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Day 51 4 miles north of Bellingham to Byrness

 

A game of two halves for Garry's walk today.

The first half was over Troughend Common and Blakehope Fell, which was fairly undulating and very wet underfoot in parts. There were some slabbed stepping stones but these were sporadic. Garry found this rather monotonous but broken up by glimpses of the Cheviot Hills, his first sighting of the Scottish hills beckoning. 

He skirted the edge of Kielder forest. It was quite quiet in the forest compared to the sound of the birds over the common and moor. 

                                       

The forest tracks were easy to follow and walk on, although they were quite undulating. There was a lot of replanting happening within the forest. 

My day was spent with Alfie, who has an upset stomach and needed to visit the garden a number of times during  the night. After we dropped Garry off, we had a gentle wander around Bellingham, visited another cafe converted from a train station and collected some 'gentle on the stomach food' from the vets. 

                                                  

Alfie and me met Garry for a very short walk as he neared the end of his forest section. We called into 'The last cafe in England' before heading back to the Airbnb.

We decided against the extra 4 miles walking into Scotland today as the meeting point would have meant an extra hour and a half's drive each way so crossing the border is saved for tomorrow! 

Tomorrow also sees the last part of The Pennine Way, before heading onto The Southern Upland Way, some lanes/ roads and canal towpaths on our way to The West Highland Way, which we completed back in September 2021.  We are both looking forward to revisiting it. 


West Highland Way September 2021, when we were a little younger (and fresher starting it!)






   
                                              


Enough reminiscing, back to today.

Garry walked just over 11 miles today, including a fair bit of undulation.


There are some long and hilly walks coming up over the next few days, so fish and chips for tea tonight!

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