Day four of my Kirkpatrick Way Coast to Coast. Today took me from Selkirk all the way to the coast at Eyemouth. The warm Westerly wind definitely helped my progress, although I wasn’t in any great rush. I had an interesting call at Dryburgh Abbey where I had a look at Walter Scott grave and admired a 900 year old Yew, which looked remarkably healthy. Shortly after I pulled in at Floors Castle tea room which was great although in order to pick up a take away sausage roll I had to cycle to that other tea room, it’s such a vast estate! After Kelso the countryside becomes more arable farming and I even crossed the Tweed into England for a few kilometres stopping at Chainbridge Bee farm which I last visited 20 years ago. The most interesting thing is the sheer eccentricity of the place, including a café which operates from inside an old double-decker bus. It has gone slightly up market since the last time I was there but the cakes were just as good as ever. I got surprised by a last-minute climb before eventually following an undulating route to the coast. There is no particular marker that I could see for the end of the Kirkpatrick way although there is a pub with the wonderful name of the Contented Sole which seemed an appropriate place to finish. Tomorrow I will make my way to Edinburgh and the journey home on the train. Today’s ride was almost exactly 100 km with 1100 m of climbing.
Photos of some of the suspension bridges across the Tweed and its tributes, Dryburgh Abbey, the inside of the legendary bus café and Eyemouth harbour,
Photos of some of the suspension bridges across the Tweed and its tributes, Dryburgh Abbey, the inside of the legendary bus café and Eyemouth harbour,
