It rained during the night, and so our walk today alongside the river Tweed was rather wet and muddy and again we walked through long wet grass. However the paths and the weather improved and it was a lovely walk following St Cuthbert’s Way to Melrose and the Abbey where St Cuthbert had lived. We had lunch in Melrose and then continued our walk along the Tweed in warm sunshine and on good paths, following the Southern Upland Way.

A Backward Glance

Walking up the grass hill was easy, the weight of my rucksack was hardly anything; I felt young and the sun was lighting everything up around me. A woman sat astride a large motorcycle facing a gate I was heading towards. As I got closer it became clear it was Sandra Bullock, I waved enthusiastically and she responded with a very slight smile, turned her bike around and slowly rode away up the lane. On the gate was a familiar sign that said ‘Bull in field’, which I thought was funny, then Carol passed me saying “David keep up”. I just saw Sandr… “David KEEP UP”. But when I tried to, I couldn’t. I looked down and my legs appeared to be in the ground and much worse, I’d forgotten to put my trousers on again! “David WAKE UP, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s half past seven and breakfast is at eight!” Mr Komoot can find paths not trodden for decades, one is along the banks of the River Tweed, where we blindly hacked our way through stinging nettles, thistles and clinging brambles. When we eventually emerged onto a more recognisable excuse for a path, Carol and I made a pact to be more circumspect regarding his idea of a ‘route’. The rest of the day was along well used paths that many folk young and old were out on, enjoying the sunny weather. For me the highlight of the walk was to see the ruins of Melrose Abbey. Robert the Bruce’s heart is buried there in an urn. The story surrounding what happened to his heart and how it finally reached the resting place he asked for is a fascinating one. Most of our walk today was more urban than we’re used to and included a lot of pavements through towns and parks, but a pleasant day.