Question: Where's Waldo? (Wally, for our UK readers)
After a great rest day in Jedburgh, we headed out for our first full day in Scotland. The weather continues as it has been for the last few weeks. On the cool side with big grey clouds, bits of sun and bits of rain.
I'm not complaining. This is great weather to walk in. It only gets unpleasant when it rains steadily for hours. Luckily that's only happened a few times. The rain does make for muddy paths and scary bogs. We've successfully avoided the worst of the bogs, but I think we're stuck with the mud.
Our walk today took us along the River Teviot, which we crossed on an impressive suspension bridge.
We had an audience for our crossing.
I'm pretty sure the one on the left is laughing at us.
On the other side of the bridge, we ended up in the backyard of this place.
Oops. We decided to exercise our right to roam, and made our way around the house to the path we were needed.
The path we needed was St. Cuthbert's Way, our favourite path so far. It is by far the best marked path we've been on. And it had bonuses like boardwalks and stairs and benches, which are quite exciting when all you do all day is walk! The path is named for the patron saint of northern England and stretches 100km from the Abbey in Melrose, where he began his monastic life, to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, where he was ministering when he died. We met a couple of women on the trail who were doing the whole thing. They told us that Lindisfarne is only reachable by causeway at low tide, like St. Michael's Mount down in Cornwall.
We did veer off St. Cuthbert's Way as we approached Melrose. The path loops around and climbs up and over the saddle of two big hills that overlook Melrose. We opted for a shorter lower route on a bike route. We have been doing this kind of course correction all the way along. I figure, we're already walking for 82 days, no need to climb every hill. Believe me, we're still climbing plenty.
Al has discovered the benefit of changing to his running shoes when we're on pavement.
His feet would hurt in his boots on pavement, but give him no trouble in his runners. I've been changing my shoes on pavement from the get go. My feet are still pretty sore at the end of the day, but they're good for longer and are still recovering enough for the next day, so I guess I can't complain.
We were glad we took the short cut when we got to our hotel in Melrose.
It's the first in a string of nice places we're staying in leading up to Edinburgh. I'm glad I insisted on no camping!
Location:Abbey St,Melrose,United Kingdom
I'm enjoying reading about your adventures very much. One of your followers commented that you should print up your blog. I would like to suggest turning it into a book. My husband turned his 2011 LEJOG blog (my1200milesummer.blogspot.com) into a book using a web site called blurb.com. The quality is excellent, and it is a wonderful souvenir. I look forward to reading about your trek through Scotland. Best wishes to you!
ReplyDeleteJanet Klug
Dawn - I asked a friend who lives in Scotland about the "right to roam vs. private" issue. Here is his response:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scotways.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=38&Itemid=72
http://www.mcofs.org.uk/access-law-and-soac.asp
"To ensure some privacy, houses and gardens are outwith your access rights. The exact location of the boundary can be very difficult to judge in the countryside as rural houses do not always have the urban-style of defined garden. The Code guidance, if followed, will mean you will be within your rights as long as you act responsibly. This means when near houses keeping noise and lingering to a minimum.
Customary routes to some mountain and climbing areas pass close to houses. Often there have been no problems using these for many years. An example of a constructive approach to this is signing a preferred route through the grounds close to a house e.g. Ardvorlich House en route to Ben Vorlich. Here walkers are asked to use a path that avoids going too close to the house, but is not way out of your way and is on good path. There have been a number of court cases around issues of privacy, and as more court cases are brought, the situation will become clearer. They will be reported on the MCofS website and this magazine.
Buildings other than houses also have some degree of curtilage (area around them outwith access rights). This might be a store, warehouse or cattle shed etc. The area will be likely to be immediately adjacent to the building and often surrounded by a wall or fence. The Code says if there is not a clearly defined area, then to “use your common sense.”"
Hope this helps to keep you all out of trouble on the final stage of your journey!
Paula
My friend Colin adds:
ReplyDeleteSo, "private" means almost nothing in Scotland (ditto Scandinavia) except in some narrowly defined instances. All the guidance and case law that I know about hinges on words like "reasonable" and "common sense". It is all very civilised.
I always take "Private" signs as a quiet reminder. It also indicates that the land isn't in public, or quasi public, stewardship (eg the National Trust). And in certain seasons I'll be prompted to bear in mind the possibility of hunting.
Much of their route seems to be over the established long distance path network. These will be waymarked.
Although upland paths have a tendency to fade/migrate and maps get out of date, I very much doubt that they will be going high enough for that to be a concern.
And he gave me his email contact for you if you want to contact him. Colin is a super great guy, so don't hesitate to ask if you need something.
Paula
I agree this should be published. Have enjoyed every day. Good job Dawn and Al.
ReplyDeleteDixie