It was foggy when we first got up but this quickly dispersed and by the time we’d collected our stuff from the drying room and got ourselves packed up it had turned into a nice bright morning with a fair amount of blue sky.

Yep that’ll do – our plan for the day summed up perfectly

The route led north out of the village and in no time we were looking back down at it from high up on a grassy hillside. We were feeling pretty optimistic as it was nice walking weather and we were beginning to feel that we were so close to the end by then that victory was almost inevitable.

A fine morning and a last look at Bellingham from the hilltop

The next few miles were easy walking over very pleasant open moorland – the patchwork of green fields and red heather looked lovely against the bright blue and white sky.

Some cloud and mist about but the sun kept breaking through and the rich colours of the heather moors were gorgeous

The walking was so nice and easy in fact that we forgot to keep an eye on the route again for a while and followed a path quite a way past the point where we should have branched off! By the time we realised we’d gone wrong the gently swooping contours of the moors didn’t help us much with finding out where we were so we quickly gave up on old fashioned navigation and switched on the trusty Garmin! Why mess around with a map and compass when you have a GPS? (Cue sharp intakes of breath from the purists!)

It almost began to look like spring for a while!

Using the GPS pointer to guide us to the next waypoint it took a variety of sheep tracks and a bit of heather hopping to cut straight to it rather than retracing our steps back to the path we should have been on but we were soon on the proper route again.

The approach to Padon Hill looks like soggy ground but was actually a really good path

There were some sections of slabs which helped us a lot – not particularly with boggy ground as it seemed generally OK there anyway, but to save us having to think about directions any more!

Pleasant walking as we headed for Redesdale Forest. We weren’t prepared for the swamp over the next hill though!

As we skirted the summit of Padon Hill we could see the ruler-straight edge of Redesdale Forest directly ahead which would lead us up the steep hillside. The guide book said it would be a difficult climb as the path was poorly maintained and usually wet. In fact the climb wasn’t too bad – I think the Forestry Commission must have recently tidied it up – but once on the top of Brownrigg Head the ground quickly deteriorated and the next mile across yet another soggy Black Hill was one of the most frustrating of the whole walk! It wasn’t really peat bog, just very waterlogged grass with some sections so flooded they were almost impassable. I guess we’d just had enough of difficult walking over the last two and a half weeks; having to concentrate so hard on the ground to find a path but still sinking in every couple of minutes was getting tedious in the extreme.

Nice easy walking on the forest roads though and we soon made up the lost time

But at last we emerged on a wide, solid Forestry Commission road and were able to stride out and cover some miles. There were a couple of diversions briefly taking the Pennine Way through the trees but we resolutely ignored the signposts and stuck to the road! In fact we liked the empty hardcore road so much we sat cross legged on it and ate our sandwiches. We were surprised when shortly after we’d finished and resumed walking the only forestry lorry we saw that day thundered past us leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Lucky timing!

Still easy walking and those hills ahead definitely look like Cheviots

The remainder of the walk through the forest was an easy stroll. We knew we’d hit civilisation when we arrived at a small car park with loos and an information board and I sat on a stone wall and chatted to two pairs of very friendly chaffinches and a robin (there’s always a robin!) while Mel nipped inside. The next section was very lush alongside the river Rede – a mix of woodland and open riverbank, and there was plenty of wildlife too. We saw a heron in the river and in a ditch with shallow slowly running water we saw zillions of tadpoles and some newts. Great Crested ones I believe from the general shape although we didn’t turn any over to confirm! A few houses began to appear quite soon and from a footbridge we saw the campsite we’d planned to stay at.

On the last half mile into Byrness, we still couldn’t decide whether to camp or B&B!

Although it wasn’t actually raining it had clouded over again and turned into a very chilly, grey afternoon. We’d seen a tempting advert on a gatepost a few miles back for Forest View Inn in Byrness and the idea had been nagging away at me all the way through the forest! I’d actually looked at their website while researching the walk and knew it would be nice. I also knew if they didn’t have a free room we could still camp there and get an evening meal and breakfast so it would still be less trouble than a campsite with a walk to a pub. I was getting a bit tired of damp camping to be honest and fancied something better for the last night in civilisation and Mel didn’t take much persuading so we walked on into the village to see what it looked like. The Forest View proprietor was actually outside talking with somebody when we rolled up and stood dithering about whether we should ask to camp or go for a room. He saw our indecision and walked over to greet us and while not actually pushing either option he did politely but firmly encourage us to make our minds up! We chose to take a room of course and were very glad we did, it’s a really nice place and he and his wife made us very welcome and comfortable. After a cup of tea we were shown to a generous family room with twin beds and bunks and as it was still reasonably early we were able to take our time getting showered and changed and our phones, cameras etc put on charge and our gear sorted out and spread out to dry.

Dinner was delicious and accompanied by draught real ale from a small bar in their lounge – I had to have another pint afterwards just to make sure it really was as nice as the first one seemed! Another guest dining at the same time also joined us in the lounge for drinks and a natter. He was just walking the last two stages of the Pennine Way as he’d had to abandon his previous attempt due to disabling blisters on the Bellingham to Byrness section. Imagine getting that far and not being able to finish! He was planning on picking up St Cuthberts Way from Kirk Yetholm and meeting his girlfriend on Lindisfarne so hopefully that all went OK. The B&B owner (Colin I think) was a friendly guy with a great Geordie accent and plenty of conversation so it was good to sit in the comfy armchairs and relax for a while before heading off to our room for an early night and a rejuvenating sleep before our assault on the last big stage of the Pennine Way – the Cheviots.

Day 16 | Menu | Day 18