Day 69 - Kelso to Melrose - 12.8 miles


After an enjoyable evening all I needed to do this morning is plot a route to Melrose. As with yesterday, the most obvious and most direct ( by miles) was to walk what I hoped would be quiet roads directly from Nenthorn.

First some farewells, 
Jill and Luke,
Grace and Donald and of course
the beautiful Grouse who seemed to know that I was off somewhere - she seemed to have taken quite a liking to my boots - or perhaps more likely, whatever I've been tramping through for the last 10 weeks!

The most obvious route went straight from Jill and Donald's front door
and no sooner had I set off that I met
Chris from BT Openreach. He was carrying out a check on the condition of the telegraph pole - he told me this is something they have to do regularly on each of the 4.2 million poles across the country. As they are buried up to 6 feet in the ground, they can be prone to rotting.
We got talking about the the Yetholm Rideout and Common Ridings across each of the border towns. Chris' step-son had been Leading Principal at Kelso in 2015 and Chris himself is a steward for the Rideouts.

The road then went past Hundy Mundy 
 - a gothic folly attributed to Robert Adam who in 1795 designed it as part of the Mellerstein Estate nearby. 
It's now the main feature of a natural burial ground. 
The vehicle in the foreground had just lumbered past me and the farmer was doing what farmers do at this time of the year - spreading it nice and evenly.

The quiet roads led to progressively busier roads and the rain came on so after 10 miles I was really glad to see the Eildon Hills which tower over Kelso.
As I crossed the park I stopped at the war memorial.
On a display to the side, there was some information on each of the names on the memorial.

Andrew Wright died from gunshot wounds at the battle of Gallipoli

William Purves died in Flanders on his 19th birthday. 
.
Robert Lyal was killed at sea when his ship the HMS Defence was sunk in the Battle of Jutland. All 903 crew were lost.

And they say Lest we forget!

I crossed the suspension bridge into town.
and as I passed the Abbey 
I saw a box office for the book festival and was lucky enough to get tickets for journalist Alan Liddle's talk this evening.

If I was going to survive that, I needed some lunch and some brief afternoon shut-eye!!

With that out of the way, the weather had improved
and I managed to get back into town just in time to join the 300 long queue for the marquee.
As you could predict, Alan Liddle's talk was excellent. -  the West's incorrect assumptions on what would happen after the end of the Cold War, perceptions of the Yalta and Helsinki agreements, stories about indomitable national identity and pride --all illustrated with accounts of meetings he'd had with an array of political figures, poets, dissidents and ordinary people throughout his career. An excellent talk.
Other authors were appearing before and after with events and music going on late into the evening. 
The Abbey at 10 o'clock in Melrose.

The effects of the Cheviot walk were starting to catch up with me and bed was beckoning.

Total distance walked so far = 903.1 miles
Total ascent so far = 107 994 feet

If you'd like to leave a comment, correct me on any detail or just nudge, it'd be great to hear from you. If initially it comes up as Anonymous, please just add your name at the bottom so I can see who it's from.

email: david.LL.thomas@gmail.com
mob: 07850109100

If you'd like to contribute to any or all of the great charities I'm supporting, here are the relevant links.

- Just Wheels UK  - this is a small charity set up to provide wheelchairs in a rural community in Tanzania. It does this through funding training, education and the local fabrication and servicing of bespoke wheelchairs. My nephew uses a wheelchair and as he grows I can see the life changing freedoms that proper wheelchairs can bring to both users and their families.- 

- Parkinsons UK   - My dad had Parkinsons in his latter years and the research work this charity funds and the support it provides to patients and their families is invaluable. - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-thomas215


- RNLI   - these are the brave guys who selflessly head out to sea to help others. I volunteer at Littlehampton RNLI shop and often meet families of those who’ve had first hand experience of their loved ones being saved from the sea. Having sailed for years I can say thankfully we’ve never had to call on the RNLI's services but it’s amazing what it does to know they are there 

https://www.justgiving.com/

Comments

  1. Anonymous18 June 2022 at 11:28

    Blimey, why have you bothered walking all that distance when you could have just gone up Everest four times?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous18 June 2022 at 11:33

    That was Neil B wot made that comment!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18 June 2022 at 11:41

      Besides, if you keep walking east to west instead of south to north it’s going to talk you forever!

      Delete
    2. David's 2022 Walk18 June 2022 at 15:37

      Hi Neil. I'm hoping for a compass for Christmas. It's the same with sailing...left a bit, right a bit, left a bit etc etc

      Delete
  3. Anonymous18 June 2022 at 14:32

    900 miles!! That really is a long way!! Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday and doing a few more miles with you! Love Sally xxx

    ReplyDelete

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