Julie and I will be hiking from John O’Groats to Land’s End in the UK during the northern summer of 2022. The journey of nearly 2,000 kilometres will take about two and a half months, a week or two longer than when I hiked the other direction in 2010. We will stay in B&B’s, hostels and pubs, so will not be carrying camping gear, though we will each have an emergency bivvy sack just in case we can’t find somewhere to stay.

John O'Groats to Land's End - Day 024 - Melrose to Jedburgh

Day: 024

Date: Friday, 24 June 2022

Start:  Melrose

Finish:  Jedburgh

Daily Kilometres:  29

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  700

Weather:  Mild and overcast in the morning; warm, humid and partly sunny in the afternoon.  Thunderstorms in the evening.

Accommodation:  AirBnB

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Full Scottish breakfasts

  Lunch:  Tuna & sweetcorn sandwich/Coronation chicken sandwich

  Dinner:  Savoury mince & rice, rice pudding

Aches:  Dave -  tired.  Julie - not tired.

Highlight:  Finishing before the late afternoon thunderstorms.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We ate up big at breakfast and waddled out of the hotel at 8:15am to begin our day with a heart-starter of a climb up into the Eildon Hills, which overlook Melrose.  We saw a sign in town saying there is a footrace to the top on Saturday but, sadly, we will miss it.  St Cuthberts Way, which we were following, did not (fortunately) take us to the top of either of the twin Eildon Hills but did pass between them and that was enough of a climb, though we were well-rewarded with wonderful views to the north and south.


We were further rewarded on the descent which passed through lovely old growth woodland, beautifully peaceful apart from some birdlife.  These little ancient woodlands are arguably the best part of hiking in the UK.


St Cuthbert’s Way took us through more of these woodlands as the day progressed, as well as along riverside paths and country lanes, and across farmland, sometimes on rough field paths which were hard work.  Always, though, there were interesting things to look at on a day that got progressively warmer and more humid.


For much of the afternoon, St Cuthberts Way followed Dere Street, the old Roman road.  It’s always a thrill to feel you are following the same path as people 2,000 years ago, though, in places, we reckoned it could have done with some maintenance.


We reached the old town of Jedburgh, where we had accommodation booked, around 4:20pm and checked-in.  By 5:00pm the thunderstorms had arrived, so we were happy to be inside, though there wasn’t that much rain.


This is our last night in Scotland on this trip, and we will be sad to leave.  The scenery has been awesome and the weather not too bad at all.
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