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Friday 16 May - After a relaxed morning, we left Byrness at 11am to start our big trudge uphill through a conifer plantation and then had a short scramble up a rock ledge. Even though the day was a lot cooler than the previous day, it did feel like we had done a Jane Fonda workout by the time we reached the top of Byrness Hill. Up on the open ridge were views of the magnificent Kielder Forest and Catcleugh Reservoir sparkling in the distance. As the Pennine Way continues, it crosses some of the least-populated parts of England.
As we continued on, it was disconcerting to hear gunfire and blasts - the Pennine Way passes through Ministry of Defence property and there are signs everywhere warning walkers not to trespass. One of the signs says: 'Do not touch anything. It may explode and kill you.' That was enough of a warning to us. The Ministry of Defence owns 20 per cent of the Northumberland National Park and we were passing through on a day that they were carrying out infantry weapons training! But as long as we kept to the paths, we were safe.
We travelled through the
most boggy ground we had experienced in quite a long time - it was very bad! We were all analysing the best way to tackle some of the worst parts of the bog. On coming to one particularly bad patch Lav suggested that probably the best way was to "just go for it!" - Lav went first and she ended up knee deep in bog - it was a very funny sight seeing her clamber out of the bog. Malcolm who was waiting to go next, decided that maybe Lav's approach on this occasion was one not to be followed.
There were small herds of feral or semi-wild goats wandering around the hills, with huge horns. The long horns make them look somewhat majestic. Apparently these goats have been roaming these remote hills for at least 1,000 years. As we climbed up towards Lamb Hill, Beefstand Hill (whoever named these hills was obviously thinking of food at the time) and Mozie Law hill, we started to see views of the stunning Cheviots. Finally we reached, one of the most enigmatic of the Cheviot summits, Windy Gyle at 2,030 feet. We started to think that since the start of the
walk in Derbyshire, we must have ascended the height of Mount Everest by now...even if we hadn't, it certainly felt like we had!
After all of our efforts to climb up so high, it was time to descend sharply again to reach our accommodation in Usywayford. We seemed to lose so much height as we descended further and further into the woods and across lush green pastures. We knew that in the morning, we would have a massive ascent to tackle - but for now, we were looking forward to reaching our very remote B&B. The B&B was so remote that the company transporting our baggage, do not go to the farm. We arrived at the B&B to be told that we did not have the right place - now being a little wise to these tricks after our experience at the Tan Hill Inn, we did not believe this tale...and with a smirk the owner of the B&B confirmed that we were in the right place - phew!
With our stomachs ready for our next meal, after the day's walk, we quickly freshened up and settled in for dinner. There were two gentleman already sat at the
dining room table chatting and laughing. They were extremely friendly and within minutes we learned that they were from the Forest of Dean, where Steve and Malcolm's dad and some of their family live. Amazing! So we all discussed places of beauty and interest around the Forest of Dean - Malcolm in particular, who has spent a lot of time there cycling and enjoying the outdoors. The men, called Alan and Alan, were also doing the Pennine Way, but they were doing it over a period of time - one of the Alans was just about to complete the whole of the Pennine Way after starting in 1983! It was excellent to exchange Pennine Way stories with the Alans - they were both so lovely and it was such a pleasure that we had met them. We learnt that one of the Alan's had bought a barrel of whisky many years ago and had it bottled - it's about 60%, so we are sure that a tipple of whisky here and there, has been helping them along! The Alans asked us about our Pennine Way fundraising hike for the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust and very kindly donated.
We said goodnight
to Alan and Alan, and then decided to call it an early night too - breakfast was at 7.30am, so we wanted to be feeling bright and fresh in the morning to finish our last day on the Pennine Way.
Only 13 miles to go!
If you would like to support our fundraising effort, please go to www.ectopic.org.uk/fundraising/?p=46 . Thank you very much for your support and messages. Lavinia and Steve
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