At the Provincial Meeting  at Bolton on the 4th June, Roger Fielding, the Provincial Charity Steward, presented the Provincial Grand Master with a cheque for £4,000  raised when he undertook a walk along St Cuthbert’s Way as part of his efforts to raise funds for the ELMBF.

St Cuthbert’s Way runs for 62.5miles between Melrose in the Scottish Borders, where St. Cuthbert started his religious life in 650AD, and finishes along a causeway exposed only at low tide, at Holy Island off the Northumberland Coast.

The walk took place over 4 days at the end of March and Roger made a record of the journey in his blog below.

St Cuthberts Way, Rogers Daily Blog

DAY 1, Sunday, 30^th March

Leaden skies herald the first day of the walk as we leave Melrose Abbey, still shrouded in scaffolding, I wonder if they will ever finish it?

The proprietor of the B & B suggests that the heavy downpour during the night might clear things up.  He didn’t sound confident, and if it was said in an effort to raise our spirits it was about as effective as a chocolate teapot.

So wet weather kit on and off we set for a 21 mile stride across the Eildon Hills to Jedburgh following in the footsteps of St Cuthbert who left Melrose Abbey in AD665 to walk to the abbey at Lindisfarne where he was to become Prior; he though did not have boots and wet kit.

The climb out of the vale in which Melrose sits takes you almost immediately into a steep climb to reach the saddle between two of the Eildon Hills, the overnight deluge has turned the red sandstone soil into mud that resembles condensed tomato soup, each step uphill counteracted by two backwards.

The terrain then levels off into moorland and then downhill into the Tweed valley where we follow the river for much of the morning.   The river Tweed burst its banks to a height of 10 feet during the winter storms, you can be forgiven for not knowing this because it didn’t happen in the south of England.

We come in to Newtown St Boswell and a quick detour to the nearby ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, resting place of Earl Haig who’s grave is marked only by the simple headstone of a soldier of the Great War. A very peaceful and evocative place.

We leave the Tweed flood plain and climb again into a woodland that itself leads us to follow Dere Street the Roman road that connected York and Edinburgh, and which ultimately brings us to Harestones from where we branch off the route to spend the night in Jedburgh and a celebratory noggin of the amber nectar.

DAY 2, Monday, 31st March

We leave Jedburgh and within minutes have ascended into low cloud and nil visibility. Today involves the ascent of the Cheviot Hills (mountains really) and I am told it will be worth it for the views if the weather clears, but fat chance of that I fear.

A stretch of woodland has to be crossed, so dense and dark that it evokes memories of the Lord of the Rings,  we can hear things moving in these woods … big things … and then in the far distance a chink of light, as if someone has left the door open.

Then back in the wide open moorland as we head for Cessford Castle and the settlement at Morebattle.  This is an optional end to Day 2; why didn’t we take it ?

Onwards and upwards to Wideopen Hill at 368 metres, but feels like the base camp at Everest.  This is the highest point in the walk and also the halfway point, so there is some sense of satisfaction there.

More challenging and boggy terrain follows as we begin the long descent into the valley and overnight at Kirk Yetholme and a welcoming glass of something wet.

DAY 3 Tuesday, 1^st April

Torrential rain.  We peer out of the B and B window as we breakfast in the hope that the rain will cease in time, but it would be a triumph of hope over experience.  It has been raining stair rods since about 4am, so by 9am it is definitely going to be the wet gear as we set out for Wooler.

My old gran used to have a saying ‘rain before 7, fine before 11’ then again she also used to say ‘its better to travel in hope than to arrive’.  One or the other is bound to be right today.

The walk today is spent almost entirely in the Cheviots (those mountains again) and within an hour we have come to the border with England guarded by a feral goat that is non-too friendly.

(Alex Salmond take note – this goat is no push over – our border is safe)  I have a secret weapon though, there is no animal that is not a push over for a soggy jaffa cake, and so we are allowed to pass over into Northumberland.

And guess what, its 11am and the sun has emerged for the one and only time on this walk … thanks Gran.  We actually spend quite a pleasant afternoon on a high moorland plateau that, although wet and boggy is teaming with wildlife, and from where in the improving weather we can get a real sense of the magnificent scenery on offer.  And then almost too soon we descend into Wooler for our overnight stay and a meal at its Italian restaurant, Milan, which comes recommended and did not disappoint.

DAY 4 Wednesday 2nd April

Final leg today and something of an easy stretch (no mountains) but plenty of interest along the route.  A long section of ancient woodland brings you suddenly upon Cuthbert’s cave, a natural outcrop of white granite with its evocative cave where the monks fleeing Lindisfarne from the Vikings and carrying the body of St Cuthbert rested, the only shelter for miles along and a real sanctuary from the elements.

Over the past three centuries folk have carved their names or initials into the rock, and so armed with an ice pick I carved my mark signature into the rock, in a real sense this is a white stone in which a new name is written.   Some short distance later the brow of a high gives us our first glimpse of the sea, and journey’s end.

Of course we still have the crossing to make over to Holy Island, there is the causeway which is passable at certain times, or the Pilgrim’s Way across the sands marked by posts, the Pilgrim’s Way won hands down and so off we set.

What we didn’t know (but should have) was that on this day it was one of highest tides of the year and that there would be a section in the middle of the sands where the waters would not subside today.  It was waist high and incredibly cold, and yet in a strange way it put the seal on our arrival at the end of this 4-day hike.

Reflecting, what have we brought here, tired feet, wet clothes, but also a sense of achievement, lasting memories of some beautiful countryside, and a sense of well-being and heightened awareness of our surroundings.   But Cuthbert brought something far more important … the word of God.