The first full day of Scottish walking was the wettest day I've had since Land's End. I guess this means I've been incredibly lucky, but it didn't feel like it at the time. The mist clung to the lowlands and the Eildon Hills all day, as I joined the St Cuthbert's Way all the way to Melrose. Late afternoon the sun came out though and has been unceasingly shining since then. In the Melrose campsite I met a lovely couple, the Romseys, who took my blog address and fundraising details. In the light of the current news, this feels so relevant.
The Southern Upland Way is wonderful. This is all new walking territory for me, and I am definitely coming back to walk the whole of the SUW, sometime! The view from the Three Brethren, as pictured, was breathtaking in every direction.
All of the walking in the Borders is well signposted and maintained. I feel like I need to say this after walking in the Midlands! A few miles after this point I found myself catching up a walker ahead with a backpack at least half again bigger than mine. And who should it be but the man walking from Cape Cornwall to Cape Wrath. I had heard about him from other walkers I've met and didn't think I'd ever see him. His name is John Sutcliffe, and we walked together most of the rest of the day, exchanging stories of people and routes and weather and life. He is a great man. A geologist, he still works although he is in his 70s, and spoke about the shape of the land that we had passed through. As we passed a path coming up from the left, before Minch Moor, a bearded chap in red Ronhills, a dirty t-shirt and a wide-brimmed sunhat came yomping up towards us, followed by hundreds of flies. He had a strange Geordie/Aussie accent, and his enthusiasm about the history of the hills and his need to tell us was untameable. I think we were both glad to be rid of him as he skipped off up the hill, flies following. I said goodbye to John Sutcliffe after Traquair beer at Traquair House. Look out for his book ... I'm so glad I met him.
The following morning I popped into the Innerleithen greengrocers for some fruit and the greengrocer, after finding out why I was walking through, gave me money for the fundraising and made her next three customers do the same. It was a hot walk to Peebles and in town Coltman's cafe was recommended to me. Over good coffee I chatted to Sophie, a lovely friendly waitress, who walked 28 days on the northern route of the Camino to Compostella last year - also a solo walker - and loved it, and, crazily, would like to walk from Lands End to John O'Groats. In the words of a mountain biker, met in the Innerleithen campsite, 'so, not a lot of people walk that ... doesn't that tell you something ...?' . Sophie, do it. Increase our number!
The Peebles conversations got stranger when I was joined for a hilarious half hour outside the campsite bar by a double act from Edinburgh, Stevie (the skinny one) and Buster (the fat one). Stevie was three sheets to the wind already and thought my teeth were gorgeous, and Buster was, in fact, charming and polite and hilarious too. And they said they'd donate too. And this morning, early, the lovely kind lady in the Food for Thought cafe donated too.
And the strangest Peebles conversation was with a Jehovah's Witness yesterday afternoon. This is the second time in the walk, and the second time in my life, I have been JWed. I stopped her before she began to give me the evangelistic spiel and told her I worked for the Church of England ... She said that was wonderful, and then carried on anyway, and as I tried to back away politely she asked me who I thought controlled the world anyway. I said it depends on so many factors ... so she gave me a leaflet. It asked the same question. Turns out she'd memorised the leaflet.
Talking of the big questions .... I am in the luxury of a b&b tonight so have been catching up with the news. Now might be a time to remind you of what I'm fundraising for. Please read below. We are so privileged to live in a country free from violent conflict.
Tomorrow, 17 miles, in the company of a friend. After seeing that much rain is predicted, we may not be friends by the end of the day ...
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