Day 54 Melrose to Fairnilee Farm (south of Caddonfoot) (700 miles completed!)

All three of us walked through Melrose, passing shops and cafes along the way towards Tweedbank railway station, passing Melrose RFC on our way.

We walked alongside the railway line for a while before going over the River Tweed and turning left through a field alongside the river and up some wooded lanes and through the outskirts of Galashiels.

Here, I left Garry and Alfie to catch a bus back to Melrose.

The boys followed the Southern Upland Way over Mount Skep and down the other side through some woodland, skirting Hog Hill and down a farm track , ending up Fairnilee Farm. As they turned a corner, I was turning in with the car. It was a planned shorter day of 8.3 miles for Garry and Alfie and 5 miles for me today. We also managed to avoid the rain!

The Southern Upland Way is a very well marked track through some pleasant rolling countryside (with just one tricky stile to negotiate with Alfie).

We look forward to a rest day tomorrow (to visit Peebles), followed by a Saturday's walk along the River Tweed, through Innerleithen, Traquair, to Peebles, a total of about 16 miles.

We're at a new Airbnb in Walkerburn for a few days, with beautiful views across the River Tweed and up the valley.

700 mile marker passed today! Roughly 2/3 of the walk completed!

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