Harrietsfield to Morebattle
Sunday 13th June
13.5 miles of walking, mostly on St Cuthbert's Way
Click here for all our phots from this walk.
After breakfast at Lilliard B&B and a chat with Mr and Mrs Anderson, we picked up our sandwiches (which, despite the fact that we'd said we only wanted sandwiches, came with free chocolate rolls and satsumas!) and retraced our steps from the back garden back to Dere Street. It had rained in the night but, somewhat to our surprise, it was dry when we left the B&B. We put on overtrousers because we'd expected the long grass en route back to St Cuthbert's Way to be very wet - even more to our surprise, it wasn't. It drizzled from time to time during the day, but it never came to much.
After rejoining Dere Street, we passed Down Law with Baron's Folly on the top. Baron's Folly is reputed to have been used by the baron in question 'for a spot of amorous dalliance, while a servant kept watch in case the baroness decided to come this way'. Then we passed the lake at Baron's Folly Moss. The Waterloo Monument, on top of Peniel Heugh, was visible further ahead and to the left and it remained in view for most of the day.
We crossed a minor road then walked through attractive woodland (with rhodedendrons) to the B6400. Then we followed a short diversion to the Harestanes Visitor Centre. The visitor centre was a bit disappointing (it appears to be set up predominently for children) but we bought postcards and used the toilets. We retraced our steps to St Cuthbert's Way and followed it as it skirted its way around the grounds of Monteviot House (seat of the Earls of Ancrum and the earlier Earls of Lothian) and down to the River Teviot.
We watched a heron on the river then crossed it by way of a long suspension bridge - I didn't enjoy that bit much! Then we followed the river bank back to the confluence with the Jed Water. We followed the Jed Water up to the A698 and crossed it by way of the road bridge before turning onto another stretch of Dere Street (and it is a track here) which climbed, with views behind us to the Waterloo Monument. The Border Abbeys Way, whose route we had been sharing, turned off to the right, then we turned left, through woodland. The views were good, though the weather was closing in a bit and the visibility deteriorated for a while. We stopped for lunch, sitting on a felled or fallen branch from a tree, then continued through the woodland, glad of the shelter which it provided. We put on waterproofs as we reached more open ground, but we didn't need them for long.
We descended to Oxnam Water and crossed it by a footpath then climbed steeply across a field, with good views back to the sandstone cliffs near the river. We reached a cottage at Littledeanlees and continued to climb, now on a private road to a belt of trees on the skyline. We entered the woodland (mostly oak, with rhodedendrons, and superb views back to the Waterloo Monument with the Eildon Hills appearing behind). We reached a road and turned right then, from Brownrigg to Cessford, we crossed several small woods and more open agricultural land, with the outcrop of Blakeman's Crag on our right-hand side and Rocky Covert on our left-hand side. The views in front of us were now to the Cheviot Hills, with Cessford Castle in the foreground.
Cessford was memorable for its row of workers' cottages, its large dene (hollow) with a rather small stream (Cessford Burn) running through it, and for Cessford Castle, built in the 15th Century by the Ker family and a stronghold against regular attacks by the English as well as more local feuds.
From Cessford to Morebattle the walking was on roads, but nevertheless interesting. We walked for about 1.5 miles on a minor road, past the entrance to Otterburn House (where I'm sure I've stayed, all be it a long time ago) and we were only passed by one bicycle and one car! We then turned right onto the B6401 for the final mile into Morebattle, and we were passed by 10 vehicles - a real motorway! It seemed strange that two of the ten vehicles were horse-related (one horse-box, one trailer) and as we walked through the village there were several other horsey vehicles parked - and when we got to the Templehall Inn (also known of the Templehall Hotel), it was absolutely thronging with people - and horse boxes! It turned out that the 'Vigilante Ride', which had come over the hills from Kelso, with a Church service at Hownam and various 'ceremonies', was just ending. The riders came back to the Templehall Inn in the evening for a party, including much singing and dancing - we could see them in the function room from our bedroom (a pleasant dual aspect family room with a poppy theme, and there were also poppies in flower in the attractive back garden) and we could hear them too, especially from the bar. However they didn't really disturb us. We had a little walk around the village then had a meal before returning to our room to be entertained by the revellers.
