Day 3 – Kirk Yetholm to Wooler (12 miles)
Another very full day, and an exhausting but satisfying one. Since the day was going to end at our hotel in Wooler, for once we didn’t have to move a car to the destination. And since Gilli decided she would sit this day out and instead spend time visiting with Steve, we didn’t need to worry about lunch – they took sandwich orders at breakfast, and met us later at the halfway point with food for all.
So we started the day by driving to the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, which is where we ended the day on Sunday. The day ahead of us would be the shortest but also the most strenuous (according to the guidebook) of all the sections of St. Cuthbert’s Way, so we weren’t surprised when we quite quickly found ourselves ascending a very steep hill. After what seemed like a very long climb, we reached a meandering and tumble-down wall – the Scottish/English border.
At this point I can admit that the photo on the home page of this blog, a very appropriate picture of the border sign, was up to now, a bit of a cheat – we hadn’t actually reached that point of the hike until today, so that photo was just one that I had grabbed from Google. Now it’s been replaced by an actual photo of myself, Bethany, Phil and Allan at the same point – never mind that I have a ridiculously stupid grin on my face; it’s still a photo that really captures the spirit of the whole hike! (To be honest, I’ve probably had a ridiculously stupid grin on my face much of the time for the last few days…)
The path continued to climb for some time, then worked its way downward through a bizarrely creepy small wood – very dark, with apparently no living plants at all within it. I stepped a few yards off to the side at one point to “answer nature’s call” behind a tree, and could have sworn I heard Gandalf’s voice intoning “Do not stray from the path, young Frodo …” Soon enough though we were out of the wood and continuing down to Hethpool. Steve and Gilli drove up literally moments after we arrived there, and we enjoyed a lovely lunch together.
We kept lunch pretty short though; we had enjoyed beautiful weather all morning, but the word was that rain was approaching, and we had the longer stretch of the day’s hike still ahead of us – 8 miles, from Hethpool to Wooler. After a mile or so along relatively flat ground, we ascended very steeply up to the top of a hill, and then were out onto moors that ran most of the way to Wooler. This was a long and fairly exhausting section – though we didn’t climb dramatically after the first stage, the ground was fairly uneven and also quite marshy at times, so it was hard work. The scenery was beautiful as always, but the sun had disappeared behind clouds by now and the moor seemed to stretch on forever. However, the temperature was very comfortable, and the rain stayed away – after a while those of us who had donned rain gear took it off again, and we hiked in t-shirts. I had to change socks once after taking a bad step or two in a boggy section – those New Balance shoes are very comfortable but far from waterproof. But by the time Wooler appeared in the valley below us, there still hadn’t been a drop of rain – we had been lucky again.
We descended through beautiful woods spotted with foxgloves, and arrived in Wooler from the north – just as we covered the last couple of hundred yards, we felt the first drops of rain, so we were just in time! Drinks in the hotel bar were very welcome, as was the hot bath in the huge tub in our bedroom afterwards (that part was just for Bethany and me; we selfishly didn’t invite the others to join us .. ;). After we had all drunk up, warmed up and rested, we crossed the road to the Black Bull pub – right next door to the Milan restaurant we ate at yesterday. The food this time was very different – classic English fare like beef and Yorkshire pudding with gravy – but really excellent. And very filling – we were once again very glad we only had to roll back across the road to get to bed! One more day to go – a complex one in terms of logistics, but one that we think should be very fulfilling!
