Day 26 Jedburg to Byrness (route change)

It was raining first thing but eased while I was packing the tent. It had started raining again by the time I set off and became quite heavy as I climbed out of Jedburg and as a result I missed my turnoff which put an extra kilometre on to my walk.

I was walking along minor roads (the traffic quite heavy initially) until I reached the turn off to Dere Street by which time the weather had cleared though windy. On Dere Street I had a clear view all the way to the English border where I joined the Pennine Way. Here I met 3 walkers who had come from Byrness and we had a good chat. When telling them of my route they said that it would not be possible as the red flags were up on the firing range which I had planned to cross. I had been aware of explosions while I was on Dere Street but hadn’t twigged it had to do with the firing range!

As a result I had to divert to Byrness via the Pennine Way and was able to book into the Youth Hostel there. Nice hostel and I was able to have a meal there. The food was not expensive.

The recent rain has made the Peninne Way much boggier than I remembered from my previous walks – in fact it was quite arduous.

Tomorrow it looks as if I will have to walk 10 – 16 miles along main roads as I am no longer on my planned route. I don’t have any maps for the Pennine Way and I think it could take another day if I went on it. Not too sure where I will spend the night.