ON a blustery Sunday, October 19, 14 members boarded the bus at Harestanes, their destination being Morebattle for the start of the Club walk at the usual 10am. Originally this walk was planned to be Cessford Castle returning to Harestanes via St Cuthbert’s Way, however, the leader on reflection of the planning of this walk which took place in May 2013, decided to extend the walk by starting in Morebattle. Walking along the B6401, thankfully very quiet on a Sunday morning, it seemed strange that this road is the actual official route for the St Cuthbert’s Way. However, after three quarters of a mile we turned left into the sanctuary of what used to be a C classified road.

Passing Fox Covert we headed up the gentle slope to Cauldside Covert looking down on Shielstock Braes on our left. We swung right to Cessford Farm and on to the original point of Cessford Castle, this being the ancestral home of the Ker family who were heavily into rieving and fighting with their own neighbours hundreds of years ago. Following the “Way” we reached Cessford Moor and it was quite noticeable the distant views in all directions considering we were only approximately 500ft above sea level. Also we could see rain falling in various areas of the Borders but thankfully not on us. We were, however, being buffeted by the westerly winds. Dropping down Coldhaugh Bank we crossed the Oxfam Water by the footbridge. On reaching the unclassified road it was here that the leader discovered that he did not know his left hand from his right hand and headed down to Crailing. So here we were on an unscheduled part of the walk which proved quite fortuitous. On passing the pretty Crailing Church we reached the bridge over the Teviot at Nisbet before heading up the old Kelso to St Boswells railway line passing Nisbetmill on our right and the River Teviot in full spate on our left. By now the clouds were disappearing fast and it was looking like a pleasant mid afternoon. Some of us stopped at Nisbetmill Cauld to look at the sheer force of the water coming down from the Teviot Valley. Soon we were back into the grounds of Monteviot House which has been thoughtfully laid out with various walking routes for different abilities. The Borders are very lucky to have this facility on our doorstep. We arrived back a little earlier than normal due to the fact that we did not climb any significant hills, however, we still managed to cover over 13 miles. It is interesting to note that most of the group had not walked the majority of the route today. The B Group, all one of them, had a lonely walk up to Peniel Heugh and noticed for the first time a flag flying from the rooftop. He returned via a circuitous route back to base. The next walk is scheduled for Sunday, November 2, in the Ashkirk area. Please contact Evelyn Horsburgh on 01750 76214 if you are interested in joining us.