks. Without you none of this would be possible. Many thanks for all your hard work. Thanks also to Peter for taking many of the photos and dashing backwards and forwards to get the best views. I certainly haven't got the energy for walking as well as taking photos and the quality of the blog has gone up since he joined us half way through. Also thanks to Jean Moxon who also supplied some photos and Colin who did the narrative for one section.

'To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping'

Pennine Way 24 Windy Rigg to Auchope Rigg

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day again without a cloud in the sky. Still quite windy on the tops but the ground was really dry and the peat bogs were as dry as a bone....brilliant!

The 'A' party went back up the track they had descended yesterday and walked all the way back to Kirk Yetholm. The 'B' party split into two groups, those who wanted to climb to the summit of the Cheviot went ahead and I joined this group. I wasn't sure I wanted an extra climb but I'm glad I did as it was very easy.

First of all we had to gain all the height we had lost yesterday and then set off for Windy Gyle where we had half our lunch.

A large part of today's walk was on stone flags or duckboards as the alternative would normally have been peat bogs. The weather had been very dry for a couple of months so we didn't have any trouble with peat bogs at all. We had splendid views all day walking amongst the bilberry bushes, cloudberries and cotton grass waving in the breeze. Cloudberry was a new one on me and I forgot to take a photo but if you follow the link you can see what they look like. I wonder if they would go well with vodka........!!

On the way to the summit we had a view of the North Sea in the distance but the walk was a bit of an anti-climax as it was mostly on duckboards. A brief stop at the trig point that Peter ascended to fly the Union Jack someone had left behind and then back down the same track to continue on our way to the cairns we could see in the distance.

The views around Hen Hole were very spectacular but there should have been a waterfall down there. If you have 6 minutes to spare put your coat, hat and gloves on and follow this link to see what it looks like in a bad winter.

I'm glad it wasn't like that for us but it just shows what a difference the weather makes to your walk.

As we arrived at the refuge hut Eamon arrived on the scene having walked up to meet us. He had been warned by the farmer, who had a gun, that we weren't really welcome on his land during the lambing season but on this occasion he would let us go through, so we left the Pennine Way and made our way down to the coach. The first group passed through the farmyard without any problem but the farmer got rather nasty with the last of the group and said he didn't want us back tomorrow. Hmmm now what should we do, Ray had to put on his thinking cap and come up with another cunning plan!

Back at the hostel the wine was flowing and everyone was having a jolly time including the warden and his friend. Some had already completed the Pennine Way and arranged to do part of St Cuthbert's Way the following day.

Today's walk for the 'B' walkers had been 10 miles and and 2400 ft climbing with 2.5 miles and 400 ft extra if you went up the Cheviot. Not quite as tiring as yesterday and the group were in a celebratory mood.

Pennine Way 23 Byrness to Windy Rigg

Our last weekend staying at the SYHA in Kirk Yetholm to complete the Pennine Way and we couldn't have had better weather.......well perhaps it could have been a bit less windy but that's being very picky!

35 of us and Eamon took the smaller coach to Kirk Yetholm and Kelso. I stayed in the hostel in a jolly group of 18. As it was a Scottish hostel it was all self catering so it required a bit of forward planning in the food department. Its quite amazing how the group sorts itself out into early risers and later risers in the morning. I always seem to have my breakfast early with Harry and Stuart and Peter and then get out of the way and have a peaceful hour or so before its time to set off.

We travelled up on Friday evening after a day watching (or trying to avoid!) the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I wasn't going to watch but got drawn into it and actually really enjoyed it.

The walk we had left to do was 27 miles with very few places to leave the Pennine Way but Ray had devised a cunning plan to enable the 'B' walkers to do it in three sections and the 'A' walkers to do it in two sections. It required several more miles and much more climbing than the 'B' walkers would normally do but we're made of sturdy stuff and it had to be done to complete the walk.


Eamon dropped us off at Byrness and we set off up a steep track through a wood and out on to Byrness Hill. The sun shone as it did all weekend and spirits were high as we were all looking forward to finishing. We made our way steadily upwards and stopped for lunch with splendid views of forests and hills.

A large part of this walk was beside the border fence between Scotland and England and we kept crossing from one to the other.

The 'A' party went ahead after lunch and then the 'B' party split into two for a while in the area of the Roman Camps at Chew Green. All of us had to descend to Cocklawfoot to catch the bus and the 'B' party left the Pennine Way at Windy Rigg and made our way downhill. The 'A' party and those who had gone ahead walked a bit further and took a very pleasant track down the other side of the valley and we all met up at the same time and on time to leave at 6.00 pm.

It had been a very tiring day 14 miles and 2800 ft of climbing and there were some sore feet and legs in the group.

We all had a good meal, some lucky people got a piece of rhubarb and apple pie and custard at the hostel! Most were in bed fairly early to get ready for another hard day tomorrow.