Peebles to West Linton

I ended up having fish and chips again last night for my dinner, after I’d taken my netbook back to my room – I wasn’t too comfortable walking around with it under my arm that’s for sure. I took my food down to the river and sat on a bench enjoying my food.

As expected, as I sat eating I became a bit of a target for the birds. One gull was doing his utmost to keep all the other birds away – he was very busy flying this way and that way, making lots of noise in the process. You’ll be unsurprised to hear that I didn’t reward him for all his hard work. My food is my food and I needed to feed up after not having a proper dinner or breakfast at the hostel.

I slept ok but I had to resort to using my ear plugs to get some quiet. There was an air-conditioning unit on the roof outside my window and it was making a bit of a noise. Thankfully though the ear plugs did a good job and it wasn’t long before I was fast asleep. I also didn’t wake up as early either so I think I got an extra forty or fifty minutes sleep this morning – bonus!

I got myself together pretty quickly and was down for breakfast at 8am. It was a pretty good breakfast but yet again the sausage let it down. Can you Scots not find and cook a decent sausage?!

Checking out was simple as I’d paid for the room when I arrived at the Green Tree hotel yesterday and I was making my way along the high street at a reasonable 8:45am. Within fifteen minutes I was heading along a quiet lane, away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre.

One thing that I liked about Peebles was that no matter which way you looked out from the town you saw hills. Obviously this meant that at some point today I’d be walking up hill and it wasn’t long before I picked up Old Drove road and headed up my first climb of the day – Hamilton Hill, a nice 500ft climb to get the heart and blood pumping. Unfortunately though this wasn’t as gentle as yesterday’s and it took me a little while to get up to the top as nothing seemed to be working properly this morning.

This also went for the tube I drink water through as it’d got pinched by my packing and I couldn’t get any water out of it. A quick pit stop to sort it out and I was back on my way.

I made it to the top though and I was greeted with a lovely view over Peebles and beyond.

Down the other side of the Jill I picked up a farm track at Upper Kidston for a mile or so before I was treated to more road walking in to Eddleston.

Along the road, as I’d already been walking for a couple of hours, I found a spot to sit down for five minutes and took my boots off. This routine, walking for a couple of hours and then taking a break, seems to be working well for me, so I’ve been trying to stick with it, when I remember of course.

This’ll make you laugh. I think I’ve alluded to the fact that when I’m out in the middle of nowhere, listening to my iPod, I more often than not sing along. Well, as I made my way in to Eddleston I completely forgot where I was and got some very strange looks from some people in their garden as I went by singing along to myself. Oops! Better try and remember not to do that again. Oh well, I’m sure it gave them a laugh as it did me when I realised what I was doing.

From there the rest of the walk was just as uneventful, being a mixture of track, forest and road walking. To say it was a bit on the boring side would be a little harsh but it certainly wasn’t the most interesting of walks.

With a mike to go I sat on a wall and took my boots off for a bit, giving Matt a ring for a chat. I sat there probably longer than I should have done but it was nice to chat and catch up.

It wasn’t late though and even after the slightly longer break I still managed to get to West Linton around 3:15pm, finding my B & B shortly after. I’d made pretty good time again which meant I had lots of time to chill out before tomorrow’s longer walk in to Edinburgh.

I spoke to the girls, both of them tonight which was great, at the normal time. I told Alice that I’d posted their next postcard this morning, to which she said I should take a picture of a pint of my beer and make a postcard out of it. I wonder if I’ll be able to find somewhere in Edinburgh to do that? She also reminded me that I need to look for a present for her and Elisa to post down to them while I’m in Edinburgh – smart girl, never forgets a thing that one!

I strolled – hobbled more like – along the road to the pub, enjoyed a couple of nice pints of Theakstons Coopers Butt as I’d not had it before and had a very nice burger and chips for dinner. I was almost tempted with the haggis, neeps and tatties but didn’t in the end as I was sure it wouldn’t have been as good as Steve’s!

It was starting to rain outside by then so I made my way back to my room before it got too bad ad I didn’t have my coat, putting the football on when I got there.

Today was a bit of a nothing walk. There wasn’t anything of interest to look at or take note of unlike most other days. Yes, the hills and views were as stunning as ever but other than that it was literally just putting one foot in front of the other. I guess it served its purpose, that is to get me just that little bit closer to the ultimate end goal, and I know that not all days can be fun and interesting but I wish they were.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a good walk and I’m still in a good mood, especially after talking to the girls and also getting a surprise call from Frances while I was in the pub.

One more day’s walking before a slightly longer break in Edinburgh and properly celebrating being in Scotland with my very good friend Kate – champagne here we come!

Photos and Route Details

I f you want to find out more about this day you can see the photos I took or view the route details.