LEJOG 2015
Jedburgh Tuesday 02 June 2015
Start: Byrness
Finish: Jedburgh
Miles walked today: 20
Total miles: 683
Scotland! Home of the haggis. Land of the SNP. Makers of whisky. What's not to like?
I passed a real milestone today - and left England behind me. Funnily enough, the weather perked up a bit too.
My alarm.was set for 6.15 and I left my wet tent to get my self service breakfast. Tent down, packed and a quick photo of Dan (on the left below) and Keith. They are both headed for Kirk Yetholm, the end of the Pennine Way. It's a very long day for them.
My route starts with a long climb out of Byrness up the side of the river Rede's valley. I'm protected by lots of fir trees, so when I get to the top and the open moor the wind quite literally takes my breath away. It's blowing from the west, across my path, and I'm leaning at a ridiculous angle to counter it.
A few miles of boggy, windy walking and I get to my turn off (second photo below). The PW goes slightly right, and I follow the fence to the left - into Scotland! Passport control is nowhere to be seen, so I carry on.
The path eventually takes me to paved tracks, and drops enough for the wind to ease. Nearer Jedburgh, I'm walking in shorts and T shirt and the sun is shining overhead.
Ready for the next bit of excitement? Entering Jedburgh, I find a laundry, manned by Colin Crozier. Colin makes me a coffee, insists I take some biscuits, and does my washing.
He's lived a full and varied life, and doesn't look anything like his 75 years. Lots of people pop in to say hello and chat. Colin emigrated to New Zealand in the sixties, and married a Kiwi, but returned to his native Scotland a few years ago. His four children and (I think) nine grandchildren are spread out over Australia, New Zealand and Scotland.
He is a flugelhorn player in a brass band, and a bit of a bard:
It's easy enough to be pleasant
When life goes by like a song
The man worthwhile
Is the man with the smile
When everything goes dead wrong
We shake hands and I leave Colin and wander off to find a b&b - the lovely Akaso-Uram at 7 Queen Street which is perfect.
Jedburgh has an abbey, a jail, and a castle. It's a pleasant place to wander around and take photos of.
Kenonymous's latest donation and suggestion:
"SCOTLAND JIMMA!!!! Wull ya be havina joug of Hadrians Border Brewery 'Coast ta Coast' ta celebrute eh pal? You're sort-of doin' tha' like anywho :-)"
I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to speak like that in the pub...
Innerleithen Wednesday 03 June 2015
Start: Jedburgh
Finish: Innerleithen
Miles walked today: 30
Total miles: 713
The scene: a cycle route following the valley of the River Tweed. The following dialogue can be heard:
"Go on, take a look at your phone"
"No!"
"Go on. We can see how near we are on the map..."
"No!"
"At least look at the time"
"No!"
"You wanted to walk to Innerleithen"
"I know. We had no choice. It was either stop too early or keep going to Innerleithen. You know there's nothing for miles otherwise. No pubs, no villages, nothing!"
"If you look at your phone we could be really close."
"We could be miles away. I'd rather not know"
"Just a little peep?"
"No!"
And so on... you get the idea.
Dot at the Akaso-Uram b&b (I should have asked her about the name) made me a delicious breakfast. Her house is lovely. The sort of place that is a real home. She has an amazing collection of miniatures - photo below. When I leave, she gives me back some of my payment (which was very reasonable) as a donation. Another b&b I must return to if I can.
The sun is shining as I stride out of Jedburgh. A shorts and T shirt day at last. I'm not quite sure about my route or destination. My plan is to head for Melrose and take it from there.
I head along the St Cuthbert's Way for a while, and later pop into a pub at St Boswells. Liam, the barman, asks about my walk and makes a donation. A very nice man.
I skirt around the south of the Eildon Hills and don't actually go to Melrose. Farm tracks take me to the cycle route and I plod on to Innerleithen. As I round a bend in the road, I see houses on the opposite bank of the river. I've made it! Innerleithen. I finally take a look at my phone and discover that I am looking at the village of Walkerburn. Innerleithen lies a couple of miles further on. Oh well. Another few paces and I see a tiny chick in the road. A car stops as I pick it up and the lady driver tells me it's a pheasant or partridge. I put it somewhere safe where there's a chance of the parents finding it.
It's been a very long day of walking but good to be out in the sun. Crumbs b&b is manned by Barbara and Colin, who make me most welcome.
Carlops Thursday 04 June 2015
Start: Innerleithen
Finish: Carlops
Miles walked today: 22
Total miles: 735
One thing about doing LEJOG is that you can't be in two places at once. My ticket to see David Sedaris in Bournemouth last night was wasted. Davis Sedaris is a bit of a Marmite person. Some friends don't seem to get him. Tina and I, and Carol and Ken, do like him, spread thick or thin. They reported back to me that it was a really good evening, I wish I could have been there. Here he is:
I should mention Mark Moxon's excellent LEJOG site. I've been meaning to for ages. He's put me on his site, a very nice thing to do.
Peebles is the sort of town you would like to spend some time in. I reached it after walking along the Tweed for five or six miles. A high street with hardly a big name in it, lots of friendly people to chat to, and lovely old buildings. I stopped for coffee and had a quick look around.
The rest of the day was uneventful, apart from a caterpillar on the road... Disused railway lines, paths, farm tracks and lanes made a slightly convoluted route to Carlops, and the Allan Ramsey Hotel
Tomorrow - Edinburgh? The Forth road bridge? Who knows. Not me. Yet...
Dunfermline Friday 05 June 2015
Start: Carlops
Finish: Dunfermline
Miles walked today: 27
Total miles: 762
There's a piece of grit in my left boot. It's annoying, but not enough to stop and sort out. Airbusses periodically cross the sky in front of me, having been catapulted off the runway of nearby Edinburgh airport. Traffic thunders past on a road leading towards the Forth road bridge, also my destination. The grey sky threatens rain, which doesn't actually fall. The day started very differently...
At breakfast at the Alan Ramsay Hotel - named after the Scottish poet who was once as famous as Burns - Rosie and Kenny look after me very well. They send me on my way with lots of treats to eat as I walk. The Pentland Hills lie between Carlops and Edinburgh and the climb up and over is pleasant due to the warm weather and lack of wind.
The next few miles to the bridge are a strange mix of villages, industrial areas, motorways, building sites, and road works. I'm quite excited about the walk over the road bridge. The Genesis song Firth of Fifth comes to mind:
as the title is nearly appropriate. A new feature now - a video of my own! The sound is bad - apologies, but it matches the shaky picture :-)
If you're interested, the saga of the cables is quite interesting.
I also posted a video of Cauldron Snout in the entry for Dufton on the 28th of May. It's taken me this long to get a fast enough connection to upload video. Looking at these two videos I can't help thinking of Paul Whitehouse:
As I crossed the bridge, a fellow pedestrian asked me:
"Wheer are ye headed?"
"John o'Groats" I say
"Ye'll nae get there faer tea time!!"
Perhaps not, but I do get to the City Hotel in Dunfermline in time for my dinner.
Dunfermline is a fine town. It has an abbey, a massive park, interesting architecture, and a karaoki night at the City Hotel. Fortunately for me, I can't hear a thing in my room. Fortunately for Dunfermline, I'm not going to sing...
Perth Saturday 06 June 2015
Start: Dunfermline
Finish: Perth
Miles walked today: 27
Total miles: 789
On the outskirts of Dunfermline "Fife's First and only Social Reptile Store" catches my eye. I'm slightly shocked that it appears to be unique...
Further on, there are some holiday chalets. The saccharine sign announces that "The best thing about memories is making them." This awful bon mot is tempered by the two signs right next to it:
"DANGER OF DEATH -DEEP WATER!"
and
"SMILE -YOU'RE ON CCTV! "
How nice to think back about Dad falling into the deep water and reflect that the best thing was when it happened it was all captured on CCTV.
Signs in general are getting out of hand. Walking around Dunfermline yesterday every view of the beautiful abbey was ruined by a sign about parking restrictions, warnings of cyclists, or something equally unimportant. This civic vandalism wasn't even well executed with signs that were in keeping. Most were horrid plastic efforts, cable tied to lampposts or anything else which came to hand. Oh well...
Today's earworm is this:
from Gene Pitney. I've been making up my own words:
And I was only...
six miles away fr - om Kinross
Only... eight hours away fr - om Perth
I've got grit in my left boot
I can't be arsed to root it out
And I can never
Never
Ever
Walk south again...
Anyway, you get the idea ...
The wind is very strong at times, and there is rain in the air but it's never that heavy. A route on cycle paths and lanes changes to a climb over Dron Hill and then a short walk into Perth from Bridge of Earn along the A912 - not perfect but unavoidable.
Perth seems a bit big, but has some nice buildings and the river Tay running through. In my room at the Strathmore Hotel I settle down to watch the Champions League final only to discover that the TV doesn't seem to receive ITV. Whatever next!!
Kenonymous has been keeping up his sterling work on the Virgin Giving page. I feel bad that I've sampled so few of your recommendations old sausage. I've been getting emails too - keep them coming please. I hope Ken doesn't mind me quoting his email from today - I've removed all the intimate details:
"I see there have been killer whales sighted in the Firth, so dont go paddling.
I was just trolling through the Grauniad today & spotted this 'spider-in-the-bag' story. Rubbish reaction, but the comments are wonderful. I think this has to be my favourite from thehumblegent 6m ago :
I bought a bunch of bananas from Asda once and, being a bit absent minded and in a rush I didn't notice that the bag was quite heavy.
Anyway I got home and when I unpacked my shopping I noticed a chimpanzee fast asleep, clung to the bananas and a pot of natural Greek yoghurt. Obviously my partner and I fled the house in our pants and spent the night on our local B&B which, ironically, is own by Mr and Mrs Bonobo.
When we returned home the chimp had fled but had put the shopping away!!! However I was a little bit miffed because he/she had used the toilet but hadn't flushed, the damn dirty ape"
Marvellous!!! (You do need to visit the Grauniad article to appreciate the comment fully.)
