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| St Cuthbert's Way passes Cuthbert Collingwood's oaks | St Cuthbert's Way passes Cuthbert Collingwood's oaks |
| (7 months later) | |
| The third day on St Cuthbert's Way dawned as badly as the second, but by the time I reached the Anglo-Scottish border, less than an hour after leaving Kirk Yetholm, the rain had passed over and it was threatening to turn sunny. Briefly the trail coincides with the Pennine Way, and it's best to make sure you keep to St Cuthbert's unless you're feeling very fit and have a bit of time to spare, as the Pennine Way ends up 270 miles further south, rather than about 25 miles to the east. | The third day on St Cuthbert's Way dawned as badly as the second, but by the time I reached the Anglo-Scottish border, less than an hour after leaving Kirk Yetholm, the rain had passed over and it was threatening to turn sunny. Briefly the trail coincides with the Pennine Way, and it's best to make sure you keep to St Cuthbert's unless you're feeling very fit and have a bit of time to spare, as the Pennine Way ends up 270 miles further south, rather than about 25 miles to the east. |
| The view back from the border is spectacular, with Trimontium and the Eildon hills hazily visible on the skyline, just above the route's starting point at Melrose. | The view back from the border is spectacular, with Trimontium and the Eildon hills hazily visible on the skyline, just above the route's starting point at Melrose. |
| After a short unpleasant stage in an overgrown evergreen wood where there was little light, not much sign of the path and one had to beware the withered pine tree's branch, the descent towards Hethpool was a delight. Just before you get to the lovely isolated hamlet there is a hillock covered with slightly unimpressive oaks. These were apparently planted by Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood's wife Sarah, who inherited Hethpool from an aunt – Collingwood's official title, after Trafalgar, was Baron Collingwood of Caldburne and Hethpoole and he planned to make Hethpool "a place of consideration" if he lived long enough (as well as planting more oaks). Sadly, he never made it home again – he, with the Stephensons and Basil Hume, must be one of the front-runners for the title of "World's Greatest Geordie". | After a short unpleasant stage in an overgrown evergreen wood where there was little light, not much sign of the path and one had to beware the withered pine tree's branch, the descent towards Hethpool was a delight. Just before you get to the lovely isolated hamlet there is a hillock covered with slightly unimpressive oaks. These were apparently planted by Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood's wife Sarah, who inherited Hethpool from an aunt – Collingwood's official title, after Trafalgar, was Baron Collingwood of Caldburne and Hethpoole and he planned to make Hethpool "a place of consideration" if he lived long enough (as well as planting more oaks). Sadly, he never made it home again – he, with the Stephensons and Basil Hume, must be one of the front-runners for the title of "World's Greatest Geordie". |
| Shortly after Hethpool, taking advantage again of free water, I filled my bottle up from a "peat-stained, deserted burn". The path rises steadily upwards between Easter Tor and Yeavering Bell. "Yeavering Bell" means "hill of the goats", and I saw several groups of feral goats, which have been roaming here since Neolithic times. They weren't exactly friendly, but didn't seem particularly scared of me either – in one case (see pic above), I got to within about 10 yards of one before it decided to move unhurriedly away. As Martin Wainwright wrote last year, they are being dragged into the 21st Century, with Newcastle University having collared some of them with GPS tracking devices to see where they do roam. | Shortly after Hethpool, taking advantage again of free water, I filled my bottle up from a "peat-stained, deserted burn". The path rises steadily upwards between Easter Tor and Yeavering Bell. "Yeavering Bell" means "hill of the goats", and I saw several groups of feral goats, which have been roaming here since Neolithic times. They weren't exactly friendly, but didn't seem particularly scared of me either – in one case (see pic above), I got to within about 10 yards of one before it decided to move unhurriedly away. As Martin Wainwright wrote last year, they are being dragged into the 21st Century, with Newcastle University having collared some of them with GPS tracking devices to see where they do roam. |
| The signposting of St Cuthbert's Way is not always obvious to follow, and several times I found myself off piste. On the Spanish pilgrimage routes to Compostella – the Camino de Santiago – they use a yellow arrow to show your direction, painted very frequently on anything and everything from trees and rocks to houses, the back of roads signs and the road surface itself. This is effective, reassuring – if you don't see one after about five minutes, it's probably worth retracing your steps as you've probably gone wrong – and must be pretty cheap as well. | The signposting of St Cuthbert's Way is not always obvious to follow, and several times I found myself off piste. On the Spanish pilgrimage routes to Compostella – the Camino de Santiago – they use a yellow arrow to show your direction, painted very frequently on anything and everything from trees and rocks to houses, the back of roads signs and the road surface itself. This is effective, reassuring – if you don't see one after about five minutes, it's probably worth retracing your steps as you've probably gone wrong – and must be pretty cheap as well. |
| The first half of the day was one of almost total loneliness amidst the slightly stern beauty of England's most unpopulated area, with harebells and heather adding colour to the fells. All the way from the Scottish border almost to Wooler, the only people I met were a couple of walkers coming down from Goats' Hill and a shepherd dosing his sheep in a pen at Hethpool. Bliss. | The first half of the day was one of almost total loneliness amidst the slightly stern beauty of England's most unpopulated area, with harebells and heather adding colour to the fells. All the way from the Scottish border almost to Wooler, the only people I met were a couple of walkers coming down from Goats' Hill and a shepherd dosing his sheep in a pen at Hethpool. Bliss. |
| If he works out how to use his mobile phone, Alan will be sending twitter updates of his arrival on Lindisfarne on Friday via @geltsdale | If he works out how to use his mobile phone, Alan will be sending twitter updates of his arrival on Lindisfarne on Friday via @geltsdale |
| You can read the first two parts of his epic travelogue here and here. | You can read the first two parts of his epic travelogue here and here. |
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