We left Mount Holley this morning at 8 o’clock. We had a quick breakfast then started the last 12km stretch to the finish.
We started the usual climb out of the valley which was very misty. As we had detoured off the path to our accommodation the night before, it meant that we had to make up a path to get out of the valley which resulted in a lot of scrambling up a steep slope.
To keep ourselves busy we had a quiz about the facts of the Pennine way, for example how many sign posts there were, 458 if anyone ever asks.
I didn’t have to carry any packed lunches today so my bag was nice and light which meant I could challenge Will in racing up the hill, not the best idea as we both collapsed on to the floor after a 200m climb.
We started to get quite excited as we got our first glimpse of Kirk Yetholm. The number of day walkers started to increase which was a good sign as it meant we were close.
We followed the tarmac road that went in to Kirk Yeltholm walking slower than our normal pace savoring the last few hundred meters of the Pennine way. This was all dashed as Will saw the Border Hotel that is the end of the walk. Will wanting to be first, sprinted the last bit to the pub so he could boast that he had walked the Pennine way the quickest out of all of us. To my amazement I was able to restrain from reminding him that he was the reason we had stopped about an hour ago.
When we arrived at the hotel we were kindly given hot chocolate and dad got his half pint of beer all free of charge. One of the local pubs pays to give all Pennie way walkers a free pint at the end of the walk to keep the tradition going which Wainwright created. There was also a chess board so I played a game against Will and thrashed him.
We were then given the log book to sign where we left a message and read ones from people that had finished before us. As we have been following our friend’s diary from 1974 who did the Pennine way, we asked the lady if she still had the log book from 1974 he had signed and she said yes! It was in very good condition which allowed us to easily locate entries from the 26th of July 1974 where we found his entry.
We then got a taxi to Berwick where we caught the 1:13pm train to Kings Cross.
Once we were on the train we played a game of cards and decided on our favourite places that we had stayed at.
We just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all your kind donations and words, it has kept us going. In terms of donations for FISH, we are over our target of £3000 which is great news. The money that has been raised will go to FISH and will also pay for a new defibrillator to be installed on Barnes Green.
Thanks again,
Ned and Will Battersby
